The Wildcats (6-7) opened their Western Athletic Conference season Thursday night with a sweep versus the Seattle University Redhawks (5-7).

Rallying from down 17-13, the Redhawks forced a fight in extra volleys in the first set before ACU’s Ashli Edmiston got a kill and Chloe Karn and Braden Bossier got a block to take the first set 26-24.

“We never got too high or too low,” said middle blocker Breanna Box. “When it came down to it, we were able to finish.”

In the second set, Abby Christian had a 5-0 ace streak, along with big kills from Karn and Edmiston to push the Wildcats to a comfortable 22-13 lead. The set ended 25-19 on a 3-1 run, including kills by Bossier and Bryley Steinhilber.

“I think the main things that helped us were the back row and front row flowing and connecting with each other well,” Box said.

The third set was similar to the second; Edmiston, Steinhilber and Bossier had kills contributing to a 5-0 run and a 22-13 lead. 

Hannah Gonzalez had the final kill of the match, securing the win for the Wildcats.

Head coach Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said she was pleased with a WAC win.

“We had a really great offensive night led by Madeline Guffy,” Alstrup said. “Our defensive effort was also strong throughout the match.”

Guffy had 41 assists contributing to the 52 kills by ACU. Steinhilber and Edmiston led in kills with 13, and Box had 10.

The Wildcats’ defense worked hard with 11 digs, 10 of those from Sara Carrizales and one from Steinhilber. Bossier and Karn had two blocks each.

Alstrup said the team needs to immediately turn its to attention to the next match. The Wildcats will take on Utah Valley University at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Moody Coliseum.