ACU split their weekend road games with a loss on Thursday against McNeese St. and a win against Nicholls St. This brings the Wildcats’ record to 4-2 in conference and 5-16 on the season.

The Wildcats had a back and forth battle all game long with the Cowgirls from McNeese where there was a total of 33 ties and 15 lead changes through the first two sets. In the end ACU fell just short as they lost in three straight sets by the smallest of margins as each set ended by the score of 25-23. The team hit a .181 on the game compared to McNeese’s .213.

After having dominated the blocks against their opponents the past three games by the count of 40-18, the Wildcats tied their opponent with 8 blocks in the game. This is the first time that ACU has not had 10 or more blocks in a conference game. Jacey Smith led the team with 12.5 points on 12 kills and also added a block on the night. Lexi Mercier had an impressive night as she finished with a .462 hitting percent. Kendall Bosse had 23 assists on the game and Amanda Chapa posted 27 digs.

Sophomores Jacey Smith and Lauren Walker combine for the block. ACU leads the Southland Conference in blocks per set.

The Wildcats had their best hitting game of the season with a .267 percentage against Nicholls. The ‘Cats got off to a quick start and took the first set easily 25-15. The Colonels were able to keep the last two sets close as they were pushed to extra points, but ACU would not be denied their first sweep of the season, coming back from nine points down in the third set, as they beat the Colonels by a score of 27-25 in both sets.

Sophomores Lauren Walker and Smith led the team with 13.0 points each. Walker also posted a very impressive hitting percent of .692 along with four blocks on the night.

The team returns home for its next two games as it takes on Stephen F. Austin on Thursday and then Sam Houston St. on Saturday. SFA is 5-1 in conference and 12-7 on the season, while Sam Houston is 3-3 in conference and 9-10 on the season.