AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (3-3) split the day at the HTU Labor Day Weekend tournament, winning a 3-2 (19-25, 16-25, 26-24, 25-18, 15-11) match over Our Lady of the Lake University (3-1) before dropping the nightcap with Dillard University 3-2 (21-25, 25-12, 25-15, 16-25, 15-12).
 
In the match with the OLLU, the Saints dominated the first two sets hitting .347 and .182 respectively, while the Lady Rams struggled to put the ball away. TXWES started trending in the right direction in the next two sets with more consistent numbers. The Lady Rams out-boxed the Saints taking a combined 26 kills in sets three and four compared to OLLU's 16.
 
In the fifth set, OLLU established a 5-1 lead, when the Lady Ram resolve kicked in. Texas Wesleyan went on a 9-1 run highlighted by a pair of Britni Mohle kills to gain 14-10 lead. Another Saints error put the match away in favor of the Rams.
 
"We struggled with consistency most of the day," commented head coach Jessica Ransom. "We made some adjustments against OLLU and were able to fight back and take the match. I was extremely proud of the effort."
 
Arianna Alvarado led the team with 11 kills. Mohle tallied nine kills in the win. Brenda Pargas posted a team high 23 assists and Madison Lopez had 15 digs.
 
In the game with Dillard, the script went back-and-forth with the Blue Devils taking a close first set. Dillard took a seven-point, 15-8 advantage, but the Lady Rams dug in. A Morgan Burns service ace brought the Rams within two-points at 19-17, but Codi Fillmore and the Blue Devils powered through to a first set win.
 
Veronika Webb led the team in the second set with five kills as Texas Wesleyan absolutely overwhelmed the defense, hitting .429. The Rams floored it and selfishly limited Dillard to just 12 points in the set.
 
The third set was more of the same, as TXWES took a 7-1 capped by a Chastiny Brown smash to establish a 16-12 edge. Brown socked another kill and got in on a block with Gretchen Zedik to make it 20-13 before Alvarado finished the set off with a kill.
 
The next two sets were stolen by the Blue Devils as the Lady Rams just got out of rhythm. Dillard and Texas Wesleyan battled for most of the fourth set, but a late rally from the Blue Devils proved to be the difference.
 
The Rams played catch-up most of the fifth set, tying the game at 7 apiece on an Alvarado ace before a trio of TXWES missteps took the wind out of the sails a bit. The two teams traded blows, but the Blue Devils snaked out the five-set win.
 
"We couldn't find our groove," added Ransom. Offensively we struggled more and didn't block as well as we did the first match. That's our fourth fifth-set match of the season already, so moving forward we have to find a way to finish. We learned a lot from today and we have to take those things and make them better tomorrow."
 
Brown led the team with 13 kills, hitting .423 with five blocks. Burns posted 19 assists, while Lopez led all players with 17 digs.
 
The Lady Rams take on Huston-Tillotson tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.