The Wildcats opened their regular season on Aug. 28-29 by hosting the annual ACU Invitational at Moody Coliseum, finishing 1-2 against Lamar University, California State University, Bakersfield, and the University of North Texas.

ACU opened the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Lamar on Friday before falling to CSUB and UNT by identical 3-1 scores Saturday.

The matchup against Lamar marked a rematch from last season, when the Wildcats fell to the Cardinals 3-0.

This time, ACU came out on top, taking the opening set 25-15 before closing the match with its most dominant performance of the night. The Wildcats cruised to a 25-7 victory in the fourth set, allowing the fewest points in a set since beginning their Division I era in 2013.

Prior to the match, head coach Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said the team was motivated to get another opportunity against the Cardinals.

“We definitely have a little chip on our shoulder because of that loss. There are a couple of games that we wish to get back from last season, and that’s one of them. So I’m hoping that we go into this game wanting to get a little bit of revenge and really show what we can do,” Moronu Alstrup said.

Aubrey Beaver, a senior outside hitter from Murrieta, California, led the Wildcats with 13 kills and two blocks. Alyssa Todd, a freshman outside hitter from Aledo, Texas, added 12 kills and two blocks in her collegiate debut.

Saturday presented a tougher challenge for the Wildcats. ACU fell behind 2-0 against CSUB before battling back to take the third set, but the comeback fell short as the Roadrunners secured the fourth set and the match.

Maddie Finnegan, a junior outside hitter and Westmont transfer from Spokane, Washington, led ACU with 13 kills and seven digs. Annaleise Sevier, a junior outside hitter from Aubrey, Texas, also made her season debut, recording 10 kills and two blocks.

The Wildcats faced a similar situation against UNT, dropping the first two sets before responding with a third-set victory. The Mean Green, however, closed out the match 3-1.

Beaver once again led ACU offensively with 14 kills and three block assists, while Hadlee Welch, a sophomore outside hitter/right side from Lubbock, Texas, added eight kills and five blocks.

Despite finishing the invitational 1-2, ACU had two players named to the ACU Invitational All-Tournament Team: senior setter Rachel Koss of Freedom, Wisconsin, and redshirt sophomore libero Brennan Ramirez of Waxahachie, Texas.

Koss finished the tournament with 99 assists, averaging 8.25 per set, along with six kills and 16 digs. Ramirez anchored the Wildcats defensively with 56 digs, averaging 4.67 per set, while adding 14 assists and four aces.

“Getting the amount of assists I did just shows how well our team did passing and hitting,” Koss said. “So it motivates the entire team. What we’re doing is being recognized and just continuing to pour every piece of our offense, finding ways to score.”

The Wildcats then turned their attention to the Houston Invitational at Fertitta Center, where they will face the University of Houston, Houston Christian University and Texas Southern University.

The Wildcats will look to clean up their mistakes after committing 82 errors throughout the invitational, including 58 across Saturday’s two losses.

“The biggest thing is controlling our errors, then our block defense, just putting our blockers in better positions to touch more balls,” Moronu Alstrup said. “I hope to control our errors. We want to play good volleyball, focusing on our side of the court, controlling the ball and being aggressive on our side; doing whatever we can to win games and play really good defense.”

The Wildcats opened the invitational with a 3-2 loss to the Cougars on Thursday, dropping to 1-3 on the season. ACU will look to bounce back in its remaining matches against Houston Christian and Texas Southern.