Volleyball kicks off their first few games of the season in the Omaha invitational tournament. After losing a hand full of seniors that were key players last year, this years team is excited to see where this season will take them. 

However, not all of the talent is gone. Junior outside hitter Katelyn Mueller and senior middle blocker Kennedy Shelstead are back and ready for another year. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Lorin McNeil is also back for the 2019 season after an injury that caused her to sit out of the 2018 season last year.

Shelstead said that she is more than ready to kick off her senior season as an ACU Wildcat.

“I am so ecstatic for this season to finally start,” Shelstead said. “This is my final season as a Wildcat and I’m so excited to represent my dream school with this team. I am most excited about finally getting to see our new team dynamic come into play against these big teams. We lost so many seniors last year and have big shoes to fill so I’m excited to see how we fill those shoes and compete.”

The Wildcats lost five seniors last year but have replaced them with six new faces to their roster for the upcoming season.

Mueller said that the work they have put in during this years offseason will show in a good way on the court. 

“We have worked so hard this spring, summer, and preseason to be ready for this season and I think that will really show,” Mueller said. “We have built a great team culture and our practices have been more competitive than ever because we have so many girls stepping into new and bigger roles on the court.” 

The Wildcats are coming off of a losing season of 13 wins and 16 losses but a winning season in conference with 10 wins and six losses.

With the 2019 conference season a few weeks away, the Wildcats are picked to finish second in the Southland Conference rankings.

The Wildcats will play their first game against the Omaha Mavericks on Aug. 30 at 12:30 p.m.