By Brian Roe, Sports Writer
The Wildcats flung an 11-year monkey forcefully off their backs Thursday night soundly beating West Texas A&M in a three-game sweep in Moody Coliseum. ACU demolished their rivals 30-19, 30-22, 30-22 in less than 90 minutes in front of 522 fans.
“The fans were so loud we couldn’t even hear ourselves on the court,” said junior setter Lindsey Martin. “I really think our crowd got into their heads.”
The Wildcats extend their win streak to nine games and improve their record to 15-5 overall and 1-0 in the Lone Star Conference South Division.
Before last night, the Wildcats had managed to win only seven of the last seventy-seven games against the Lady Buffs and had not won a match against West Texas A&M since Oct. 8, 1993.
“We knew we had them after the first game. This is just a huge win in our first conference game,” said junior middle blocker Amanda Slate.
ACU, picked to finish second behind West Texas A&M in the pre-season poll, dominated every aspect of the conference opener.
Slate led the Wildcats with a .370 hitting percentage, a game-high 16 kills and two digs. Martin posted a game-high 52 assists, junior outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt added 12 kills and 16 digs and junior middle blocker Ashlee Motola chipped in 12 digs and hit .400.
“We played confidently and we dominated the net,” said head coach Brek Horn. “Our defense really made a difference.”
The ACU defense challenged the Lady Buffs offense all night recording seven team blocks and holding them to a .066 team hitting percentage. ACU forced the confused Lady Buffs to use four timeouts while the Wildcats never called a timeout.
Four Wildcats finished with double-digit digs: senior libero Kellen Morrow (22 digs), Bernhardt (16 digs), freshman outside hitter Liz Snoddy (12 digs) and sophomore setter Malia Plumlee (11 digs).
“Our defense played great against a very good team. We just played a strong all-around game,” Bernhardt said.
Last night’s win was arguably the biggest in the history of ACU volleyball. Morrow said last night was a match she’s been waiting to win her entire ACU career.
“Honestly this is a dream come true,” Morrow said. “Coming in as a freshman I heard about WT and we finally have beat them. We have to have to build off this momentum.”
The Lady Buffs still own the lifetime series with ACU 40-6-1, but the Wildcats look to knock off the reigning LSC South champions in 2004.
“I want to tear down the stigma of West Texas A&M,” Horn said. “When I took over this program we were at the bottom, but after five years of hard work and dedication we are now one step closer to what I want to accomplish.”
Horn said her immediate goal is to re-focus and prepare for Saturday’s match against Eastern New Mexico. The match begins at 2 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
“The players should all be off their high from this game by tomorrow’s practice; at least they better be, ” Horn said. “We just have to enjoy this and then go on to the next thing. There are several more matches to play this year.”
