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Oct. 31, 2003

Box Score

The West Texas A&M University volleyball team spooked away any possibilities of another letdown, as they bounced back from Thursday's shocking loss and swept Abilene Christian (30-25, 30-26, 30-26) in a Lone Star Conference South division showdown Friday at The Box. With the win, the Lady Buffs take over sole possession of first-place in the LSC South and can clinch the South title and the right to host the LSC tournament with a win Saturday vs. Angelo State.

WTAMU continued its dominance in the rivalry, reminding former Lady Buff standout and current ACU assistant coach Sarah Butler of the WTAMU glory days, as it was the Lady Buffs' ninth-straight sweep over ACU in The Box. It was also WTAMU's 22nd-straight victory over the Wildcats and the Lady Buffs now lead the all-time series 40-5.

A trio of freshmen led the Lady Buffs' attack Friday, as outside hitter Jessica Scherr led with 14 kills, followed by fellow outside hitters Rachel Altman's 11 kills and Ambra Clark's 10 kills.

Senior setter Kendra Morgan was two kills shy of her second-straight triple-double and sixth of the year, as she finished with 40 assists, 12 digs and eight kills.

Fellow senior Kacie Hyatt was one of three Lady Buffs who tied a match-high 12 digs, and now need just three digs to become the WTAMU single-season digs leader.

Hyatt and Morgan are WTAMU's only seniors and were honored with a special pre-match ceremony.

ACU was led by Michelle Bernhardt's match-high 18 kills and Amanda Slate added 15 kills for the Wildcats, who have lost two-straight after winning their previous five matches since losing to WTAMU in four-games on Oct. 11 at Abilene, Texas.

Friday night the Lady Buffs controlled the action at the net, as they jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the opening game after a tandem block from Altman and sophomore middle blocker Cynthia Carter.

After ACU closed to 18-15, WTAMU reeled off the next four points, capped by a kill from Carter and forcing a Wildcat timeout at 22-15.

ACU pulled within 25-22, but WTAMU regained control and won game one, 30-25 on a kill from Clark.

Game two was equally even, until the Lady Buffs stretched an 11-9 lead to 14-9 after a kill from Scherr.

The Wildcats clawed to 14-13 and eventually tied it at 15-15. They later took the lead 19-17 after a kill by Slate and WTAMU called timeout.

The Lady Buffs charged to a 25-21 lead on another kill by Scherr, before ACU rallied to 29-26. However, a flailing dig by sophomore defensive specialist Libby Garza led to a kill from Carter to close out game two, 30-26.

In the third game, WTAMU inched ahead of ACU, but couldn't pull away as the Wildcats got a timely kill or the Lady Buffs committed an error to keep the score close.

However, with the score 20-19 in WTAMU's favor, the Lady Buffs mounted a charge, scoring the next three points, capped by a one of freshman middle blocer Megan Spivey's match-high seven blocks, to go up 23-19.

The Wildcats would pull to 26-25, before a kill from Altman gave WTAMU a 27-25 advantage. The teams then exchanged serving out of bounds to make it 28-26.

Next, Carter tallied an ace, after the ball hit the net chord and dropped untouched to the Wildcat side of the floor, and ACU then hit the ball out of bounds to end the match, 30-26.

ACU is now 22-9 overall, 5-2 in the LSC South and will take on Eastern New Mexico Saturday at Portales, N.M.

WTAMU is 25-7 overall and 8-1 in the LSC South and can clinch its seventh-straight South title with a win over Angelo State Saturday at The Box at 2 p.m. The Lady Buffs will be seeking revenge for a five-game loss to ASU on Oct. 10 at San Angelo, Texas, that snapped WTAMU's NCAA-II record for consecutive victories vs. conference opponents at 77-straight.

Angelo State was swept by Eastern New Mexico Friday night and will bring a 10-19 overall, 3-4 LSC South record to The Box.

-WT-