FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (23-10, 12-4 SAC) made a tremendous comeback to win 3-2 (24-26, 25-7, 25-23, 21-25, 15-12) over Mid-America Christian University (15-12, 5-11 SAC) on Senior Day at the Sid Richardson Center on Thursday.
 
The Lady Rams honored five seniors for the hard work, dedication, and commitment in representation of the Texas Wesleyan volleyball program on and off the court. Mary Trejo, Starnisha Bodie, Abby Zipoy, Shaughnessy Hearn, and Kristina Gafford have been responsible for 75 wins, 38 conference wins, three postseason wins, and numerous athletic and academic awards.
 
The Evangels were more than prepared for the streaking Lady Rams, and it showed from the first serve. Alanna Hayhurst gave the Rams a 7-3 lead, but MACU closed the gap and tied the set at 9-9 due to a few Wesleyan errors. The game was tight for the rest of the game, and a Hannah Luedtke kill gave the Evangels a 21-20 lead. Bodie smashed down a kill to tilt the game in favor of the Rams 24-23, but two errors and a MACU kill from Laurel Church stunned the home crowd and gave Mid-America Christian a 26-24 first set edge.
 
Texas Wesleyan regrouped and came out in the second set swinging. Back-to-back kills from Zipoy capped a 10-1 run to start, and a Shelby Stinnett kill later in the game extended the lead to 17-4. The Evangels were on their heels and overwhelmed and another pair of Zipoy kills and a Stinnett ace evened the match with a 25-7 drumming.
 
The Evangels tightened the defense to start the third set, and the score was tied five times before the Rams grabbed some breathing room after a Zipoy kill made it a 9-6 Wesleyan edge. MACU battled back, tying the game at 12 apiece after a Church kill. The Evangels kept the attack on point and took a 17-14 lead on a Mary Burkhead point. Kiersten Mebane threw down a kill to tie the set at 18-18. The Rams then took a 24-21 lead due to a thundering Stinnett kill. Church single handedly tried to take control of the set and cut the lead to one point, but Hayhurst finished the game with a strong kill to take a 2-1 match lead.  
 
MACU still had upset plans though, and heading into the fourth set the momentum shifted in favor of the Evangels. The Lady Rams held on to a slight edge until Church tied the game at 10-10. TWU posted a small run capped by a Zipoy kill to keep a 16-13 lead, and again the Evangels came back to tie the set at 20 apiece. The Lady Rams committed three consecutive errors to give the Evangels the win, and open the door to a fifth set upset opportunity.
 
The Evangels hit on all cylinders to start the fifth, taking a 4-0 lead to start. That sparked a Texas Wesleyan timeout, and the Lady Rams took their own 5-0 rally capped by a Hayhurst kill to take a 5-4 advantage. MACU was not done, taking a 9-8 edge on a Luedtke kill. The Evangels rallied and posted a 12-9 lead capped by a Mary Burkhead kill. It seemed as though the Evangels just had too much momentum and would go on to pull off the upset. Zipoy had other plans though, and the senior took the match into her own arm. Zipoy made the night of the home crowd and her teammates and did something that possibly has never been done at the Sid Richardson Center before. Zipoy struck kill after kill, six consecutive to be exact, posting her own 6-0 rally to lift Wesleyan past MACU with a 15-12 fifth set win.
 
Zipoy led the Lady Rams and notched her 11th consecutive double-double behind a career high 32 kills and 19 digs. Gafford also tallied a double-double with a career high 61 assists and 16 digs. Stinnett made it a trio of double-doubles with 20 kills and 21 digs. Hearn tacked on 28 digs in the win. Bodie added eight kills and four blocks for the Lady Rams.