The Wildcats kept their first-round Lone Star Conference Championship match close, but No. 2 seed West Texas A&M ultimately swept the ‘Cats out of the tournament 27-25, 25-20 and 25-21 in San Angelo.
ACU entered the tournament on a two-match winning streak. The team ends their LSC and Division II career after the loss.
The Wildcats finish the season with a 12-19 overall record and an 8-12 conference mark. It is the first time the team has ended the season with a losing record under Coach Kellen Mock. She took the reigns in the Spring of 2005.
The squad upset the Lady Buffs earlier in the year by a 3-0 margin in Moody Coliseum. It was Mock’s first victory over WTAMU in her coaching career.
ACU and the West Texas fought back-and-forth throughout the entire contest. In the first set, the Wildcats were down by as much as five points (16-11) but they went on a 10-4 run to claim a 21-20 lead.
The advantage was short-lived however as the Lady Buffs tied the score 23-23. Freshman middle blocker Jennie Loerch smashed a kill to knot it up at 25-25. WTAMU racked up the next two points on a kill and an attack error by sophomore Sara Oxford.
The ‘Cats held an 11-9 lead in game two but WT responded with a 7-2 run that put them up 16-11. ACU got to within 22-20 only to see their arch rival score three-straight points to end the set.
Set three was all Lady Buffs until the very end. West Texas let a five point lead slip to two at 23-21. A costly service error by Sarah Siemens and a block on a Kalynne Allen hit shut the door on the match.
The Lady Buffs outblocked the Wildcats 10 to eight. Freshman Corrie Reeder had a hand in all but one of those blocks.
Oxford led the team with 13 kills along with a .233 hitting percentage. Unfortunately, the ‘Cats only hit .096 as a team and recorded 23 errors in games one and three. They made just two in set two.
Siemens was the leader in assists as she put up 34 to finish her first collegiate season with 1,123. Freshman Madison Hoover had 30 digs. She finishes the year with 541, the fourth-highest single-season total in ACU history.
West Texas A&M will play in the semifinals Friday against No. 3 seed Tarleton State University. TSU defeated No. 6 Texas A&M University-Kingsville in five sets.
