Wildcats begin quest for LSC crown

ACU heads into tournament as No. 2 seed from LSC South

CANYON -- The ACU Wildcats begin their quest for their first Lone Star Conference volleyball championship Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the post-season conference tournament on the campus of West Texas A&M University.

ACU (25-10 and the No. 2 seed from the LSC South Division) will take on Cameron (20-11 and the No. 3 seed from the LSC North Division) at 5 p.m.. in the first match of the tournament.  The winner of the match will take on LSC North Division champion Central Oklahoma in Friday's 5 p.m. semifinal match.

ACU enters the tournament on a bit of a hot streak, having won its last three matches, including two LSC South Division matches against Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Kingsville that helped the Wildcats clinch the No. 2 seed from the LSC South.  Those three wins came on the heels of a three-match losing streak that sent the Wildcats from tied for first in the LSC South to third place.  But the Wildcats managed to get back on track and grab the No. 2 seed.

"After that three-match losing streak, we could have either kept going further into a hole, or we could have had a change of attitude and come back and play strong," ACU head coach Brek Horn said.  "I'm glad we chose to come back and play strong.  I think the win over St. Mary's (3-0 on Nov. 4) helped us probably more than the other two wins because they had beaten us before and they were ranked higher in the region than we were.  But I thought we dominated them, and that made us feel good going into the Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Kingsville matches.

Those two wins were big for the Wildcats, who could reach Saturday's 7 p.m. championship match before having to take on four-time defending conference champion West Texas A&M on its home floor at the WTAM Field House ("The Box").

"I think getting that No. 2 seed was very important," Horn said.  "If we beat Cameron, and if we beat Central Oklahoma, we're just building confidence going into Saturday's match.  Once you get the opportunity to play in a championship match, anybody can win because those matches are played with so much emotion."

But to even start thinking about playing Saturday night, the Wildcats must first get past a tough Cameron squad that is the only team other than West Texas A&M to win a conference volleyball title since 1995.  The Lady Aggies won the title in 1998 for their only conference championship.

Cameron enters the match having won six straight matches since a 3-1 setback to Central Oklahoma on Oct. 21.  Senior outside hitter Kelsey Kosick leads the team and the LSC in kills with 604 and in kills per game at 5.35.  Junior outside hitter Morgan Meyer is second on the club with 396 kills, while junior middle blocker Nicole Reinhart has 240 kills.  Setter Vicki Ibarra is among the LSC and national leaders with 11.99 assists per game for a total of 1,355 assists.

If the Lady Aggies have one downfall it's that they hit just .194 during the regular season with Kosic hitting .257, but Meyer just .154.

The Wildcats have been led all season by sophomore outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt, who has 599 kills (second in the LSC), the second-highest single-season total in school history behind the 679 Susan Scott posted in 1981.  Bernhardt is also among the LSC leaders in kills per game at 4.61, and her .286 hitting percentage is near the top of the league.

Senior outside hitter Haylee Hartline is second on the team in kills with 449, and her 1,288 career kills are fourth on the school's all-time chart.  Sophomore middle blocker Amanda Slate has 367 kills and leads the LSC in total blocks with 144 (35 solo blocks).  Sophomore setter Lindsey Martin has 1,270 assists, while freshman setter Malia Plumlee has chipped in with 374 assists of her own.

The Wildcats are ranked seventh in the NCAA Division II Southwest Region poll, and the top six teams in the final poll of the season (Monday) will be invited to the Southwest Region tournament.  ACU has never been  part of the regional tournament, and Horn knows her team needs to win the conference tournament in order to play in its first regional tournament.

"We know we have to win this thing, and we know it won't be easy," Horn said.  "It's always tough to play three matches in three days when emotions are running so high for each match.  But I really believe we have as good a chance to win the conference championship as any team that's playing for it.  At the start of the season, I thought we had a legitimate shot at winning the whole thing, and I'm just excited that we're playing for it and not sitting at home like we were last year."