OKLAHOMA CITY – The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (24-6) fell in five sets to Wayland Baptist (23-10) in the semifinal match of the 2021 Sooner Athletic Conference tournament on Friday.
 
The Lady Rams were presented with SAC trophy today, and although eliminated from the conference tournament, will move on to the national championship as the regular season champion.
 
The Lady Rams were out hit .316 to .282 and the Pioneers were +6 in aces. TXWES lost the first set and bounced back to win sets two and three. The fourth set was a near flawless one for each team. Wayland picked up a 6-0 rally late to take a 23-19 lead and hold off the Lady Rams 25-23.
 
Nyia Anderson started the fifth off with a kill, but the Pioneers got 3 straight points on a couple of TXWES attack errors. From there, WBU pulled away to 12-5. Anderson and Veronika Webb accounted for seven of the Rams nine points in the effort, but Wayland was able to knock off the 1-seed in a nail-biter.
 
Webb was unbeatable today, posting a career-high 22 kills (.571) to go along with five total blocks. Anderson also had a career high in kills with 20, hitting .289 in the win. Morgan Burns reached 65 assists, a career high, while also securing her 11th double-double of 2021 with 13 digs.
 
Sydney Charlton and Gracie Harrison each had 11 kills, while Bailey Foy (10) made it five Lady Rams in double-digit kills. Skylar Warde led the team with 19 digs, and four other Rams had at least 12 digs in the match.
 
The Lady Rams will await the announcement for the pairings of the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Opening Round. The selection show will aired on the PlayNAIA Facebook page on Monday, Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. CST.
 
Wayland and SAGU will play in the SAC tournament final tomorrow to see who receives the second conference bid to nationals.