SALT LAKE CITY - Abilene Christian volleyball kicks off Western Athletic Conference play on the road this week, meeting Utah Valley at 7 p.m. Thursday before taking on California Baptist at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Wildcats play the Wolverines at Westminster University's Behnken Field House, then battle the Lancers at Van Dyne Gym in Riverside, Calif.
ACU is looking for both its first road win of the season and its first-ever victory in the state of Utah. The Wildcats are 0-6 against the Wolverines, while their series with the Lancers is split at three matches apiece.
ACU closed out the nonconference portion of its schedule with its second consecutive week going 2-2. The Wildcats swept Texas Southern and Cal State Fullerton at the Lamar Invitational before falling to Lamar and East Texas A&M in true road matchups.
The Wildcats' meeting with the Lions was a historic one, featuring the second-most kills (74), assists (72) and digs (95) in a match in the program's Division I era.
Rachel Koss collected the most assists in a match in ACU's DI history, while
Hannah Gonzalez's career-high 24 kills were the eighth-most in a match in team history.
Brennan Ramirez added 29 digs, the seventh-most in a five-set match.
Koss and Ramirez look to ride the momentum of a strong week that saw each recognized by the conference. Koss was named the Jersey Mike's A Sub Above WAC Setter of the Week, while Ramirez earned Libero of the Week honors.
It marks the second time this season that Ramirez has received such distinction, while Koss garnered the conference accolade for the first time in her career. Koss tallied 159 assists with 11.36 assists per set, pacing the WAC by nearly 3.00 assists. Ramirez totaled 75 digs over the course of the week, good for 5.36 digs per set.
Through 15 matches, ACU has been one of the most productive teams in the country, ranking second nationally in total assists (675) and third in total kills (730). The Wildcats' 106 service aces are good for fourth in Division I. ACU is second in the conference in kills (13.04), assists (12.05) and aces per set (1.89), while its .196 hitting percentage ranks third.
Koss is tops in college volleyball with 508 assists to her name and paces the WAC with 9.07 assists per set. Four of the WAC's five individual outings with the most assists this season are owned by the Appleton, Wis. native. Her 37 assists versus Cal State Fullerton are the most in the conference in a three-set match this year.
Gonzalez finds herself in the WAC's top 10 in a number of statistics, ranking sixth in hitting percentage (.268) and seventh in kills (2.86) and points (3.62) per set. Her 0.93 blocks per set are ninth-most in the conference.
Aubrey Beaver has also proven versatile to the Wildcats, ranking fifth in kills (3.23), aces (0.38) and points per set (3.76).
Abby Christian paces ACU with 0.40 aces per set, good for fourth in the WAC. Ramirez's 4.14 digs per set rank third, while
Avery Thaler's .265 hitting percentage is seventh.
Utah Valley has lost six of its last seven matches, featuring losses to Utah, Duke and BYU. Its strength comes at the net, where its 155.0 blocks are second-most in the nation and its 3.23 blocks per set rank third. Bella Wooden leads the WAC and is second in the country with 1.85 blocks per set.
Alyvia Jaffa and Olivia Gloeckner rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in blocks per set. Avery Page and Sami Blackett rank third and fourth, respectively, in both kills and points per set.
CBU has dropped its last three matches before meeting Tarleton State on Thursday, falling to Utah, Saint Mary's and Cal Poly. The Lancers rank third in the conference in total aces (75) and aces per set (1.63). Emily DeJong's 3.48 kills and 3.99 points per set are each second-most, while Maddie Brown ranks third in assists (7.78) and ninth in digs per set (2.38).
