By Daniel Johnson, Sports Editor

The returning LSC champion and nationally ranked Wildcat volleyball team split its opening tournament of the 2006 season with 2-2 record after competing in the Northern Michigan Invitational the weekend of Aug 25-26.

Under the leadership of new head coach Kellen Mock, the No. 20 Wildcats traveled to Marquette, Mich., to test their young team against some of the best Division II programs the Midwest has to offer.

The Wildcats passed their first challenge of the tournament after defeating the Michigan Tech Huskies in five games Friday afternoon. The season opening win was coach Mock’s first as head coach.

ACU downed Michigan Tech 27-30, 34-32, 30-25, 20-30 and 15-13. Junior outside hitter Abbie Lowry led the team with 22 kills, while junior outside hitter Amy Silva had 15 and freshman middle blocker Michelle Bacon added 12.

Later that night in their second match in Marquette the purple and white Wildcats fell to the green and gold Wildcats of Northern Michigan in four games. Lowry led again with 17 kills and junior Liz Snoddy had 16 digs.

After losing its second match, the team was tested once more against No. 5 Minnesota-

Duluth. The Duluth Bulldogs grabbed the victory in three games, defeating the Wildcats 30-24, 30-24 and 30-19.

“We struggled to close them down on the block and were on the defensive most of the game.” Mock said. “We could not quite get our heads together in order to do what we needed to do and put them on the defensive as opposed to us.”

“This past weekend we had to learn how to rely on each other.” Mock said. “Mentally we learned a lot and learned how to rely on each other and compete with each other to beat somebody. Although the two losses were negative for us, I think that the positive that came out of it was that the team had to learn how to become a cohesive unit against someone else.”

In their final match the Wildcats were well on their way to returning to Texas with a 1-3 record after losing the first two games 30-25 to St. Cloud State.

“We forgot what we were aiming for, and before we knew it we were behind.” Mock said.

But with defeat on the horizon, the Wildcats found their game and came back to win the next three games and leave the tournament with a win. According to Mock, her team came together to turn the odds and make the comeback victory.

“You could see the switch in their faces,” she said. “They wanted to win, and nothing was going to stop them.”

That switch led helped the Wildcats overcome St. Cloud State with a rally win 30-24, 30-24 and 16-14.

“Our team really stepped up as a whole and we turned the energy around,” said senior setter/defensive specialist Malia Plumlee. “We got all of the momentum and went with it.”

The next preseason test in the Wildcats’ schedule is one they passed with flying colors in 2005. They will return to the Premier Challenge in Denver September 1-2 as defending tournament champions and will face No. 7 Washburn and Metropolitan State in the preliminaries of the tournament.

we needed to do and put them on the defensive as opposed to us.”

“This past weekend we had to learn how to rely on each other.” Mock said. “Mentally we learned a lot and learned how to rely on each other and compete with each other to beat somebody. Although the two losses were negative for us, I think that the positive that came out of it was that the team had to learn how to become a cohesive unit against someone else.”

In their final match the Wildcats were well on their way to returning to Texas with a 1-3 record after losing the first two games 30-25 to St. Cloud State.

“We forgot what we were aiming for, and before we knew it we were behind.” Mock said.

But with defeat on the horizon, the Wildcats found their game and came back to win the next three games and leave the tournament with a win. According to Mock, her team came together to turn the odds and make the comeback victory.

“You could see the switch in their faces,” she said. “They wanted to win, and nothing was going to stop them.”

That switch helped the Wildcats overcome St. Cloud State with a rally win 30-24, 30-24 and 16-14.

“Our team really stepped up as a whole and we turned the energy around,” said senior setter/defensive specialist Malia Plumlee. “We got all of the momentum and went with it.”

The next preseason test in the Wildcats’ schedule is one they passed with flying colors in 2005. They will return to the Premier Challenge in Denver September 1-2 as defending tournament champions and will face No. 7 Washburn and Metropolitan State in the preliminaries of the tournament.

“I feel a lot more confident going into this weekend now that we’ve learned how to pull ourselves out of a rut and know how to identify when negative things are happening on the court and fix them,” Mock said.

After competing in Denver, the Wildcats will host their last preseason tournament Sept. 8-9.