FLORENCE, Ala. (September 24, 2026) – The University of North Alabama volleyball team fought back to win its first conference match as a member of the United Athletic Conference, defeating Abilene Christian in five sets at CB&S Bank Arena.
North Alabama (11-3, 1-0 UAC) won the first set tonight, but Abilene Christian (8-5, 0-1 UAC) responded with two straight set wins. UNA responded right back with two straight set wins of their own to take their first UAC match of the season.
With her 45th assist of the night early in set five, junior Kinslee McGowan reached 2,000 career assists to gain yet another career milestone. McGowan totaled 49 assists tonight, marking her season high. She also recorded a double-double tonight after having 13 digs.
Freshman Anna Hoffmayer was also on fire tonight, recording three season highs. She totaled 12 kills with a team-high .357 hitting percentage. She also recorded three solo blocks and had seven total.
Two more Lions recorded season highs, with senior Phoebe Reyes Fortunato recording an impressive 18 kills tonight and hitting .349. Sophomore Ally Greenwell set a season high with 16 digs. She previously recorded 15 digs against Samford on Sept. 11.
Junior Reese Ricketts recorded her fifth double-double of the season with her 13 kills and 14 digs.
Junior Dylann Garner had a solid night, recording her second-highest kill total of the season with 15. She also had nine digs.
As a team, North Alabama had season highs in four categories. The Lions had 66 kills, 59 assists, 94 digs and 10 total blocks.
SET ONE: UNA 25; ACU 16
The first set brought the Lions' largest score margin, as well as the best hitting percentage. The Lions hit for .448 and totaled 16 kills, six of which came from Hoffmayer. There was an early tie at 3-3, but UNA went on a 5-0 run to widen the gap and go up 8-3. ACU went on a few runs of their own to cut the lead to just two at 11-9. The Lions responded to this with another explosive run of 6-0 to go up 16-11. The Lions held onto this gap and finished 25-16 with a kill from Hoffmayer.
SET TWO: ACU 27; UNA 25
Set two was close the whole time, with the largest difference in score being four points. There were also 11 ties and four lead changes. Back-to-back kills from Ricketts put the Lions up 8-4 to give them their largest lead. The Wildcats responded with a 5-1 run to tie it up at 9-9 and did not give up the lead until another tie of 16-16. A kill from McGowan sparked the Lions to take the lead and hold onto it until another tie of 20-20. ACU then held the lead until 24-24. Both teams went back-and-forth to eventually end at 27-25.
SET THREE: ACU 26; UNA 24
This set was another back-and-forth one, including 12 tie scores and eight lead changes. UNA started down 2-0, but rallied back to gain an early lead of 6-2. The Lions held the lead up until a tie of 12-12. Scoring went back-and-forth and had eight more tie scores after that for the Lions to ultimately lose the third set 26-24. Both of UNA's set losses required more than 25 points from ACU.
SET FOUR: UNA 25; ACU 16
North Alabama won the fourth set with the same margin as the first. This set included eight tie scores and three lead changes. The Lion hit for .300 and had 11 kills, five coming from Reyes Fortunato. Scoring stayed within two up until 8-8, which was the last tie score of the set. North Alabama held the lead the entire time after that, going on a 7-0 run to go up 13-8 and eventually extend the lead to 18-9. The Lions finished the set strong, going on a 7-0 run to end the set 25-16.
SET FIVE: UNA 15; ACU 12
North Alabama opened the final set 3-0 and did not give up the lead for the entire set. The Wildcats got within one at 8-7, but the Lions extended the lead to 11-8 to gain some ground. A kill from Garner eventually ended the set and secured the Lions' first UAC win.
UP NEXT
North Alabama travels to Stephenville, Texas for an away match against Tarleton State on Saturday at 1 p.m. The match can be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available on StatBroadcast.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
