The Optimist
  • Home
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Staff Contacts
    • Jobs
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos
  • Features
  • Print Edition
    • The Pessimist
    • Special Projects
  • Police Log
  • Classifieds
You are here: Home / Sports / Wildcats head home from Utah after disappointing WAC weekend
Londyn Gray, senior outside hitter from Weatherford, hits the ball over the net (Photo by Sydney Varner)

Wildcats head home from Utah after disappointing WAC weekend

October 10, 2022 by Connor Mullins

The Wildcats (4-13, 1-4) struggled in their first trip to Utah this year with back-to-back sweeps against Southern Utah (3-12, 2-4) on Thursday and Utah Tech (8-7, 2-4) on Saturday. 

Not many things went well for new head coach Alisa Blair’s Wildcats during their first Western Athletic Conference road trip. Blair said the Wildcats struggled to execute their game plan as both WAC foes took advantage of ACU’s miscues. 

“It definitely was a struggle,” Blair said. “On our side of things, both Southern Utah and Utah Tech did a really, really good job of executing their game plan. Southern Utah played a phenomenal game against us, and so did Utah Tech. I thought our girls had some times where they did really good things. We need to piece together to get the results that we want.”

Southern Utah had ACU’s number on Thursday winning 25-16, 25-17 and 25-21 to take home the sweep. The Thunderbirds struck the Wildcats quickly as they held the Wildcats to a .089 hitting percentage. ACU’s defense was not much better as they turned out a season-low 29 digs. Outside hitter Ashli Edmiston, freshman from Wilsonville, Ore., aced the Thunderbirds three times, bringing her total to 26 which is good enough for fifth all-time for aces in a year. Outside hitter Londyn Gray, senior from Weatherford, stood out with seven kills on a .278 hitting percentage. 

“In our first game, Londyn had a phenomenal game,” Blair said. “Our right sides are really dominating right now, and I thought they did a really good job in both games of making sure that they were available and they were. Londyn did her job.”

Utah Tech continued to spoil ACU’s Utah weekend with 25-20, 25-19 and 25-19 set wins to take the sweep. The Trailblazers blazed the ACU defense for a .310 hitting percentage to ACU’s .222. Libero Sara Carrizales, freshman from Arlington, was one of the lone bright spots for ACU as she racked up 20 digs for her second 20-plus dig night of the year. Outside hitter Jada Birkel, senior from Austin, was efficient as she hit .364 for 11 kills for her sixth double-digit kill night of the year. 

“In the second game, Jada did her job and she hit over .500,” Blair said. “Whenever you have right sides that hit above 500, you just get pretty excited.”

Following the disappointing road weekend, ACU heads to Riverside, California to face California Baptist on Thursday and make the quick trip back to Abilene to face Grand Canyon on Saturday. Out of 13, ACU currently stands at 12th in the WAC with CBU at 8th and GCU at 5th. 

“I thought we did a good job with planning this one because we have a football game, which is great, but that helped push our game further back,” Blair said. “Travel always stinks, but at the same time, we get to sleep in our own bed. Any time you get to sleep in your own bed and actually have that before a game is phenomenal because your body just resets. It’s not easy, but that’s just the way this conference is.”

ACU’s away and home weekend begins at 9 p.m. on Thursday against California Baptist at Van Dyne Gym and against Grand Canyon at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Moody Coliseum. 

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ACU, ACU Volleyball, ACU Wildcats, Alisa Blair, Ashli Edmiston, California Baptist, Grand Canyon, Head coach Alisa Blair, Jada Birkel, Londyn Gray

Other Sports:

  • Women’s golf drives for success despite young mid-major status

  • More than money: FBS games bring in revenue, impact program

  • Realignment shakes up the WAC puzzle

About Connor Mullins

I'm a senior journalism major with minors in business administration and bible, missions and ministry from Abilene. I thoroughly enjoy having the platform to tell the stories that deserve to be told and am pursuing a professional career in mass communications.

You are here: Home / Sports / Wildcats head home from Utah after disappointing WAC weekend

Other Sports:

  • Women’s golf drives for success despite young mid-major status

  • More than money: FBS games bring in revenue, impact program

  • Realignment shakes up the WAC puzzle

Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Optimist on Twitter

Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
ashleyh1607 Ashley Henderson @ashleyh1607 ·
3 Jun

My second year at ACU was full of opportunities that grew me as an individual and a journalist.

In my first year as editor in chief of @acuoptimist, we published six print issues, filmed a 3-hour live election show, and revamped our newscast, all while producing news weekly.

Reply on Twitter 1929734328445178254 Retweet on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Like on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Twitter 1929734328445178254
Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
optimistsports Optimist Sports @optimistsports ·
2 Jun

The Optimist reached out to ACU Athletics, who provided the following statement.

Reply on Twitter 1929676060947632336 Retweet on Twitter 1929676060947632336 1 Like on Twitter 1929676060947632336 1 Twitter 1929676060947632336

Optimist on Facebook

The Optimist

11 months ago

The Optimist

Video

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

The Optimist

2 years ago

The Optimist
"Ending my college education early was always the plan for me, but the things that I have been able to see, experience and examine about ACU’s community were not. I have found immense growth in ACU over the past three and a half years, but ACU still has a long road to climb if it wants to keep catering to students as the world changes around them." To read more of this article visit acuoptimist.com or click the link in our bio. #acu #abilenechristianuniversity #privatechristianuniversity #collegestudentopinion #acuopinion ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Videos

Optimist Newscast Feb. 28, 2024

Our top stories today include a recap of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, the ... [Read More…]

  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 21, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 14, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Jan. 24, 2024

Latest Photos

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Policies
    • Advertising Policy
    • Letters to the Editor and Reader Comments
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photo Galleries
  • Features
  • Advertise
    • Paid Advertisement
  • Police Log

© 2025 ACU Optimist · All Rights Reserved