ACU crushes Angelo to remain in first place

Wildcats stay even with West Texas A&M with 3-0 win over ASU

SAN ANGELO -- Two nights after slogging their way to a four-game victory over Incarnate Word, the Wildcats played one of their best matches of the season in an easy 3-0 win over Angelo State.

The Wildcats' fifth straight victory moves them to 22-7 overall, but, more importantly, keeps them tied with West Texas A&M atop the Lone Star Conference South Division standings at 5-1.  The Lady Buffs beat Tarleton State in four games Thursday night in Stephenville, and will play at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday while the Wildcats take the weekend off.

ACU never let up against the Rambelles and won decisively, 30-14, 30-19, 30-23.

The Wildcats jumped out to leads of 5-0, 9-1 and 20-9 en route to taking the first game.  Junior libero Kellen Morrow played a big role in the Wildcats' first-game dominance as her defense from the back row led Angelo State to hit .000 (9 kills and 9 errors on 50 attacks) in the first game.  Morrow finished the match with 13 digs.

The second game was tied at 3-3 early before ACU ran off four straight points to take a 7-3 lead.  Angelo State eventually cut the lead to 21-18 before sophomore middle blocker Amanda Slate's reeled off three straight aces with her jump serve to push the margin back to 25-18.  ACU would win five of the last six points to take the second game.  Slate finished the match wtih eight service aces (a new Junell Center single-match record), and the Wildcats finished with 10 as a team.

ASU picked up its play in Game 3 and trailed just 16-14 on a kill by Lindsey Jones. But a kill by sophomore outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt and three consecutive ASU hitting errors bumped ACU's lead to 20-14, and the Rambelles didn't get closer than three points the rest of the way.

ACU will be off this weekend before returning to action next Tuesday with a key non-conference match at St. Edward's, which is receiving some votes in the national poll.  The match is a big one for the Wildcats in terms of the NCAA Division II Southwest Region poll.  St. Edward's is ranked fourth in the poll, while the Wildcats are ranked eighth.  The top six teams in the final regional poll of the regular season will be invited to the regional tournament.