NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Abilene Christian volleyball dropped a pair of five-set thrillers to Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin at the SFA Tournament at Shelton Gym on Friday. The Wildcats fell to the Bearkats in the morning matchup before losing to the Ladyjacks in the evening, with both defeats coming by a 3-2 decision.
ACU built a 2-1 lead in both contests, but couldn't hold on to capture either victory. It closes out the tournament versus Louisiana at Shelton Gym at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Juniors
Aubrey Beaver and
Rachel Koss etched their names in the Wildcats' record books with double-doubles against the Bearkats. Beaver's 28 kills are third-most in a match in ACU's Division I era and second-most in a five-set match. She amassed 30.0 points, the third-most in a match and second-most in five sets.
Koss tallied 57 assists, good for second-most in a match and the most in a five-set contest in the DI era. By the end of the day, Koss surpassed Sarah Nading's 493 career assists and moved into fifth in the record books with 567 to her name. She has three double-doubles through six matches this season.
Beaver swung at an efficient .436 clip with 55 attack attempts and 12 digs. Koss added 17 digs, while redshirt freshman
Brennan Ramirez paced the Wildcats with 19 digs and four service aces. Junior
Hannah Gonzalez and redshirt freshman
Courtney Church joined Beaver with double-digit kills with 13 and 11, respectively.
Sam Houston was energized by five players with 10 kills or more, four which recorded a hitting percentage over .400. The Bearkats were led by Chloe Monson's 19 kills and 11 digs, while Lauren Malone registered 16 kills and 16 digs. Avery Fowler carded 42 assists.
The Bearkats built a slight lead early on in the opening set to keep the Wildcats at bay. Facing a 20-15 deficit, ACU battled back with a 6-0 run to take a 21-20 edge behind three Beaver kills. However, Sam Houston responded with a 5-0 rally to close the set with a 25-21 victory.
The Wildcats engineered another run in the second set to eke out a 25-23 win and even the match. Trialing 20-19, a 4-0 rally featuring two kills by Beaver earned ACU a lead that it held onto for the remainder of the set. Koss contributed 14 assists with a pair of block assists.
Both squads traded points to begin the third frame before the Bearkats used a 6-2 run to hold a 15-13 advantage at the midpoint of the set. The Wildcats came out of the gates on a 5-1 rally to retake the lead as the back-and-forth volleyball continued.
Sam Houston erased ACU's match point to tie things up at 25, but a service error and a kill by Church saw the Wildcats outlast the Bearkats for a 27-25 win. Koss collected 11 assists and seven digs, while Beaver logged seven kills.
ACU and Sam Houston kept things neck and neck in the fourth period until a 6-1 Bearkat run pushed them ahead, 14-10. While Beaver's eighth kill of the set got the Wildcats within 23-21, Sam Houston held on to the edge to capture a 25-22 victory and force a decisive fifth set.
Beaver's 28th and final kill of the match gave ACU a slight 5-4 edge to begin the fifth frame, but Sam Houston kicked into high gear the rest of the way. The Bearkats closed the match on an 11-4 rally, fending off two Wildcat scores at match point to seal a 15-9 win.
Unlike the day's first contest, ACU's matchup with Stephen F. Austin was less of a one-woman show and more of a group effort. Gonzalez paced the team with 10 kills, while Beaver added nine and junior
Alexis Strong supplied eight at .250. With 12 digs, Beaver fell one kill shy of her second double-double of the day.
Koss, though, did complete the double-double thanks to 39 assists and 11 digs. Ramirez led the Wildcats in digs with 17, while freshman
Aliyah Jowers boosted them with two of ACU's four service aces.
The Wildcats quickly fell behind in the match's first set as the Ladyjacks developed a lead they would hold onto for most of the set. Facing a 22-16 deficit, ACU rattled off a run that saw freshman
Hadlee Welch deliver three of her four kills in the set, the last of which fending off Stephen F. Austin's set point.
A 7-1 Wildcat run tied the set at 23, and ACU scored the set's final three points for a 26-24 win. Junior
Izabelle Larson provided two key kills in the rally, while Beaver's fourth kill of the period came on set point.
The Ladyjacks' defense became the story of the second set as it held the Wildcats at bay. Stephen F. Austin jumped to a 14-3 lead after a 9-0 run and never looked back as ACU committed 11 attack errors in the frame. The Ladyjacks breezed their way to a 25-13 win.
The Wildcats bounced back in the third set by grabbing a 10-5 advantage, but Stephen F. Austin responded with a 6-0 rally to seize the lead. ACU answered with a 10-3 run of its own that pushed it ahead, 21-15. The Wildcats rode their momentum to a 25-21 victory with five kills from Gonzalez and 11 Koss assists.
The Ladyjacks' Jordan Henderson ran the show in the fourth set with seven kills as Stephen F. Austin fended off ACU with a 25-18 win. The Wildcats never held a lead in the set as Jayden Flynn provided three of the Ladyjacks' five service aces in the period.
ACU battled its way back from an 8-5 deficit in the final set with a 6-1 rally that pushed it ahead, 11-9. The rest of the set, and match, belonged to Stephen F. Austin, though, as the Ladyjacks scored six of the final seven points. Ilana De Assis and Katherine Holtman tallied four kills apiece in the fifth frame.
