BROWNSVILLE, TX:  The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (15-17) suffered a 3-2 loss in quarterfinal action at the 2011 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament.  The Rams jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Southwestern Assemblies of God University (19-2) stormed back to take the match 3-2.
 
The Lady Rams dominated the opening set, hitting .324 with 15 kills to SAGU’s .111 with nine kills.  That resulted in a quick 25-16 win. 
 
The Lions awoke in game two and led until a 7-1 run put Texas Wesleyan on top 15-13.  The Lady Rams were then able to hold the Lions at arm’s length on their way to a 25-23 win.  The Rams continued to hold the offensive edge, throwing down 17 kills and outhitting the Lions .257-.226.
 
Eleven hitting errors brought the Lady Rams down in game three.  Those mistakes allowed SAGU to open a 19-10 lead.  The Lions then held off a comeback attempt, and kept the match alive with a 25-20 win.
 
In the fourth set, SAGU again jumped in front early, this time leading 13-6.  Texas Wesleyan closed the gap to a single point at 15-16, but could not complete the comeback as SAGU held on 22-20.
 
SAGU held all the momentum in the fifth and decisive set.  The Lions began the set with five unanswered points and changed ends with a healthy 8-2 advantage.  The Rams were unable to overcome that opening blow and fell 15-7.
 
For the match, the Lions outhit the Rams .236-.143.  The Rams had more kills (59) than the Lions (57), but 34 hitting errors, including 22 in the final three sets, put the Lions in front.
 
Four Lady Rams reached double-figures in kills led by Meghan Finley's 13.  Bailey Bunting and Katherine Rosenbusch each finished with 12, while Alex Hendee had 11 kills and 14 digs.  Lynsay Buell added nine kills to the effort.  Angelica Arroyo set up 49 assists to go with nine digs.  Marissa Rangel added 25 digs, and Elena Vannaman finished with 13 digs.
 
The Lions were led by Krystal Cisneros who tallied 24 kills against just four errors for a hitting percentage of .488.  Jessica Sodich added a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs.
 
“SAGU was the better team today,” commented head coach Christy Clawson.  “We had opportunities to win, but just couldn’t capitalize.”
 
The Lady Rams end the year with a record of 15-17 overall.  At 5-4 in conference play they were the fourth seed in the RRAC Tournament.  The team featured six All-Conference selections.