By Brian Roe, Sports Writer

ACU volleyball ran its winning streak to three matches on Tuesday night, easily defeating Midwestern State in the home opener winning in three straight games in Moody Coliseum.

Sophomore outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt led the team with 15 kills, while senior outside hitter Haylee Hartline had 11 of her own. Lindsey Martin, sophomore, led the team in assists with 36 in Tuesday night’s game. She leads the team with 386 assists already this season.

Sophomores Amanda Slate and Ashlee Motola also had solid games, recording eight and seven kills respectively.

Head coach Brek Horn said the drills in practice likely helped ACU dominate this game.

“We worked our starters hard this week in practice, making them run when they didn’t successfully win several points in a row,” Horn said. “That definitely made a difference in this game.”

Bernhardt said the pressure situations in practice have translated into a more relaxed feeling during the game.

“The coaches have been trying to raise the intensity in practice and put more pressure on us,” she said. “If you do those things in practice, then it makes the game a lot easier.”

The first home match provided a supporting Wildcat crowd and a pumped up team, Bernhardt said.

“We had a lot of fun in our first home game,” Bernhardt said. “The crowd was awesome, the energy was there and we were ready.”

Horn said she was pleased with the outcome of Tuesday’s game and with the way her team has been playing since the first tournament.

“We displayed hard work and high emotion, and it resulted in a victory,” Horn said. “We totally controlled the second game of the match by not allowing many unforced errors, and that really set the tone for us.”

Now, ACU turns to Texas Woman’s on Friday night at 7 p.m. and St. Edwards on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Texas Woman’s has only one victory on the season, beating Southeastern Oklahoma State on August 30. St. Edwards has a 5-4 record.