By Brian Roe, Sports Writer

After winning its first match of the year, the Wildcats lost three consecutive matches last weekend in the season-opening Rockhurst Invitational in Kansas City, Mo.

ACU kicked off the season with a win over Wayne State on Friday. The Wildcats won the match, which lasted over an hour and a half, winning three of five games over Wayne State.

The team then played its second match 15 minutes after its victory. ACU dropped the second match to Drury, who won the match 3-1.

ACU closed out the tournament with a 3-1 loss to host Rockhurst and a 3-2 loss to Colorado’s Mesa St.

Head coach Brek Horn said the team didn’t capitalize on close the close matches with Drury and Mesa State.

“We have been working on our mentality this week in practice,” Horn said. “I think that was a main reason why we lost the close matches; because we weren’t as prepared mentally as we needed to be. We have to give ourselves the chance to compete and finish off those close games.”

Senior outside hitter Haylee Hartline said it was a frustrating weekend.

“We had higher expectations,” said Hartline, who sat out of practice Tuesday with minor back problems. “We played some ranked teams but the tournament wasn’t too hard. We just didn’t have it together.”

The Wildcats will have a chance to prove themselves again this weekend as they take their 1-3 record to Pueblo, Colo.

The team’s first home match will be 7 p.m. Tuesday against Midwestern State.