After traveling three weekends in a row for preseason tournaments, the Wildcats are now hosting one of their own. 

In their first home game of the season, the Wildcats played against the Alabama A&M University Bulldogs, who had lost to Oral Roberts University earlier in the day. 

While the sets were close, the Wildcats won the match in three sets with outstanding performances all around. 

Entering the weekend with a 3-6 record with losses to schools such as Baylor University and the University of Arizona, the team was ready to come home and play in front of its own fans. 

Sara Carrizales, junior libero from Arlington, said she is excited to play in front of a large group of fans supporting the team.

“I’m just so excited to have energy within the team and then having that energy back from the crowd and feeding into us,” she said. 

Hannah Gonzalez, middle blocker from Lucas, had 10 kills in the match, with six coming in the third set.

Along with her good hitting night, Gonzalez had four blocks, which was highly helpful from a defensive standpoint.

Head Coach Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said she has been impressed with the defensive efforts from her team all season long. 

“I think as a blocking group, we’re doing a lot better than we did last year; getting a lot more kill blocks and then also just positive touches on the ball,” she said.

Nieko Thomas, senior middle blocker from West Hills, California, also added three blocks to the team’s total in the match against the Bulldogs, reinforcing Moronu Alstrup’s assessment of the defense. 

Carrizales said she has been impressed with how the team has improved in tough games, especially the younger athletes on the team.

“I’m just really impressed how the sophomores and the freshmen have been stepping up to compete for the spot but also to just compete and work so hard off the court,” she said. “Each game we just take a step forward.”

Moronu Alstrup says she wants everybody to show up for the second home game of the season, and she knows they will have a good experience. 

“We would love to pack Moody for our second match of the season against Oral Roberts at 6 p.m.,” she said. “We’re hoping that it’s just a really fun experience for everybody that gets to come out.”

The Wildcats will play against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles at 6 p.m. Friday, before traveling to Utah to start conference play next week.