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The ACU volleyball team is set to conclude its tournament season with the Denver Invitational this weekend.
The Wildcats look for their first win of the season (0-10) after coming up just short against North Texas a week ago. They’ll face Montana, the University of Illinois-Chicago and Denver all for the first time in the mile-high city.
Freshman Lauren Walker is coming off one of her best performances of the season as she earned a spot on the North Texas Invitational All-Tournament Team.
“Losing to North Texas in five sets was a tough one,” Walker said. “We did good things throughout the match, and I think we all worked hard and were intentional about our play. The loss, I think helped us learn that the game isn’t over till it’s over. Pushing all the way to the very end was a lesson we learned.”
The tournament begins with a 5 p.m. showdown against the Grizzlies of Montana. Although the Grizzlies started off the season winning two of their first three games, they have dropped their last seven matches and now sit at 2-7.
The freshman tandem of Kendall Bosse, Jacey Smith and Walker continues to be cause problems for the Wildcats’ opponents.
“I think we have a group of freshmen that have really stepped up and contributed so far,” head coach Jason Bibler said. “Having young talent step in right away is definitely a good thing for us going forward.”
The Wildcats weekend continues Saturday when they face UIC (5-5), who recently won its own tournament, and the tournament host Denver Pioneers (8-3). This will round out one of the toughest tournament seasons in ACU history, which Walker said has prepared them well for conference play.
“I think this trip has taught our team about risk and reward,” Walker said. “Sometimes to get the reward, it requires risks.”
