ABILENE – Nine teams ranked in this week's AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll are in Denver this weekend with the Abilene Christian Wildcats for the
Colorado Premier Challenge, a two-day, 12-team event that clearly lives up to its billing as
'DII's most prestigious volleyball tournament'.
The 2-2 Wildcats begin play Friday at noon (MT) against No. 3 Tampa (2-1) and then will face No. 21 Colorado School of Mines (4-0) at 3:30 p.m. (MT). Both matches will take place on the campus of Regis University.
Saturday's schedule will be determined by Friday's results, and the Wildcats could ultimately face the likes of No. 1 and five-time defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul, or No. 5 Central Missouri, which eliminated ACU from last year's NCAA postseason, or co-host and 10th-ranked Metro State.
This year's field also includes Lone Star Conference foes No. 9 Angelo State and No. 14 West Texas A&M, No. 11 Cal State San Bernardino, No. 17 Lewis, Regis and West Florida.
“We could not have a better test than this going into conference play,” head coach Kellen Mock said. “It's good for us to start the season against some of the very best teams because they will certainly make us better in the long run.”
ACU is 1-0 all-time vs. Colorado School of Mines after beating the Orediggers, 3-0, at the 2003 Colorado Premier Challenge, and its last meeting against Tampa took place in 2005. The Wildcats lost to the Spartans and two others at the CPC to start the year at 1-3, but then went on to win their next 31 matches before ultimately falling to top-ranked Nebraska-Kearney in the Southwest Regional Championship.
A few accomplished seniors such as Michelle Bernhardt, Ashlee Motola, and Amanda Slate led that particular season's team – the best in ACU history – but this year's squad has been carried so far by four freshmen in addition to sophomores
Sara Oxford and
Rachel Riley.
Oxford, the defending Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year, got off to a solid start at last weekend's Hilltopper/Rattler Classic and made its all-tournament team after registering 47 kills and seven blocked shots.
Riley, meanwhile, equaled her classmates' kill total to go along with six blocks and a .365 attack percentage.
“Her (Riley's) kill total didn't surprise me at all,” Mock said. “She's capable of scoring 15 to 18 points a match with just how hard she hits the ball over and over again. We kept joking with her from the bench to hit it harder.”
As for the freshmen, setter
Sarah Siemens averaged 11 assists per set to go along with five service aces and 11 block assists, which put her one behind classmate
Corrie Reeder who totaled 12 blocks (1 solo, 11 assists). Jennie Loerch delivered 40 kills, while
Madison Hoover ranked among the team's leaders with 43 digs.
“We're going to see some new names emerge in the box score this year,” Mock said. “Last year a lot of it was about
Jennie Hutt and
Kelsie Edwards, but this year it could anyone from
Rachel Riley to Jennie Loerch to
Corrie Reeder. And that's a credit to (assistant coach) Jason (Bibler) for recruiting such a great class of girls who can handle this game at a young age.”
Riley played for the same high school (Flower Mound) and club teams as Hoover, and was likewise impressed with the freshman efforts from this past weekend.
“They all stepped up and played well under pressure on the court,” she said. “I felt the team played well last weekend and I was really excited to see us come together and pull out a couple victories.”
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Oxford Named to Hilltopper/Rattler Classic All-Tournament Team
Sophomore middle blocker
Sara Oxford was one of eight players Wednesday named to the Hilltopper/Rattler Classic, a tournament held last weekend between St. Edward's and St. Mary's University.
Through four starts and 14 sets played Oxford ripped 47 kills and blocked seven shots as the Wildcats finished their opening weekend at 2-2.
Hilltopper/Rattler Classic All-Tournament Team
Shelbi Goode, ASU (MVP)
Alex Woolsey, ASU
Maddie Huth, ASU
Angela McAdams, CSUP
Kacy Griffin, CSUP
Jenna Paul, STMU
Sara Oxford, ACU
Michelle Hundt, SEU (Libero)
