BELLEVUE, NE- The Lady Rams fall to the Bellevue Bruins in 4 sets with a score of 1-3 in the opening round of the NAIA National Volleyball Championship.
Texas Wesleyan finishes their season at 25-9, ending their previous 7 game win streak. The Bruins will advance to the second round taking place in Sioux City, IA.
The match was closely contested throughout, with the Rams coming up short in 4 sets with scores of 20-25, 25-22, 16-25, and 19-25. The Bruins proved to be too much for the Rams to overcome.
The Rams came out hot in the first set, starting up 7-3. After a 6-2 run by the Bruins, the two teams traded blows every point staying deadlocked throughout the set. As things got critical down the stretch, the Bruins started to pull away going up 22-18, and ultimately winning the first set 25-20.
The second set proved to be much of the same back and forth between the two teams. With each team matching each other point for point, soon became the Bruins early lead at 9-5. The Bruins tried to protect their lead, but the Rams soon tied up the set at 13-13. As each team matched each other stride for stride in this tightly contested set, the Rams were the first to reach 20. Late in the set, Hanna Rubis had a clutch service ace to put the Rams up 23-18 and in prime position to win the set. Although the Bruins had begun to fight back, the Rams were victorious in the second set winning 25-22.
The third set was all Bruins, coming out once again to an early 9-5 lead. The Rams fought back to keep it close throughout the middle of the set, but the Bruins started to pull away causing the gap to widen to lead 18-14. The Bruins used the momentum and never looked back, sprinting to a 3rd set win of 25-16.
In the fourth and final set, once again saw the two teams fight tooth and nail for every point, trading blows and going back and forth. The set saw the Bruins stretch out to a 13-9 lead to begin their run. Although the Rams kept the set close, the Bruins had no intention of losing their grip on the lead and soon found themselves up 21-16. The Rams fought back with everything they had, but unfortunately fell short, losing the set 25-19.
Game Notes:
The Bruins grow their win streak to 15 games and advance to the second round of the NAIA National Volleyball Championship for the sixth year in a row.
The second round will begin on December 4th.
