For the first time, Wildcat volleyball will host its conference tournament. Originally scheduled to take place in Orem, Utah, the Western Athletic Conference announced on July 17 that the tournament would be moved to Abilene.
On Nov. 20-22, all seven teams in the WAC will travel to Moody Coliseum to play in the conference tournament. With seeding decided by regular-season conference games, the No. 1 seed will get a bye in the first round while the next six teams play each other on the first day of competition.
The Wildcats hope to have the upper hand in the tournament, regardless of their seeding, based on fan support and the home court advantage, Head Coach Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said.
“I think especially in our conference,” she said, “One that literally any team can beat any team, it’s a huge home-court advantage to be able to play in front of our home fans, have families come out to Abilene and just have the support of our community for the biggest tournament of the year.”
The Wildcats hosted the Wildcat Classic to kick off their 2025 season and are now wrapping up the season by hosting a different tournament.
Moronu Alstrup said beginning and ending the season the same way is promising for the crowd that should attend the games.
“We had a great crowd that opening weekend,” she said. “So I’m really excited to be able to bring what should be the best volleyball that all the teams are playing back to Abilene for some really fun matches that weekend.”
With the WAC completely rebranding to the United Athletic Conference on July 1, 2026, this is the last time there will be a WAC volleyball championship, which has brought new motivation to the team, said Ashli Edmiston, senior outside hitter from Wilsonville, Oregon.
“I think that re-fired us all up because we would get to do it on our home court and the last time that the WAC has even been played,” Edmiston said. “It gives me goosebumps to think about because I’m just so excited for that.”
Moronu Alstrup said she is excited for the opportunity to win her first conference title as head coach of the Wildcats, but even more so since it could happen at home.
“We’ve been talking about winning a WAC championship since I got here,” Moronu Alstrup said. “I’m most excited for hopefully bringing a WAC championship back to Abilene in Abilene.”
