FORT WORTH — Texas Wesleyan lost to College of the Ozarks 3-1 on Friday at Sid Richardson Center. The Rams won the opening set 25-19 before dropping the next three 15-25, 22-25, 20-25.
The Rams answered a 14-14 tie by scoring the next four points, using a
Haley Fojtik-
Migdaly Bernal block, a
Madison Grekstas kill and a College of the Ozarks attack error to move in front 18-14 on the way to a 25-19 first-set win. Earlier, Texas Wesleyan opened with a
Vanya Palmeros kill from
Lillian Breaux and later built an 8-5 edge as Grekstas converted from Breaux and College of the Ozarks followed with an attack error. College of the Ozarks pulled even at 14-14, but Texas Wesleyan responded immediately and added late separation with a Fojtik kill, a
Neeley Rutledge ace and another Palmeros kill to reach 23-16. After College of the Ozarks cut into the margin,
Loes Peijnenburg closed the set with a kill from
Lilia Ottenwalder.
A 12-point College of the Ozarks run turned a 9-8 Texas Wesleyan lead into a 20-9 deficit, and the Rams could not recover in a 25-15 second-set loss. Earlier, Texas Wesleyan answered the opening point with a
Florencia Churin kill from Ottenwalder, a
Jordan Daniell service ace and a Churin-Peijnenburg block to move ahead 4-1. Grekstas and Palmeros added kills as Texas Wesleyan stayed in front through 9-8, but College of the Ozarks tied the set and continued through the long scoring stretch behind kills, Texas Wesleyan errors and an Addison Hammond service ace. The Rams added late points on a Bernal kill from Ottenwalder and a Grekstas kill from Breaux, but College of the Ozarks closed the set with the final two points.
In the third set, Texas Wesleyan twice pushed back from deficits, trimming a 10-5 gap to 10-9 and later cutting a 22-15 margin to 22-19 before College of the Ozarks held on for a 25-22 set. Earlier, Grekstas opened the set with a kill from Breaux, and Bernal added two kills as Texas Wesleyan reached a 5-5 tie. College of the Ozarks then won five straight points before Daniell's kill out of a timeout started a four-point Texas Wesleyan response that also included two Grekstas kills. Texas Wesleyan stayed within reach in the middle of the set behind Peijnenburg kills, a Bernal kill and a Breaux ace, then answered a 22-15 deficit with Daniell and Grekstas kills plus two College of the Ozarks errors. After a Kamryn Link service error and a Peijnenburg kill brought Texas Wesleyan to 23-21, a late College of the Ozarks attack error made it 24-22, but Audrey Riley's kill closed the set for College of the Ozarks.
An early 5-0 deficit put Texas Wesleyan behind in the fourth set, but the Rams answered with several short pushes, getting as close as 8-7 behind two kills from Bernal, a Fojtik kill and a
Kayla Myers service ace. College of the Ozarks responded with five straight points to move the score to 13-7, but Texas Wesleyan came back again with a Palmeros kill, a Daniell ace and a Churin kill to make it 13-11. Peijnenburg, Grekstas and
Malaya Young added kills as Texas Wesleyan continued to trade points through the middle of the set, though College of the Ozarks kept separation at 20-16 and 22-17. Texas Wesleyan made one late push with a Churin kill and a College of the Ozarks attack error before the visitors closed the set 25-20.
Grekstas led Texas Wesleyan with 11 kills and added one block assist. Peijnenburg finished with eight kills while hitting .412 and added two block assists. Breaux posted a team-high 21 assists with five digs and one service ace. Rutledge collected a team-high 13 digs and added four assists.
Texas Wesleyan is 5-6 overall and 2-1 in conference play. College of the Ozarks is 5-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
The Rams will return to action at home on Saturday against John Brown University at 1 p.m.
