FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas Wesleyan (20-11) swept John Brown (17-14) 3-0 on Tuesday at Sid Richardson Center. Texas Wesleyan took the sets 28-26, 25-17 and 25-20 while finishing with 44 kills, a .237 hitting percentage and nine service aces.
Texas Wesleyan survived two late John Brown set points and took the opening set 28-26, winning four of the final five rallies and finishing it on consecutive John Brown attack errors after
Loes Peijnenburg's kill tied the score at 26-26. Earlier, Texas Wesleyan opened with seven straight points, starting with a
Haley Fojtik kill from
Lilia Ottenwalder and building the run behind two
Jordan Daniell service aces, two
Loes Peijnenburg kills and a
Loes Peijnenburg-Fojtik block. John Brown worked back from a 16-10 deficit to tie the set at 16-16, but Texas Wesleyan answered with another
Loes Peijnenburg-Fojtik block and later moved back in front at 18-17 on a
Migdaly Bernal kill from
Neeley Rutledge.
Faith McClellan supplied three late kills as Texas Wesleyan went ahead 21-20, 22-20 and 23-22, and a
Loes Peijnenburg-
Madison Grekstas block gave Texas Wesleyan a 24-23 edge before John Brown forced extra points.
In the second set, Texas Wesleyan turned a 3-1 deficit into a 6-4 lead behind kills from
Loes Peijnenburg and
Migdaly Bernal, two Peijnenburg service aces and a John Brown service error, then went on to win the set 25-17.
Madison Grekstas and
Malaya Young teamed on two blocks as Texas Wesleyan pushed ahead 8-5 and 9-7, and Grekstas later added a kill from
Neeley Rutledge for an 11-7 advantage. Peijnenburg added another ace to make it 16-11, and
Migdaly Bernal and Young supplied kills as Texas Wesleyan reached 18-12. John Brown closed the gap to 18-15, but Grekstas answered with three kills during the closing stretch,
Neeley Rutledge added an ace, and McClellan finished the set with a kill.
In the third set, Texas Wesleyan secured a 25-20 win, withstanding a John Brown push in the middle of the set and finishing on consecutive McClellan kills. Earlier, Texas Wesleyan moved from a 3-3 tie to a 7-3 lead with
Lillian Breaux serving, as
Migdaly Bernal recorded two kills and teamed with Young on back-to-back blocks. John Brown later scored five straight points to pull within 14-13, but a service error gave Texas Wesleyan the next point before
Loes Peijnenburg served four more, including an ace and a Bernal kill that pushed the score to 19-13. After John Brown cut the gap again,
Madison Grekstas put down two late kills and
Loes Peijnenburg added another before McClellan closed the set.
Loes Peijnenburg led Texas Wesleyan with 11 kills, five service aces and 18 points while hitting .435.
Neeley Rutledge recorded a team-high 15 digs and added one ace. Young posted a team-best five blocks and added two kills on five attacks. Ottenwalder finished with 17 assists and eight digs.
The Rams will advance to the semifinals and face off with an opponent to be determined in Waxahachie on Friday, November 13 at 4pm.
