By Brian Roe, Sports Writer
The red-hot ACU Wildcats continued their winning ways after beating Cameron in four games Tuesday in Lawton, Okla.
The Wildcats, now 15-5, are in first place in the Lone Star Conference South. ACU will not play its first conference match, however, until Oct. 10 against the 6-10 Eastern New Mexico squad.
ACU defeated Cameron on Tuesday winning by scores of 30-24, 32-30, 24-30, 30-25. The Wildcats were again led by sophomore sensations Michelle Bernhardt and Lindsey Martin.
Bernhardt recorded 22 kills, 18 digs and had a hitting percentage of .283 for the match. Bernhardt has recorded at least 21 kills in seven matches this season, including three of the last five ACU matches. The sophomore outside hitter leads the team with 342 kills and is on pace to break her mark of 423 kills last season.
Martin also had a solid match against Cameron posting 55 assists. The Wildcat setter now leads the Lone Star Conference with 868 assists this season. Martin is averaging 11.89 assists per game, which is second only to West Texas A&M’s setter Kendra Morgan in the LSC.
Head coach Brek Horn said the team needs to keep working hard.
“We are looking to win conference this year,” Horn said. “We need to keep working hard, keep preparing mentally and I believe we have as good of a chance as anyone.”
The Wildcats have four players with at least 100 kills on the season, led by Bernhardt and followed by senior outside hitter Haylee Hartline (236 kills), sophomore middle blocker Amanda Slate (215 kills) and sophomore outside hitter Ashlee Motola (115 kills). Junior libero leads the team with 264 digs and Martin leads the team in assists.
The Wildcats will take their eight-match winning streak to San Antonio this weekend to compete against Incarnate Word and St. Mary’s. ACU will play the 8-7 Lady Crusaders of Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, the Wildcats play the 9-10 Lady Rattlers of St. Mary’s at 2 p.m.
Following the matches this weekend in San Antonio, ACU will open play in the LSC South Division next weekend with a pair of home matches against Eastern New Mexico on Friday at 7 p.m. and division rival and volleyball powerhouse West Texas A&M on Saturday at 2 p.m.
