Wildcats on verge of LSC South title

Three LSC South wins will give ACU first championship

ABILENE -- The ACU Wildcats' top goal for the season was to win the Lone Star Conference South Division title and then go on to win the overall conference championship.

They can inch ever closer to the first part of that goal this weekend when they host a pair of LSC South Division matches that will go a long way toward determining the LSC South champion.  ACU will open a stretch of five home matches Thursday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Texas A&M-Kingsville at Moody Coliseum, followed by a 2 p.m. match Saturday against Tarleton State in Moody Coliseum.

Neither the Lady Javelinas or TexAnns are threats to win the LSC South title, but the Wildcats need to win both to improve to 8-1 in the division and remain one game in front of Angelo State, which is 5-2.  The Wildcats will take on the Rambelles next Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum in the final conference match of the season for both teams.

An ACU win would give the Wildcats their first LSC South Division crown and the No. 1 seed from the LSC South for the conference tournament, which will be played Nov. 11-13 at the site of the LSC North Division champion.

First up for the Wildcats, though, are a pair of matches against two teams they've already beaten, each on the road by the score of 3-0.  The Lady Javelinas are still fighting for the third and final post-season berth from the LSC South.  Kingsville is 2-4 entering Thursday night's match, and is two games behind Eastern New Mexico, which is 5-3 after beating West Texas A&M on Tuesday night.  That loss eliminated the Lady Buffs from post-season play.

The Wildcats lead the LSC South Division because they rank in the top four in the LSC in hitting percentage (second at .224), opponent hitting percentage (second at .140), assists (first at 14.84 per game), kills (16.06 per game), blocks (fourth at 1.89 per game) and service aces (second at 2.08 per game).

Junior outside hitter Michelle Bernhardt is second in the LSC in total kills with 430, but her average of 4.53 kills per game leads the LSC.  Her teammate, junior middle blocker Amanda Slate, is second in the LSC in hitting percentage (.345) and is eighth in the league in kills per game at 3.63.

Senior setter Lindsey Martin is second in the LSC in total assists with 1,263, but leads the LSC in assists per game at 13.44.  Slate is third in the league in blocks per game at 0.91, and Kellen Morrow is 10th in the league in digs at 4.07 per game.  Kingsville enters Thursday's match having lost seven of its last eight matches, including a 3-1 loss on Friday at Tarleton State.

The Lady Javelinas are led by Shaday Smith, who has 248 kills and a .227 hitting percentage, as well as Sarah Rauschuber, who has 270 kills and a .223 hitting percentage. 

Tarleton State got off to a 12-2 start, but since is 4-12, and will enter Thursday's match at Angelo State at 16-14 overall and 1-6 in LSC South Division play.   The TexAnns, however, have won three of their last four games after dropping a match to LSC North Division leader Cameron at home on Tuesday.