Wichita Falls, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (25-15, 25-17, 21-25, 19-25) match to NCAA Division II Southwestern Oklahoma State University (3-3) before taking a 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-17) loss to Midwestern State University at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Wednesday.  
 
The Lady Rams faced the Bulldogs of Southwestern Oklahoma State in the first match. Texas Wesleyan held their ground against the NCAA DII opponent, despite the offensive attack not hitting on all cylinders. Alanna Hayhurst gave the Rams a 15-14 lead with a kill, but the Bulldogs went a 4-0 run to gain a 17-15 lead. Starnisha Bodie doubled up with a side out kill followed by a service ace to tie the set at 21 apiece. The Bulldogs got the better volleys of set one though, grabbing a 25-22 win.
 
TWU jumped out to an 8-5 lead to start the second set, courtesy of a Shelby Stinnett kill. Wesleyan continued to apply pressure, building a nice lead with a 5-0 rally highlighted by two consecutive kills from Bodie to make it an 18-11 advantage. Bre Blackburn laid down a kill to give the Rams set point, and a Bulldog error evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-14 win.
 
Southwestern Oklahoma State gained back some momentum in the third set after outscoring the Rams 7-3 to take a 13-9 lead. Abby Zipoy smashed a kill past the Bulldog defense to cut the lead to 14-11, but the Southwestern OK State kept the Lady Rams at bay allowing only eight points the rest of the way to take the third set 25-19.
 
The Bulldogs completely caught the Rams off guard to start the fourth set, building an 8-0 rally capped by a kill from Carly Zak. Texas Wesleyan recovered nicely, making up some ground with an 8-2 run highlighted with a pair of kills by Blackburn, and capped by a Stinnett pin-point kill to cut the lead to 13-10. The Rams could not hold their ground and were outscored 15-4, falling 25-15 in the fourth set and letting the match slip.
 
Zipoy led the Rams with nine kills. Hayhurst went eight kills and eight digs in the match. Stinnett had eight kills. Kristina Gafford tacked on 30 assists and nine digs. Shaughnessy Hearn posted 23 digs.
 
The first set with the Mustangs was tied 6-6 before Midwestern State slowly pulled away. The Lady Rams got a kill from Hayhurst to keep it a one point game at 13-12 unitl the Mustangs grapped a 6-2 run to pull out to a 19-14 advantage. Bodie and the Rams cut the lead to 21-19 with a kill, but MSU pushed ahead again to take the first game 25-19.
 
The Rams got off to a slow start in the second set, but charged back and tied the game 7-7 on a Zipoy kill. Texas Wesleyan trailed closely the entire way and threatened late when a Stinett kill made it a 21-18 game. Midwestern State squashed the makings of a comeback though, with a 25-20 win.
 
The Mustangs started the third set with a strong 7-2 rally to start. Midwestern State had too much momentum, leading by as many as eight points on the way to a 25-17, 3-0 match win.
 
Stinnett led Wesleyan with a double-double posting 10 kills and 10 digs. Bodie tallied nine kills. Gafford had 27 assists in the effort. Zipoy and Hearn each had 14 digs.
 
The Lady Rams will try to end their three game losing skid in a match with the University of St. Thomas-Houston on Friday, September 11. That match set for a 7:00 pm start in Houston, TX.