Fort Worth, TX – The Texas Wesleyan University Rams took the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles in the opening round of the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Tournament on Saturday evening. Texas Wesleyan would fall in three sets to Oklahoma Wesleyan 25-22, 25-21, and 25-12.
The Rams secured their place in the tournament by winning the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship. This marked sixth consecutive appearance in the NAIA Tournament Opening Round. On the opposite side of the net, the Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles were making history with their debut appearance in the NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship. They earned an automatic berth after a securing the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship.
The first set would see Oklahoma Wesleyan jump out to a quick 4-0 lead over Texas Wesleyan. A solo block from
Sydney Charlton would put the Rams on the board as they looked to cut the deficit early in the set. The Rams would close the gap bring the score as close as 11-12 before the Eagles would pull away once again. At -19-14 Texas Wesleyan would use their first timeout of the set to slow the momentum of the Eagles. The Rams would score three straight points coming out of the timeout to bring the score 17-19. OKWU would use a timeout to stall the Rams as they looked to make a late game push. The Rams would continue to fight back, but the offense of the Eagles proved to be too much as they would close out the game on a 6-5 run to take set one 25-22. The Eagles would hit .167 in the victory finishing with 19 kills to out hit the Rams nine kills and .111 hitting percentage.
Set two would find the two teams trading points early as the Rams looked to tie the sets at one a piece. Much like the first set OKWU would hold a slight lead over the Rams and leave them playing catch for majority of the set. Texas Wesleyan would pull within one at 15-16 before OKWU would extend their lead to 19-16. The Eagles would close out the game one another run to take set two 25-21.
With a trip to Sioux City on the line, The Eagles of Oklahoma Wesleyan would come out firing on all cylinders to take a commanding 7-1 lead over the Rams. Hitting errors plagued the Rams as they struggled to find the floor. The Eagles would continue to dominate in the set and cruised to an easy 25-12 score to win the match.
Hanna Rubis would finish with seven kills while both
Ruby O'Brien and
Makenna Gantt each had 12 assists.
Carly Unruh notched seven blocks at the net and
Andrea Malek tailed 16 digs in the loss. With the conclusion of another great season, the Rams will now turn their attention to the off-season and regroup for the 2024 season.
The Eagles will continue their historic run and make their first appearance in Sioux City, Iowa at the 2023 Women's Volleyball National Championship Site.
