WAXAHACHIE, Texas — Texas Wesleyan (20-12) lost to Oklahoma City (21-9) 3-1 on Friday, falling 23-25, 25-23, 9-25, 24-26. Texas Wesleyan totaled 13.0 blocks to Oklahoma City's 7.0, but finished with 44 kills and a .121 hitting percentage while Oklahoma City had 60 kills and hit .188.
Texas Wesleyan overcame an early 7-3 deficit in the first set with a six-point response, taking a 9-7 lead behind
Chase Silva's service stretch, a
Malaya Young block assist and a
Faith McClellan kill. The set stayed tight from there, with McClellan,
Loes Peijnenburg,
Vanya Palmeros and
Madison Grekstas all recording kills as Texas Wesleyan repeatedly answered Oklahoma City points. Texas Wesleyan moved back in front 21-20 on a Grekstas kill after a timeout, then later erased a 23-21 deficit with a Peijnenburg kill and an Oklahoma City attack error to tie the set at 23. Oklahoma City scored the final two points, leaving Texas Wesleyan with a 25-23 setback in the opening set.
In the second set, Texas Wesleyan erased a 13-9 deficit by winning seven of the next eight rallies, using kills from McClellan,
Migdaly Bernal and
Loes Peijnenburg before
Vanya Palmeros' service ace put the home side ahead 14-13. Earlier, Texas Wesleyan stayed connected through blocks involving McClellan and
Loes Peijnenburg, while
Madison Grekstas contributed multiple kills as the set moved through a tight opening stretch. After Oklahoma City tied it at 14-14, Texas Wesleyan answered with a Peijnenburg kill, an Oklahoma City attack error and back-to-back Peijnenburg service aces to build an 18-14 advantage. Texas Wesleyan later pushed the margin to 23-18 behind kills from McClellan and
Madison Grekstas and a block by
Florencia Churin and
Haley Fojtik, then withstood Oklahoma City's late move to 24-23. Peijnenburg closed the set with a kill from
Kayla Myers, giving Texas Wesleyan a 25-23 set win.
The Rams kept the third set level early, getting a McClellan-
Loes Peijnenburg block for 1-1 and a Fojtik kill from Myers for 2-2 before Oklahoma City created separation. Oklahoma City followed with seven straight points to move ahead 9-2, and Texas Wesleyan had to play from a wide deficit the rest of the set. The Rams broke up later stretches with a Young-
Madison Grekstas block, a
Loes Peijnenburg kill from
Lilia Ottenwalder and consecutive
Migdaly Bernal kills from Myers that made it 21-9. Oklahoma City closed the set with the final four points, and Texas Wesleyan dropped the set 25-9.
Texas Wesleyan opened the fourth set by building an 8-1 lead, using kills from
Loes Peijnenburg and
Migdaly Bernal, two McClellan-
Loes Peijnenburg blocks and five straight service points from
Vanya Palmeros. Oklahoma City worked back into the set and eventually tied it at 16-16 before moving ahead 18-16, but Texas Wesleyan answered with a Bernal kill and an Oklahoma City attack error to pull even at 18-18. After another 20-20 tie, Oklahoma City pushed in front 23-20 before Texas Wesleyan responded with a
Migdaly Bernal-Fojtik block, a
Madison Grekstas kill and another
Madison Grekstas-Fojtik block to take a 24-23 lead. Oklahoma City scored the final three points, and Texas Wesleyan dropped the set 26-24.
Loes Peijnenburg led Texas Wesleyan with 12 kills, 17 points and six total blocks while hitting .455.
Neeley Rutledge collected a team-high 24 digs. Ottenwalder finished with 21 assists and 10 digs.
Migdaly Bernal added nine kills and 11 digs.
