WAXAHCHIE, TX - The Texas Wesleyan volleyball suffered their first conference loss against Southwestern Assemblies of God University in a five-set thriller inside of the Sheaffer Center.

Score  
Texas Wesleyan, Southwestern Assemblies of God

• Southwestern Assemblies of God (19-6, 14-1 SAC)   
• Texas Wesleyan (21-4, 16-1 SAC)   

Match Summary   
Set 1: 17-25 (SAGU)
Set 2: 26-24 (TXWES)
Set 3: 18-25 (SAGU)
Set 3: 25-21 (TXWES)
Set 5: 13-15 (SAGU)
 
Set 1
SAGU got off to a quick start going on an early 5-0 run to take a 2-7 lead over Texas Wesleyan. Unforced errors plagued the Rams as they were never able to find their footing in the set loss. SAGU continued to find the ways to score as we inched closer to the end of set one. The Rams would go on a late scoring to cut the lead to 16-20, but two more unforced errors would give the Lions momentum to close out the set 25-17. The Rams would hit .111 to SAGU's .324 in the set loss.
 
Set 2
The rams would go on 4-0 to start set two. Texas Wesleyan's defense on the net proved to be too much for the lions as they continued to stall the hitting of the Lions behind the wall that was Carly Unruh and Sydney Charlton. An unforced error would give the rams an 8-1 lead and would force a timeout from SAGU.  Not to be out done the Lions would go on their own run to cut the lead down to 8-6. The lions would continue to attack the Rams from the service line to tie the game at 10-10. Here the two teams would begin to trade points back and forth as neither team could pull completely away from the other. SAGU would be the first to reach 20 in set as the Rams trailed by two. Once again, the blocking of the Rams would shine as Grace Pavelka would come up big with a stuffed block to tie the game at 20 a piece. With only five points to 25 the set would see three ties before the rams would reach set point first. The Lions would not go down as they would force another tie at 24-24. The Rams would steal set two with 26-24 over the Lions heading into the third.
 
Set 3
Set three was much like set one as SAGU controlled majority of the set. While the rams continued to shine at the net, they continued to struggle offensively. The Rams would never gain the lead in the set as SAGU sailed to a decisive 25-18 set win.

Set 4
A massive block from Carly Unruh and by an Ace by Emily Lewis would give the rams 3-0 lead. The Lions would go on a run of their own to keep things close as the Rams continued their scoring run, and another Unruh would block would give the Rams 12-7 edge over the Lions.  The Rams would continue to run up the score and force SAGU to call a timeout at 17-10. The Lions would go on a four-point run to cut the lead down to four as we headed into the final point of the set. Kendal king would come up big with a kill followed by a solo block to extend the Ram's lead. The Rams would take the set 25-21 set win to force a set five game.
 
Set 5
 With the game on the line the two teams would keep things close in the deciding set. SAGU would have a slight 8-6 lead over the Rams as the teams' switched sides. The Rams would continue to chip away at the lead and America Galvan would deliver a service to give the Rams a one-point advantage. SAGU would stay in the set and force two more ties as we got closer to match point. SAGU would come up big with a stuffed block to take the 13-12 lead. The Lions would finish the set on a 3-1 run to close out the set and win 15-13.
 
Sydney Charlton would have 11 kills and the loss and Kendal King would add 10 more of her own. Andrea Malek finished with 35 digs in the loss while Ruby O'Brien added 20 assists and 16 digs. Carly Unruh came up big with 10 blocks and Malia Linton added seven of her own.
 
Coming into the match Texas Wesleyan set atop of the conference with a 16-0 record. The Rams traveled just a short drive to take on rivals SAGU in match-up that offered huge implications for both teams. Back in September the Rams dealt SAGU a 4-1 loss inside of the Sid Richardson center. Though both teams still have more games to play, tonight SAGU was tasked with taking down Texas Wesleyan in less than five sets to have a clear path to another regular season title. While the Rams would go on to lose the match, because the Lions did not get the job done in less than five sets the Rams are likely to be crowned the 2023 Regular Season Champions for the Sooner Athletic Conference.
 
Texas Wesleyan will play their last home game against Southwestern Christian University on Friday at 6 pm and will close out the regular season on the road next week with matches at john Brown University and Oklahoma Panhandle State University.