HUTCHINSON, KS - Texas Wesleyan Volleyball (2-2) continued a weekend of strong serving and hit over .200 in six of seven sets in victories over York (Neb.) (25-16, 25-15, 25-19) and Saint Marys (Kan.) (25-16, 25-23, 19-25, 25-19).
In the early game against York (2-2), the Lady Rams turned in eight service aces and followed up that run with four against St. Marys (1-2). The 12 from Saturday coupled with the 12 from Friday gives TXWES 24 aces on the young season, or 1.41 aces per set - which equals the team's output from 2018.
Arianna Alvarado is the team's early leader with seven of her own.
Outside of the quick points, Texas Wesleyan got a bevy of kills from a variety of Lady Rams. Against York, TXWES got nine strikes from
Veronika Webb, eight from Alvarado and six from
Chastiny Brown in a welcomed quick contest, after a pair of five set battles on Friday.
The Rams hit .219 in Set 1 and earned 14 kills in the third set to close. Webb also pitched in three blocks defensively, with Pargas' 15 assists and
Madison Lopez' 14 digs helping fuel the attacks and counter attacks.
Against St. Marys, TXWES turned in a virtual season high .258 hitting percentage (hit .259 in Set 3 against Kansas Wesleyan) in Game 1 and got 15 kills in the closing Set 4. Brown, for the second time in four matches, was the team's leading attacker with 13 kills, coupled with Alvarado's 11 spikes and
Brittni Mohle's 10 points.
Pargas and Lopez have emerged as the team leaders in the passing and digging games, respectively, leading each category in all four games so far in 2019. TXWES only featured the same leaders in assists and digs once in 2018, when Jessica Creek (digs) and Pargas (assists) went four straight games as leaders (went 3-1 in those four games).
Texas Wesleyan will return home from practice briefly before heading back out on the road. This time, the team heads south to Mary E. Branch Gym in Austin, with contests against Our Lady of the Lake and Dillard (La.) on Saturday August 31 and will face Huston Tillotson University Sunday September 1.
In the last two seasons, TXWES has taken nine of ten sets against OLLU and taken out Tillotson in three and five set contests.
