ABILENE - Abilene Christian volleyball opened the 2025 season on a high note with a 3-1 win over Missouri State at Moody Coliseum on Friday night. ACU claimed the victory in its first match of the Wildcat Classic, marking its seventh consecutive win in a home tournament.
Junior outside hitter
Aubrey Beaver, a Cal State Fullerton transfer, powered the Wildcats with 18 kills, four service aces and nine digs in her first action in the purple and white. Beaver matched Memphis transfer Jada Birkel's performance in 2021 for the most kills by a Wildcat in their first game with ACU at the Division I level.
"[It was] so exciting," head coach
Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said. "We've been excited about Aubrey since she got here in January, so it was a long time coming for us to see her play her first match in Moody. It was just super fun."
Beaver was complemented by junior middle blocker
Hannah Gonzalez, who churned out 12 kills at a .478 clip with two solo blocks and five block assists at the net. Junior setter
Rachel Koss tallied 40 of the Wildcats' 49 assists to go with four aces. Redshirt freshman libero
Brennan Ramirez, a Texas transfer, recorded 19 digs.
Dating back to the 2024 season, Gonzalez has recorded double-digit kills in eight of her last 11 matches.
"We worked a ton on Hannah's block, and she really showed that improvement tonight," Moronu Alstrup said. "Hannah's just someone that's always going to go hard and make the most out of every set that she gets, so it was fun to see her do that, too."
The Wildcats built a .266 hitting percentage compared to a .162 mark by the Bears. ACU outdid Missouri State in kills, 58-44. Peyton McKee, a Montgomery, Texas native, paced the visitors in kills with nine, while Hannah Gardner added four service aces.
"We're super excited, I'm really proud of the team effort," Moronu Alstrup said. "We voted for MVP at the end of the match, and it was really hard to make a decision because a lot of people really stepped up tonight.
"It was so awesome to have a big crowd in Moody cheering and helping us fight. They were super rowdy, and we really appreciate all the groups that came out today."
Both squads found themselves knotted at 9 in the opening set before the Wildcats rattled off the first of two 6-0 runs en route to a 15-9 lead. Their next rally put them ahead, 22-12, capped by a solo block from sophomore MB
Avery Thaler. ACU secured the victory with a kill by sophomore OH
Annaleise Sevier. Beaver registered six kills to power the Wildcats.
"Our service pressure was really good throughout the match, and I think that put us in a really good position to win," Moronu Alstrup said. "[
Abby Christian], [
Izabelle Larson], Rachel [Koss], they all had really good serving runs that put us in a good position."
The Bears responded by staying even with the Wildcats throughout the second set, with neither team able to build considerable momentum. ACU built a 24-22 edge, but Missouri State battled with a pair of 3-0 rallies to eke out a 28-26 victory as the teams traded set point.
Each program collected 16 kills in the period, with the Bears' four total blocks proving to be the difference-maker. ACU earned four kills each from Beaver and Gonzalez.
The Wildcats kept their paws on the gas from the get-go in the third set, jumping to a 15-4 advantage behind runs of five and six points. The set saw redshirt freshman OH
Courtney Church notch the first kill of her career in her first collegiate action after redshirting the 2024 campaign due to injury. She finished with six kills at .857.
"We're just so excited about Courtney," Moronu Alstrup said. "I'm really proud of how she came in off of the bench, just going after it. I think there was not a person on the bench that was not excited for Courtney to have that moment."
Missouri State answered a 20-10 deficit with a 7-0 rally to climb within 21-18, but ACU claimed four of the next five points to clinch a 25-19 victory. Beaver contributed five kills in the period, with Koss' kill closing things out.
The Bears remained stout in the fourth set, hanging with the Wildcats before ACU engineered a 7-0 run to grab a 16-8 advantage. Missouri State battled back to get within 22-21 until Beaver's final kill of the night closed things out at 25-22.
ACU returns to action on Saturday with a doubleheader to wrap up the Wildcat Classic. It meets Incarnate Word at 10 a.m. to host Pancakes and PJ's before taking on Oklahoma at 3 p.m. in a Purple Match. The Sooners are the first Southeastern Conference program to compete in Abilene, regardless of sport.
"We definitely will celebrate tonight and take care of our bodies, but then we're right back at it, going against Incarnate Word, another really solid team, so our eyes are kind of fixed on that next one now," Moronu Alstrup said.
