FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (2-0) took three straight sets (25-15, 25-16, 25-22) from Jarvis Christian College (0-2), before doing the same to Wiley College (0-2) (25-18, 28-25, 25-20) in day one of the 2016 Conference Clash at W.G. Coliseum on Friday.
The Lady Rams took on a much improved Jarvis Christian team in the first match, taking a slight 5-3 lead on a
Morgan Reese service ace. The Bulldogs cut the lead to 9-8 on a Talicia Lang kill. That spurred a 5-0 run started by a
Brittni Mohle smash, and capped on a
Shelby Stinnett kill to give the Rams a 14-8 lead.
Texas Wesleyan spread their attack well as
Carli Owens put a point of the board with a kill, and
Kiersten Mebane and
Brianna Jaramillo also got in on the action with key kills to make it a 21-14 lead.
Alanna Hayhurst took the first set for the Lady Rams with an ace in a 25-15.
Jarvis took a 7-4 lead to start the second set, but
Shaylee Griffin kept the Rams at a steady pace as the Bulldog defense had no answer for her power swings.
Sarah Benitez put down a pair of aces to take a 9-7 lead. Mebane and Griffin kills gave the Rams a short 4-0 burst to take a 13-10 advantage.
Another Griffin kill gave the Rams an 18-15 lead, and a 6-0 rally capped by a Mebane smash for a 25-16 second set win.
In the third set, Wesleyan eased out to a 7-3 lead on a Jaramillo kill. Jarvis cut the lead to 13-10 on a Keandra Tillman kill, but a 5-1 Ram rally highlighted by a Hayhurst shot to gain an 18-11 lead late in the third set. The Bulldogs fought back though, and after a few miscues by Wesleyan along with a Kandice Jackson kill cut the Ram lead to a one point, 21-20 edge. The Rams kept their cool, and
Sasha Robinson placed an ace on the floor to make it match point before a Jarvis error gave the Texas Wesleyan a 25-22 third set, and 3-0 match win.
Stinnett led the Lady Rams with 10 kills, adding seven digs in the win. Griffin was outstanding in limited action, going eight kills with no errors on 11 attempts, hitting .727. Robinson posted 24 assists and eight digs. Hayhurst led the Rams with 14 digs.
Texas Wesleyan held their opponent to .087 hitting, while hitting at a .248 clip as a team.
The Lady Rams stayed solid heading into the nightcap with Wiley College. Wesleyan held a slight, one point advantage until a 6-1 rally capped by a Hayhurst kill made it a 15-8 lead. From there the two teams went back and forth, and the Wildcats slowly cut the score to 20-18. Wesleyan took a timeout, and came right back like lightning, rattling five straight points capped by a Stinnet kill to win the set 25-18.
The Wildcats jumped out to 7-3 lead to start the second set. The Rams cut the lead with great defense, tying the game at 11-11 on a Kayla Hays ace. Wesleyan kept the tempo up, outscoring Wiley 8-1 to make it a 19-14 advantage. The Wildcats fought back again, cutting the lead to 22-21 on a Jayme Bazile kill, before a couple of errors gave the Wildcats a 25-24 edge.
Brianna Jaramillo made a clutch kill to take a 27-26 lead before an error allowed the Rams to edge out a win in the second set.
Wesleyan handled business in the third set with a strong start, taking a 15-9 lead on a Stinnett ace that prompted a Wiley timeout. The Wildcats never had a chance as the volleys were an amazing, but the Lady Rams came out on top more often than not. A Griffin kill and another Stinnett ace capped off the match with a 25-20 third set win.
Hayhurst led the charge with a fantastic double-double performance. She had 12 kills, hitting .345 and 15 assists. Stinnett notched nine kills and nine digs. Robinson posted a double-double with 24 assists and 10 digs. Jaramillo finished with eight kills, while
Chalon Anderson had 16 digs in the win.
The Lady Rams will play St. Thomas at noon and Langston at 4:00 pm tomorrow at W.G. Thomas Coliseum.
