Wildcats looking for South's No. 2 seed

ACU can wrap up second place with weekend sweep

ABILENE -- ACU will close out the regular season at home this weekend with a spot in the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Tournament assured and the No. 2 seed out of the LSC South Division in reach.

The Wildcats will host Tarleton State (8-25 overall and 0-8 in the LSC South) at 7 p.m. Friday, and then Texas A&M-Kingsville (9-23 and 2-6 before Friday night's match at Angelo State) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

West Texas A&M has wrapped up the LSC South Division tittle and the No. 1 seed from the South for the tournament, which will be played Nov. 13-15 in Canyon.  Eastern New Mexico finished division play at 7-3 with ACU sitting at 5-3 after back-to-back losses at West Texas A&M and ENMU last weekend.

However, ACU can finish no worse than 5-5, while the best fourth-place Angelo State can finish is 5-5, and with ACU having beaten the Rambelles twice already this season, the Wildcats have wrapped up no worse than third place in the division by virtue of a head-to-head advantage over ASU.

ACU, though, can still gain the No. 2 seed in the tournament with victories this weekend over the TexAnns and Lady Javelinas.  ACU would then be 7-3 on the season, and after ACU and ENMU still remain tied after using the conference's first two tiebreaker rules, the Wildcats move past the Zias because they won 5 of 8 games over Eastern New Mexico this season (winning 3-0 at home on Oct. 10, and losing 3-2 last Saturday in Portales, N.M.).

The Wildcats snapped a three-match losing streak Tuesday night with a 3-0 home win over St. Mary's, and were led by sophomore outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt, whose 15 kills in the match give her a team-leading 569 on the season.  She also has 367 digs, which rank second on the team behind junior libero Kellen Morrow's 466 digs.

Sophomore middle blocker Amanda Slate continues to play well with 347 kills and an LSC-best 136 total blocks (32 solo).   Senior outside hitter Haylee Hartline is second on the team in kills with 423, while sophomore middle blocker Ashlee Motola has 200 kills, and junior rightside hitter Sophia Kindred has 171 kills, giving the Wildcats five players with at least 170 kills on the season.

Sophomore setter Lindsey Martin continues to be among the leaders in assists in the LSC with 1,186 total and 11.51 per game.