The Rams beat John Brown University 25-22, 20-25, 25-9, 25-22 at home to move to 8-1 in SAC play.

The win keeps Texas Wesleyan in second place in SAC behind SAGU, who beat the Rams in four sets on Tuesday.

In set one, the Rams got out to an early 3-1 lead with the net play of Katelyn Mallett, Sydney Charlton and Kendal King. The trio accounted for 31 of the Rams' 58 kills for the match. But John Brown came back to tie the game 3-3. The lead went back and forth between the two teams throughout the set, including 11 ties, until the Rams took an 18-16 lead behind a Grace Pavelka kill. After that, Texas Wesleyan held onto the lead and eventually took the first set 25-22.

The second set was a different story for the Rams as John Brown came out slow and then caught fire after managing an 8-8 tie. From then on, the Golden Eagles never gave the lead back to win 25-20.

In the third set, the Rams got back on track with an early 5-0 lead behind the heavy hands of Charlton, King and Carly Unruh. John Brown struggled with the Rams' balanced attack and solid defensive play for a 25-9 loss. 

The fourth set saw John Brown get out to a quick 4-0 lead before the Rams took the ball on a service error and quickly reeled off three more points to tie the game at 4-4. The Golden Eagles caught fire again to lead 13-7 before another service error handed the Rams a point and the ball. John Brown took the ball back, and 15-8 before the Rams got back into the game to trail 15-11. 

The Rams chipped away at John Brown's lead behind the net play of Carly Unruh, Lauran Richards, and Charlton, who tied the game at 21-21 and then moved ahead 24-21. Charlton got the match-winning kill with an assist from Ruby O'Brien. Giving the Rams the win and bumping their record to 9-1 in the conference and 15-3 overall. 

King led the Ram attack with 16 kills. Unruh had 11 kills, and Charlton had nine kills. O'Brien led the Rams with 36 assists and added ten digs. While the Rams' balanced offense proved challenging to deal with, the Ram defense gave them the win with 89 digs to the Golden Eagles' 70. Andrea Malek once again led the Rams' defense with 38 digs. Emily Lewis had 13, and Skylar Warde added ten digs. 

Texas Wesleyan travels to Langston University on Friday, Oct. 7, for a 6 p.m. game. The Rams have faced the Lions 11 times and have won every match. The game is the first in a road weekend for the Rams, who are in second place in the SAC standings.