FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (21-9, 10-3 SAC) notched a huge 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-23) statement win over #24 Oklahoma City University (16-7, 11-2 SAC) at the Sid Richardson Center on Friday.
 
The Lady Rams adorned pink warmup uniforms prior to the match and sponsored a bake sale in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, with all the proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.   
 
The Lady Rams flashed signs of dominance from the start, and the home fans could sense the beginnings of an upset. TWU jumped out to a 5-3 lead capped by an Alanna Hayhurst kill. The Stars quickly closed the slight gap and took an 8-7 lead before Kiersten Mebane pounded one pass the defense to tie the set. That sparked a 6-0 rally capped by a Shaughnessy Hearn service ace to make it a 13-8 lead. Wesleyan fought to maintain control but the Stars scratched and clawed their way to the lead at 19-18 after a Manon Soraru ace. Oklahoma City did just enough to hold off the Ram charge to take a 25-22 first set win.
 
The second set was a tightly contested one to start as Oklahoma City started to respect the Wesleyan power. The score was tied seven times before Abby Zipoy tied it at 10 apiece with a gym rattling kill. The Stars held on to a 19-17 lead before a Ram timeout induced a 6-0 run started by a Shelby Stinnett kill and capped by a Starnisha Bodie smash to flip the lead in favor of the Lady Rams at 23-19. Oklahoma City cut the lead to 23-22, but the Lady Rams responded with a clever Kristina Gafford kill and a forced error to even the match with a 25-22 win.
 
Like so many sets before, Texas Wesleyan once again got off to a good start grabbing a 7-2 advantage capped on a Stinnett ace. This fueled the momentum and rattled the opponent as a Zipoy kill popped a kill to make it 9-3 lead. Zipoy steadied the offense and made it a 19-10 lead later in the set with back-to-back kills. The Stars never recovered and Zipoy polished off the third set 25-16 with her ninth kill in that same set.
 
The fourth set started with a 6-0 Stars rally to grab a 10-4 lead capped by a Soraru kill, firmly announcing their pitch for a fifth set. The Lady Rams squashed that with a 9-1 run capped by a Zipoy ace, taking a 15-13 edge in the process. Oklahoma City came back to and tied the set at 19-19 with a Shekinah Clarke kill. The two teams went back and forth and the set was tied three more times before an Oklahoma City attacking error made it 23-22 Rams, prompting a timeout from the visiting team. Zipoy again came through with two thundering kills that lifted the Lady Rams to a 25-23 fourth set, 3-1 match upset of 24th ranked Oklahoma City.
 
The biggest difference in the box score was the way the Lady Rams limited their service errors. Texas Wesleyan committed only four service errors in the match, compared to the 11 that the Stars had.
 
"These girls believe in their ability as a team to win, and it is that belief that is directing their actions," commented head coach Kimberly Weaver after the win. "They never got rattled, struggled at times, but never rattled. The maturity and grit of our seniors is directing our play right now. I am so proud of their ability to lead and execute at such a high level. Abby Zipoy has always been a great volleyball player, but tonight she went next level. Her ability to manage adversity was impressive tonight. Star (Bodie) put up tremendous numbers and Kristina (Gafford) and Shaughnessy (Hearn) were very steady. Everyone contributed and I am so proud of this team."
 
Zipoy had this to say on the big win and gave some love to the Ram faithful, "We came in mentally focused and prepared to fight. We knew this game was not going to be easy. From the bench to the court every player on the team was prepared what was needed to help us succeed. Even when we were down there was no doubt in my mind we would win. We love being the underdog and fighting our way back. Also, the fans really helped us stay hyped and showed us that we could stay in the match even after we lost the first set." Zipoy was asked what she thought was the biggest obstacle the team had to overcome tonight, she answered, "The biggest obstacle was that they were at the top of the conference standings and a ranked team and we had to overcome ourselves to be successful enough to beat the team at the top of the table."
 
Zipoy led all players and kept her streak alive with eight consecutive double-doubles posting 21 kills and 17 digs. She hit .375 with a pair of aces in the match. Stinnett notched 13 kills and three aces in the win. Bodie got eight kills and seven digs to go along with three blocks for the Lady Rams. Hearn tacked on 18 digs. Gafford added 45 assists in the match.