By Brian Roe, Sports Writer
While many people were watching the opening of the NBA basketball season or the closing of the presidential polls last night, the Wildcats quietly closed out their conference schedule with a victory over Angelo State. The 3-0 sweep secured the team’s first ever Lone Star Conference South Division title.
The Wildcats dominated the visiting Rambelles in a 30-25, 30-22, 30-22 win in Moody Coliseum to improve their record to 24-7 overall and 9-1 in the LSC South Division. Angelo State cemented its spot in second place after losing both matches to the Wildcats this season. ACU remains undefeated on home court with a perfect 12-0 record.
Junior outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt led the team with 12 kills and eight digs. Freshman outside hitter Abbie Lowry also had 12 kills, junior setter Lindsey Martin distributed 41 assists with 10 digs and senior libero Kellen Morrow chipped in 13 digs.
“It was an emotional win for us,” said head coach Brek Horn. “I’ve worked five-and-a-half years to get this program going and these girls have worked so hard to get us to this point. Their work ethic is phenomenal, and they are just smart kids who play hard.”
The team didn’t have to play the entire match to clinch the LSC South Division after beating ASU in the opening game. ACU’s three-game sweep on Oct. 14 over Angelo, meant the only chance for ASU to snatch the division away was to sweep the Wildcats at home.
“We were not interested in winning one game, we wanted to win the match and win the division the right way,” Horn said.
Junior middle blocker Amanda Slate, who had seven kills and four digs in the match, said this is only the first step for the Wildcats.
“It’s nice to be LSC South Champs, but we don’t want to stop there … we want to be overall conference champs,” Slate said.
Bernhardt echoed her teammate’s sentiments.
“It feels good to win the division, but there’s still a lot more to go,” she said. “We still haven’t really won anything.”
Horn said the win over Angelo State and LSC South Division title should serve as a building block for the Wildcats.
“Going to the conference tournament is a goal you need to have, but it’s just one step toward the goal of winning the conference tournament and moving on to the regional tournament,” said Horn.
The Wildcats officially clinched their spot in the Lone Star Conference post-season tournament last week after a pair of home wins over Texas A&M-Kingsville and Tarleton State on Thursday and Saturday respectively.
ACU knocked out Texas A&M-Kingsville in a 30-19, 30-18, 30-21 three-game sweep on Thursday night in Moody Coliseum. Junior middle blocker Amanda Slate led the Wildcats with a game-high 11 kills, two service aces and a .364 hitting percentage.
Junior setter Lindsey Martin added a game-high 38 assists, junior outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt finished with eight kills and 10 digs, and freshman outside hitter Abbie Lowry chipped in nine kills.
On Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats beat the visiting Tarleton State TexAnns in another three-game sweep: 30-22, 30-22, 30-24. Lowry led ACU with a game-high 14 kills, Martin added 38 assists and Bernhardt finished with 13 digs and eight kills.
The Wildcats close out the 2004 regular season with a pair of home LSC crossover matches against Incarnate Word on Friday at 6 p.m. and against St. Mary’s Saturday at noon.
“St. Mary’s beat us at their place, so there is a little revenge factor there,” Horn said. “But we don’t see them until Saturday, so we can’t jump over Incarnate Word.”
The LSC post-season tournament begins Nov. 11 in the gym of the No. 1 seed from the LSC North Division. The LSC alternates tournament hosts between North and South each year.
Currently, Cameron is the No. 1 seed in the North Division. ACU dominated Cameron on Sept. 25 in a three-game sweep at the LSC Crossover Tournament.
