Wildcats open home slate

ACU hosts Midwestern State Tuesday at Moody

ABILENE -- The ACU volleyball team will open its 2003 home schedule Tuesday night when it hosts Lone Star Conference North Division rival Midwestern State at Moody Coliseum.

The match is set to begin at 7 p.m.

The Wildcats and Lady Indians are both 4-4 heading into the match, although both got to the .500 level in different ways.

ACU was 1-3 after its opening weekend of play, but turned that record around last weekend in Pueblo, Colo., going 3-1 in the Quality Inn / Thunderwolf Invitational at Colorado State-Pueblo. ACU beat Western State (Colo.), Colorado School of Mines and CSU-Pueblo in the tournament to even its record after eight matches.

Sophomore outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt capped a fantastic weekend in the win over CSU-Pueblo with a career-high 31 kills and .551 hitting percentage. She leads the team in kills with 137 in eight matches (17.1 per match), and is third in digs with 79. Senior outside hitter Haylee Hartline is second on the team in kills with 91, while sophomore middle blocker Amanda Slate is third with 90.

Senior setter Lindsey Martin has 350 assists through eight matches (43.75 per match), while junior libero Kellen Morrow leads the team in digs with 93.

Midwestern State, meanwhile, will carry a two-match losing streak into Tuesday night's match. The Lady Indians were 4-2 going into Saturday's matches at their own tournament, but lost in three straight to Fort Hays State (Kan.), and then blew a 2-0 lead over Wayland Baptist in a five-game loss.

Kate Pence leads the team in kills with 93, followed by Melissa Minus with 92 and Joni martin with 82. Whitney Johansen leads MSU in assists with 342.

ACU will also be at home this weekend when it hosts Texas Woman's University Friday at 7 p.m. and St. Edward's at 2 p.m. Saturday.