DENTON, Texas -- Abilene Christian volleyball continues its tenuous hold on one of the final Lone Star Conference Championship spots after falling 3-0 at third-place Texas Woman's University by scores of 25-17, 25-20 and 26-24.
Despite suffering their second straight defeat and fifth in the past sixth matches, ACU (10-18, 6-12 LSC) still has a one-game lead on Incarnate Word for seventh place and two-game lead on ninth-place Midwestern State. The Wildcats visit the Mustangs and Cameron next week and need to win at least once more in order to clinch a postseason berth.
Texas Woman's, meanwhile, has won six straight to improve to 21-6 overall and 14-4 within the conference, keeping them in a tight battle with West Texas A&M and Tarleton State for second-place. Angelo State leads the league at 17-1.
The Pioneers today looked like a team ready for the postseason, hitting .260 on 104 attempts and blocking back eight shots. Viktoria Jablonska led her team with 16.5 points, a total comprised of 11 kills, three aces and three blocks.
Pioneer Marcel Alves played a role in four blocks and ripped eight kills on 18 attempts with no errors (.444).
For the Wildcats, freshman Jennie Loerch and sophomore
Sara Oxford combined for 21.5 of the team's 45 points. Loerch had nine kills and two blocks, while Oxford went 7 for 12 (.583) on the attack with four blocks.
After losing by eight and five points, respectively, through the first two sets, the Wildcats showed some fight in the third set as they battled the Pioneers through 11 ties and four lead changes. ACU trailed by as many as four during the early stages, but used a 7-2 run to grab its first lead at 14-13; Loerch scored three points during this stretch on two kills and a block.
The Wildcats maintained its lead over the next six possessions, but TWU kept chipping away until it turned the match into a tug-of-war. The Pioneers eventually grabbed the lead back at 21-20, only to see ACU again charge ahead at 22-21 and 23-22.
From there, however, TWU would end the match on a 3-1 run, receiving kills from Jablonska, Torie Talkington and Hayley Summers.
ACU begins its final week of the regular season Friday at Cameron before visiting Midwestern State next Saturday at 6 p.m.
