Box Score
FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (10-12) took a loss to Tarleton State University (13-2) in three close sets (25-23, 25-22, 25-18) at the Sid Richardson Center on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rams caught the TexAnns off guard in the opening set, jumping out to a 17-13 lead with help from Katherine Rosenbush and Lynsay Buell, who rattled off a combined nine kills in the first set. Wesleyan held on to a 21-20 lead before Tarleton State took the lead and some unfortunately timed Lady Ram errors let the TexAnns edge out a 25-23 win.
Tarleton State controlled the ball in the second set, but the Lady Rams fought to keep the game tight, finally tying the game at 17. With a block from Buell and Evoni Darling, the Lady Rams took an 18-17 lead forcing a TexAnn timeout. Tarleton State clung to a 23-22 lead before some key Wesleyan miscues for two points gave Tarleton State enough room to take game two 25-22.
The TexAnns took charge early in the third set, sprinting out to a 10-2 lead. Two straight kills from Rosenbush gave the Lady Rams a spark that brought the score to 15-9, but the deficit was too steep for the Lady Rams to climb and the TexAnns sneaked out the Sid Richardson Center with a 25-18 third set and a 3-0 match win.
“We played strong”, commented head coach Christy Clawson, “We made some key mental mistakes that decided the first and second sets. We had our opportunities, but we just couldn’t quite do enough to get a win.”
Texas Wesleyan hit .177 to the Texanns .176. The Lady Rams had 38 kills on 113 attempts, committing 18 errors, while Tarleton State had 40 kills on 119 attempts and 19 errors. Tarleton State racked up six service aces and had four service errors to the Lady Rams one service ace and eight service errors. The Lady Rams committed six reception errors and one blocking error, to the TexAnns one reception error and five blocking errors.
Evoni Darling led all players with 31 assists, while grabbing eight digs for the Lady Rams. Kristen Venhuizen had nine kills and nine digs. Rosenbush also finished with nine kills. Buell hit .500 on the night, tallying eight kills on 14 attempts and one error, and Marissa Rangel led the Lady Rams with 12 digs.
Texas Wesleyan will play conference opponent Texas College at home on Friday, October 8. Game time is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start at the Sid Richardson Center.
