PLAINVIEW — Texas Wesleyan University (19-11, 16-6) defeated Wayland Baptist University (19-11, 15-7) 3-1 on Saturday at Hutcherson Center. Texas Wesleyan's set scores were 28-26, 25-18, 13-25 and 32-30, and it finished with 65 kills to Wayland Baptist's 53.
Texas Wesleyan erased a 24-21 deficit late in the first set and finished a 28-26 win, getting two kills from
Loes Peijnenburg during the rally before
Haley Fojtik and
Madison Grekstas delivered the final two Texas Wesleyan points. Earlier, Texas Wesleyan answered a 9-5 hole with four straight points, including two
Faith McClellan kills, a McClellan-
Loes Peijnenburg block and a Grekstas kill to even the set at 9-9. After Wayland Baptist moved ahead 16-13, Texas Wesleyan put together another response as
Migdaly Bernal had two kills,
Malaya Young and Grekstas combined on a block, and
Lilia Ottenwalder's service run helped Texas Wesleyan move in front 18-16. Wayland Baptist later reached set point at 24-21, but Peijnenburg's kill, a Wayland Baptist attack error, another Peijnenburg kill and a Fojtik-Peijnenburg block pushed Texas Wesleyan ahead 25-24 before Texas Wesleyan closed the set 28-26.
In the second set, Texas Wesleyan built a 6-0 lead to open the frame, winning seven of the first eight rallies on the way to a 25-18 set win. McClellan started the run with a kill from
Lillian Breaux, and
Jordan Daniell's service turn included kills by
Loes Peijnenburg and
Migdaly Bernal plus a block by Bernal and Peijnenburg. Texas Wesleyan kept answering Wayland Baptist points through the middle of the set, getting additional kills from Bernal,
Madison Grekstas, Young, Peijnenburg and Fojtik to stay ahead 15-8. After Wayland Baptist cut the margin to 22-16, McClellan stopped the run with a kill from Breaux, and Bernal finished the set with another Breaux-assisted kill for the 25-18 result.
A
Lillian Breaux service ace opened the third set for Texas Wesleyan, which moved ahead 4-2 on a
Loes Peijnenburg kill from Breaux, but Wayland Baptist answered to build a 10-7 lead. McClellan kept Texas Wesleyan in range with kills that made it 9-11 and 10-12, and
Migdaly Bernal added another finish to bring the Rams within 13-11. Wayland Baptist then created separation, pushing the margin to 18-11 before Fojtik stopped the stretch with a kill from Breaux. Bernal added Texas Wesleyan's final kill of the set at 20-13, but Wayland Baptist scored the last five points to take the set 25-13.
Texas Wesleyan outlasted Wayland Baptist 32-30 in the fourth set, closing it with consecutive points after the set was tied at 30-30. Earlier, Texas Wesleyan answered a 3-2 deficit with four straight points, getting a kill from
Florencia Churin, a
Madison Grekstas kill, a Young block and a
Migdaly Bernal kill to move in front 6-3. The Rams later built a 17-13 lead before Wayland Baptist came back to tie the set at 17-17, but Texas Wesleyan responded with a
Madison Grekstas and
Loes Peijnenburg block and stayed in a tight finish. Bernal, Peijnenburg and Grekstas supplied repeated late kills as Texas Wesleyan answered Wayland Baptist leads at 24-23 and 25-24, and the final two Wayland Baptist errors gave Texas Wesleyan the 32-30 set win.
Migdaly Bernal led Texas Wesleyan with 20 kills and 20.5 points, adding nine digs.
Loes Peijnenburg recorded 12 kills on .379 hitting and a team-high six total blocks for 15 points.
Neeley Rutledge collected a team-high 23 digs and added six assists.
Lillian Breaux finished with a team-high 28 assists, 11 digs and one service ace.
The Rams will return to action Tuesday in the Opening Round of the Sooner Athletic Tournament with an opponent to be announced by the conference.
