STEPHENVILLE, Texas - Abilene Christian volleyball aims to extend its winning streak to four matches when it visits Tarleton State at Wisdom Gym at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Wildcats are looking for their third consecutive road win to cap off their slate of away matches following wins at Southern Utah and North Texas.
The Wildcats aim to reach .500 in Western Athletic Conference play and earn their 12th win of the season, their most since 2018. Four straight victories would mark the team's longest win streak since 2023. It is in the midst of its longest winning streak of the season.
ACU has won three true road matchups this season, its most since 2018, and could match the 2017 total of four road victories with a win on Saturday. A three-match road win streak would be the Wildcats' first of the Division I era and the program's first since 2010, when it competed at the Division II level.
In its last time out, ACU outlasted UT Arlington for a 3-2 triumph at Moody Coliseum on Nov. 1. Five Wildcats tallied eight kills or more, led by
Hannah Gonzalez with 11 at a .500 clip.
Avery Thaler blocked nine attacks, including three on her own.
It was ACU's second five-set win in a row following a reverse sweep at North Texas on Oct. 29.
Ashli Edmiston had 18 kills, while Thaler tied for the third-most blocks in a match in the program's Division I era with 11. She tied for the second-most blocks in five sets.
Rachel Koss earned her third Jersey Mike's A Sub Above WAC Setter of the Week honor of the season, totaling 67 assists and 14 digs across 10 sets. Three Wildcats have received weekly honors from the WAC this season, doing so on seven occasions.
ACU and Tarleton State last met on Oct. 18 in Abilene, with the Texans pulling out a 3-2 victory. Freshman
Hadlee Welch powered the Wildcats with a career-best 17 kills at .314 with four block assists. Gonzalez added 10 kills and two solo blocks, and Thaler registered seven kills at .357 and seven blocks.
The Texans are on a hot streak of their own under first-year coach Jazmyne Johnson, winning their last five matches. They took down conference frontrunner Utah Valley, 3-2, in Stephenville on Thursday. Tarleton State ranks third in the WAC in hitting percentage (.209), blocks (2.42) and digs (14.07) per set.
Emma Burke (.306), Madison Frank (.306) and Alyssa Dinh (.299) are each within the conference's top five for hitting percentage, while Burke (1.30) and Dinh (1.05) rank within the top 10 for blocks per set. Morgan Carter is second with 4.05 digs per set.
