The Wildcats saw their five-game home winning streak snapped on Monday night, as the Nicholls State Colonels secured their first conference win of the season, 3-1.
ACU came out slow to begin the match as the Colonels jumped out to a lead as big as five points at 16-11. After a 4-0 run by the Wildcats, the lead was cut to one thanks to three attacking errors by Nicholls State.
The Colonels would hold the lead for a little while longer, but a seventh and eighth error allowed the Wildcats to tie the game eventually taking the lead on freshman Lillian Drever‘s lone service ace. ACU finished the game on a 5-3 run completing the victory 25-22 on a kill by senior Jennie Loerch.
However, after hitting .225 in the first set, the Wildcats struggled to find efficient offense as Nicholls State held ACU to a .992 hitting percentage over the next three sets.
After dropping the first set, the Colonels evened things at 1-1 with an impressive 25-17 win which was fueled by an 11-1 run.
In a marathon game three, Nicholls bested the Wildcats 28-26 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The set was dominated early by ACU, but 11 attack errors would become the Wildcats undoing.
With a 15-10 lead ACU looked prime to take the third set, however, a 9-4 run tied the game at 19-19. The next 14 points were split evenly amongst the two teams, as freshman Kendall Bosse, who finished with eight total kills, tied the game one last time at 26-26 before a Colonel kill and an attack error by freshman Jacey Smith cemented the win.
Despite the game three loss the Wildcats started the final set strong, but Nicholls used their recently gained momentum to help to a tightly contested 26-24 win.
The senior trio performed well again, as Sarah Siemens and Loerch each finished with a double-double for the Wildcats and Madison Hoover recorded 30 digs. Siemens contributed 50 assists and 15 digs while Loerch set a career-high with 24 kills and 12 digs.
The loss drops the Wildcats record to 6-18 overall and 6-5 in conference. ACU returns to action on Halloween with a rematch against Incarnate Word, who they defeated early this season 3-1.
