ABILENE - Abilene Christian volleyball delivered a decisive 3-0 victory over California Baptist at Moody Coliseum on Thursday night. The Wildcats picked up their fourth win in their last five matches and their 12th of the season, the program's most since 2018.
ACU closes out the regular season against Western Athletic Conference frontrunner Utah Valley at Moody Coliseum at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Wildcats will be honoring
Ashli Edmiston and
Becca Siedenburg on Senior Day while commemorating their She Can Be game, presented by Dr. Leslie Hutchins.
ACU produced one of its most efficient matches of the season, attacking at a .333 clip with 43 kills, seven blocks and four service aces.
Aubrey Beaver spearheaded the Wildcats' offense with 11 kills at a .588 percentage to go with three block assists.
Avery Thaler added nine kills at a .412 mark while leading ACU at the net with four block assists and a solo block. For the first time this season, Edmiston paced the Wildcats with 14 digs.
Hannah Gonzalez contributed six kills at a .455 clip.
The Wildcats wasted little time jumping to an early lead in the opening set, taking an 11-5 advantage behind a 5-0 rally. The Lancers got within three points at 16-13, but ACU responded with a 9-2 run that carried it to the end of the set. Beaver tallied four kills in the set and Gonzalez had her hand in a pair of blocks as the Wildcats took a 25-15 victory.
ACU carried its momentum into the second set, engineering an 11-3 run and turning it into a 14-6 edge. The Wildcats held strong for the remainder of the period, never letting the Lancers get within six points as they took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-18 win.
A trio of Wildcats collected four kills apiece in the second period with the team hitting .517 as a whole. Thaler, Gonzalez and Beaver totaled 12 kills at a combined .611 percentage.
Rachel Koss and Siedenburg dished out seven assists each.
The match's third set proved to be much of the same, as ACU set the tempo early and didn't back down. After falling behind 4-1 early, the Wildcats rattled off a 10-1 rally to move ahead, 11-5. They grabbed a 15-8 edge at the midway point, and a 5-1 streak made it a 21-12 game. ACU fended off a late California Baptist run, sealing the match with a 25-19 victory.
Thaler delivered her most productive set to wrap up the match, tallying five kills, a solo block and two block assists. Beaver complemented her with three kills and two block assists.
