FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas Wesleyan University (10-8, 7-3 SAC) won 3-0 over Wayland Baptist University (11-7, 7-3 SAC), taking the sets 25-19, 25-16, 25-15 on Friday at Sid Richardson Center. Texas Wesleyan hit .330 with 42 kills while holding Wayland Baptist (TX) to a .058 hitting percentage and 26 kills.
Texas Wesleyan finished the opening set with a 25-19 win, closing it on
Migdaly Bernal's kill from
Lillian Breaux after Wayland Baptist (TX) had held off set point twice. Earlier, Texas Wesleyan used kills from
Loes Peijnenburg,
Faith McClellan and
Florencia Churin to build a 5-2 lead before Wayland Baptist (TX) came back to tie the set at 6-6. Texas Wesleyan responded with the next three points, including a
Chase Silva service ace and a Bernal kill from
Lilia Ottenwalder, to move back ahead 9-6. The home side kept adding separation late, with McClellan and
Haley Fojtik contributing kills, Ottenwalder and Breaux adding service aces, and Bernal providing the final point of the set.
Texas Wesleyan broke open the second set after a 7-7 tie, getting two
Migdaly Bernal kills around a
Loes Peijnenburg-
Migdaly Bernal block to move ahead 10-7. Earlier, Churin had two early kills and McClellan helped Texas Wesleyan answer Wayland Baptist (TX) points as the set stayed close. Texas Wesleyan created more separation from 16-11, with McClellan adding a kill before
Lillian Breaux served back-to-back aces and a Wayland Baptist (TX) attack error pushed the lead to 20-11. After Wayland Baptist (TX) cut the margin to 22-16, Texas Wesleyan closed the set on three straight points, including a Bernal kill and Churin's set-ending kill from Ottenwalder, to finish a 25-16 win.
Texas Wesleyan turned an early 2-1 deficit into control of the third set, moving ahead 3-2 on a McClellan kill before
Jordan Daniell added a service ace and Churin put down a kill for a 6-3 edge. After Wayland Baptist (TX) came back to tie the set at 6-6, McClellan's kill gave Texas Wesleyan the lead again and
Lillian Breaux served four straight points, including an ace, to push the margin to 11-6. Texas Wesleyan kept adding separation through kills from
Migdaly Bernal and
Tamara Blakley, then a
Loes Peijnenburg and Bernal block made it 17-10. McClellan, Peijnenburg and Churin supplied late kills, Breaux added another ace, and Fojtik closed the set with a kill as Texas Wesleyan finished a 25-15 win.
McClellan led Texas Wesleyan with 15 kills and 15.5 points while hitting .480.
Lillian Breaux recorded five service aces and added 15 assists. Ottenwalder finished with 18 assists, eight digs and one ace.
Neeley Rutledge collected a team-high 13 digs and added two assists.
The Rams return to action tomorrow as they take on Okahoma Panhandle State University on Saturday, October 3 at 1pm inside the Sid Richardson Center.
