PLAINVIEW, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (15-19) advanced to the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament semi-final match with a 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-13) win over John Brown University (22-11), before falling 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-17) to #20 Wayland Baptist University (22-9) at the Hutcherson Center on Friday.
 
The Lady Rams went 0-2 against John Brown during the regular season. The Golden Eagles won in five sets in the first meeting, and won 3-0 in the second meeting.
 
JBU jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set. Newly named freshman-of-the-year Shelby Stinnett punched back-to-back kills to help the Rams tie at 5-5. Alex Hendee gave Wesleyan a 9-8 lead, before Abigail Zipoy threw down a kill and a Stinnett ace made it an 11-8 lead, forcing a John Brown timeout. The two teams fought for the lead, until the Golden Eagles tied the set 16-16. John Brown outscored Wesleyan 9-3 the rest of the way to take a 1-0 lead.  
 
The Golden Eagles kept momentum heading into the second set, bouncing out to an 8-2 advantage. Texas Wesleyan answered with a 5-0 rally capped by a Stinnett kill to tie the set at 8 apiece. The teams battled again, tying the game six times before a Shaughnessy Hearn service ace pushed the Rams to a 23-20 lead. The Golden Eagles had no answer for Stinnett, as she tallied a kill to win the set 25-21.
 
John Brown took back some momentum, as neither team wanted to exit the tournament in the opening match. Audrey Dearien put the Golden Eagles up 13-9 on a kill, and extended the lead to 21-14 on another kill later in the set. JBU took the third set 25-17, hitting .290 with only four hitting errors.
 
The Golden Eagles looked to put the match away in the fourth set, starting on a 5-0 run. The Lady Rams played through the adversity, answering with their own 5-0 rally to tie the set at 6-6 on a Stinnett ace. The rally continued and was capped on a Hendee kill to grab a 9-6 lead. Wesleyan maintained a small lead until a 4-0 burst capped on a Zipoy kill made it a 21-15 lead. Zipoy put away a kill to win the set 25-18, tying the match at two games apiece. The Lady Rams were especially efficient in the fourth set, hitting .333 on 13 kills with only two errors on 33 attempts.
 
The entire fifth set was a close one, as neither team enjoyed more than a three point lead. The set was tied 4-4 before three consecutive Golden Eagle kills made it a 9-7 JBU advantage. John Brown held a 12-9 lead, before the Rams came charging back on a 4-0 run capped by a Lauren Hamaker ace to take a 13-12 lead. A Wesleyan error tied the game at 13-13, but a Golden Eagle error set up match point. Hendee finished the set with a clutch kill to win 15-13, taking the match in five sets.
 
Stinnett led the way with 18 kills and 17 digs, while leading all players in hitting percentage at .333. Zipoy notched 12 kills and 19 digs. Hendee posted 15 kills in the win. Hamaker paced the Rams with 26 assists. Kristina Gafford added 19 assists. Hearn had 19 digs.
 
The Lady Rams stuck close to top seeded WBU to start the first set. Zipoy gave Wesleyan a 6-5 lead on a smash kill. The set was tied a handful of times before Stinnett put down a kill for a 13-11. Hendee extended the lead to 17-12 with a kill, before the Pioneers took a 6-1 run to tie the set at 18-18. A Meghan Finley kill helped the Rams regain a 21-20 lead, but again the Pioneers fought back to take a 23-21 lead. WBU had set point a 24-23 before Finley kept Wesleyan in the set with a kill to tie at 24 apiece. Hendee did the same to knot it up again at 25-25. Wayland Baptist was able to finally beat the defense for a 27-25 win.
 
The Pioneers jumped out to a 6-1 lead to start the second set. Wayland extended the lead to 16-6 and was able to maintain a lead throughout the set. Wesleyan could not stop the errors and Wayland took advantage with a 25-15 win.
 
The Pioneers did the same in the third set, keeping a decent sized lead on the Lady Rams. Back-to-back Hendee kills cut the lead to 16-10, but could not make up any more ground, falling 25-17 in the third set.
 
Hendee led the Rams with 11 kills. Finley tallied seven kills in the match. Stinnett added six kills and 23 digs. Hamaker posted 18 assists.
 
The Lady Rams finish the season at 15-19, and all 34 games were against quality opponents. Wesleyan finished fourth in the SAC standing with a 10-6 record.