The Wildcats kept what fans are calling “Moody Magic” alive when they downed the Lamar Cardinals in three-straight sets at home Saturday. ACU remains unbeaten at home with a 7-0 record in Moody Coliseum after this victory.
Head Coach Jason Bibler says the team has worked hard to finish the season on a high note.
“We spent a lot of time this week just being focused on our discipline. The girls put in a lot of work, this past week and worked really hard in practice,” Bibler said. “We knew going into these last few matches that we were playing tough opponents, and we really needed to be focused on ourselves. We knew we could handle what they were going to throw at us if we played our style of offense and defense.”
After starting the first set down 3-1, ACU used an 8-2 run to take control of the game as it would not look back the rest of the way. Lamar would gain some ground during the set, but would never get closer than three points as ACU ended it on a 6-1 run to take the game, 25-15. ACU hit .276 during the first set, which would be its lowest hitting percentage of the night. Lamar was limited to only a -.057 hitting percent. ACU would also keep their errors to a minimum, only having four. Lamar had the bulk of their errors in the first set with 11 of the 22 coming from this set.
The Wildcats came out hot in the second set, as they got out to a 14-7 lead early. Lamar would make a push for the lead as it would pull within three points at 22-19, forcing ACU to call a timeout to reset themselves before finishing the game off 25-21. ACU would increase its hitting percentage to .314 as it gave up a .200 hitting percentage to Lamar, which is the highest hitting percent the Cardinals would have all match.
The third set was all ACU, until a drawback from a minor injury to freshman Amanda Chapa would allow the Cardinals to work their way back into this one. ACU would go on a 4-0 run to give themselves a little breathing room. Chapa would rejoin the rotation before the Wildcats would finish the set on a 4-1 run to take this one 25-18. ACU finished the game with its best hitting percent at .333, while Lamar posted a .143 hitting percentage.
“It was great beating both teams this weekend. The girls were very excited about it,” Bibler said. “I think being undefeated at home is great, it’s definitely not an easy thing or something we take lightly. We know we have two more tough matches coming up this week and we want to be prepared for them.”
For the match the Wildcats hit a season-high .310, holding Lamar to just .103. Sophomore Jacey Smith and freshman Marybeth Sandercox would lead the Wildcats with 10 kills apiece. Senior Lexi Mercier had a game-high five blocks, and sophomore Kendall Bosse posted 32 assists, which is double that of Lamar’s highest players total. Even with missing a good portion of the third set, Amanda Chapa recorded a game-high of 16 digs.
This was the first time that ACU had won a home game in straight sets this season, and the win ties the Wildcats win total in conference play from last year at nine.
ACU (10-19, 9-5) will look to keep the “Moody Magic” alive as it has two home games remaining. The first is against Nicholls St. (8-22, 3-11) on Thursday, followed by McNeese St. (9-20, 5-9) on Saturday to finish out the season.
