FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (12-3, 7-0) picked up a win over No. 23 Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) (12-11, 6-1) in four sets (25-14, 25-14, 23-25, 25-19) at the Sid Richardson Center on Tuesday.
 
Fans packed the building for this cross-town rivalry between the two national ranked foes. Texas Wesleyan University and SAGU were the two remaining undefeated teams in SAC play.  In a highly anticipated showdown Texas Wesleyan would take down the Lions in the first meeting of the 2023 season behind tough serving and a balanced offensive attack.

While the two teams traded points early, Texas Wesleyan dominated the first set from start to finish. With the score at 9-1, The Rams would break away and go on an 9-1 run and hand the Lions their first set loss of the night with a score of 25-14. The Rams would hit .310 off 13 kills, 4 errors, and 26 attempts.
 
Unforced errors plagued the Lions as the second set saw the Rams win handily again. Head Coach Hank Moore looked to his bench to find an answer for the Rams but came up short as they would cruise to 25-14 set win. The Rams improved on their hitting with .423.
 
One the verge of being swept SAGU would fight hard against the Rams. The teams would battle back and forth until the Rams feel behind with the score at 11-15. After a timeout, the Rams would chip away at the lead. With the set nearing its end, a kill from Hanna Rubis would have the set all knotted up at 21-21. Emily Lewis would come up big with an ace take the lead at 22-1, two unforced errors put the Lions right in the game and would reach set point first and go on to avoid the sweep with a 25-23 set victory.

Although SAGU avoided the sweep the Rams fired back with another dominating set to close out the match in front of rowdy home crowd. The Rams would continue their assault from the service line with two back-to-back aces from Emily Lewis to start the fourth set. Texas Wesleyan would take a 13-3 lead leaving the Lions playing catch u the entire way. The Rams would reach match point first, and a Sydney Alexander kill would end the game 25-19.
 
Hanna Rubis led in kills with 13 followed by Kendal King with 11. Ruby O'Brien dished out 25 assists with Makenna Gantt finishing behind her with 12. American Galvan would notch a season high 15 digs and Andrea Malek would add 14 of her own. Texas Wesleyan dominated the match from the service line with a staggering 14  aces. Emily Lewis led charge four while O'Brien and Malek added three.
 
The Lady Rams will head back to Oklahoma for a match against Southwestern Christian University on September 23 starting at 1:00 pm.