THIBODAUX, La. - Abilene Christian volleyball split its doubleheader at the New Orleans/Nicholls Crossover at Nicholls' David R. Stopher Gymnasium on Friday afternoon. The Wildcats fell to Alabama A&M, 3-1, in the morning matchup before closing the day with a 3-0 sweep of Grambling.
ACU wraps up the tournament versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Human Performance Center on the University of New Orleans campus.
Hannah Gonzalez powered the Wildcats with a career-best 15 kills at a .276 clip against the Bulldogs to go with a team-high three block assists.
Annaleise Sevier added seven kills at .286, while
Rachel Koss tallied 37 assists.
Abby Christian registered three service aces, and
Izabelle Larson did a bit of everything with five kills, nine digs, two aces and a solo block. It's the first solo block of Larson's three-year career.Â
ACU jumped to an early 5-2 edge in the opening set, but Alabama A&M answered with a 10-2 run that pushed it ahead, 12-7. The Wildcats fought back with an 8-2 rally to grab a 15-14 advantage at the set's midway point. Both teams went on to trade points with each other, but a 3-0 run provided ACU with breathing room on its way to a 25-23 win.
Sevier and
Courtney Church tallied three kills each in the late stages of the set that proved crucial to the Wildcats' victory.
The second set proved to be yet another back-and-forth affair, albeit with the Bulldogs landing the final blow. A 9-2 rally built a comfortable 13-7 lead for Alabama A&M, who led by as much as 17-11 before a late comeback by ACU. A Bulldog attack error allowed the Wildcats to tie it at 22 apiece, but Alabama A&M rattled off three of the next four points to eke out a 25-23 win of its own.
The Bulldogs capitalized on their newfound momentum to earn a more comfortable victory in the third set. While the Wildcats engineered an early lead, a 13-3 run by Alabama A&M put it ahead for good at 16-9. ACU battled to get within a couple points at 17-15, but the Bulldogs rolled the rest of the way to a 25-17 win.
Alabama A&M continued to stifle ACU in the fourth set, as an 8-3 run pushed it to a 9-4 edge. The Wildcats clawed at the Bulldog lead to get within a couple points at 18-16, but Alabama A&M scored seven consecutive points to close the match with a 25-16 victory.
ACU's meeting with Grambling saw the Wildcats clean up much of their mistakes from the previous match. They outdid the Tigers in kills, 41-24, and service aces, 11-3. ACU swung at a .293 clip to Grambling's .125. The Wildcats' 11 aces are tied for fourth-most in a match in the program's Division I era and are tied for second-most in three sets.
Gonzalez reached double-digit kills for the sixth time this season with 10 at a .692 mark to go with two solo blocks and two block assists for 14.0 points. Larson followed with a season-high nine kills at .318 and six digs.
Hadlee Welch set new career bests in kills and digs with seven and three, respectively. She added two block assists and registered a .33 hitting percentage.
Ashli Edmiston delivered her most productive outing of the season with five kills on 16 attacks.
Becca Siedenburg paced the Wildcats with 16 assists and four service aces, while
Rachel Koss followed with 13 assists and three aces. With a pair of aces, Christian logged multiple aces for the third match in a row.
After an even start to the first set, ACU responded to a 10-9 deficit with an 8-2 rally to grab a 17-12 lead. The Wildcats capped the match on a 7-3 run to secure a 25-17 win in a period in which they notched 15 kills at a .538 clip. Each of Edmiston's five kills came in the first set.
Tied with Grambling at 5-5 to begin the second set, ACU's 10–3 rally guided it to a 15-8 lead at the break. The Wildcats kept the Tigers at bay for the remainder of the period as they secured another 25-17 victory behind five kills by Gonzalez and each of Sevier's four kills in the match.
Grambling hung with ACU through much of the third set before the Wildcats caught fire late. After the Purple and White took a 14-9 edge, the Tigers battled back with a 6-1 run to tie things at 15. It was all ACU the rest of the way, as it outscored Grambling 10-3 en route to the 25-18 victory.
Freshman
Aliyah Jowers, an Abilene native, won match point with her first career kill. The Wildcats benefited from five service aces in the set.
