FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas Wesleyan lost its match to John Brown 3-0 on Saturday at Sid Richardson Center. Texas Wesleyan erased a two-point deficit to lead 17-15 in the second set, but the push was not enough in a 28-26 set loss.
Texas Wesleyan built a 16-8 lead in the opening set, but John Brown answered with eight straight points to tie it at 16-16 and later closed out a 25-21 finish. Earlier, Texas Wesleyan scored the first three points behind kills from
Vanya Palmeros and
Loes Peijnenburg, then moved ahead 6-1 with a
Migdaly Bernal kill and a Palmeros service ace.
Lilia Ottenwalder assisted four early kills, while
Lillian Breaux helped keep the offense moving in the middle of the set with assists to
Florencia Churin and Palmeros as Texas Wesleyan held a 12-7 advantage.
Madison Grekstas added a block during the push to 14-7, and kills by Palmeros and Peijnenburg had Texas Wesleyan ahead 16-8 before John Brown's run changed the set. After falling behind late, Texas Wesleyan got a Bernal kill, a
Jordan Daniell kill and a
Neeley Rutledge ace to stay within range, but John Brown took the set 25-21.
In the second set, Texas Wesleyan erased a 13-7 deficit and moved in front 17-15, but John Brown recovered late to take the set 28-26. Earlier, Grekstas helped Texas Wesleyan stay close with three kills in the opening stretch, and Churin began the comeback with multiple kills as Texas Wesleyan won seven of eight rallies to tie the set at 14-14. Churin added another kill to make it 15-15 before Grekstas and Palmeros followed with kills for the 17-15 lead. Texas Wesleyan later answered a 22-20 deficit with a Churin kill and a block by Palmeros and
Malaya Young, then forced extra points on Palmeros' kill at 24-24 and a Peijnenburg block at 25-24. Peijnenburg added a kill for a 26-25 Texas Wesleyan edge, but John Brown scored three of the final four points to close the set.
In the third set, Texas Wesleyan erased multiple deficits, including an 18-14 gap that reached an 18-18 tie, but John Brown answered with four straight points and went on to take the set 25-20. Earlier, after falling behind 9-5, Texas Wesleyan used a Young kill, back-to-back kills from Palmeros off Breaux assists and a Churin-Peijnenburg block to pull even at 9-9. John Brown moved back in front 13-9, and Texas Wesleyan responded again with a Churin kill and consecutive kills by Grekstas and Peijnenburg set by Ottenwalder to make it 13-12. Grekstas, Bernal and two John Brown attack errors brought Texas Wesleyan level at 18-18 before John Brown built a 22-18 lead; Texas Wesleyan got back to 22-20 on a service error and a bad set, but John Brown scored the final three points to finish the set.
Churin led Texas Wesleyan with 11 kills while hitting .429 and added two block assists. Peijnenburg recorded nine kills, four total blocks and 11.5 points. Ottenwalder finished with 21 assists and 10 digs. Rutledge collected 13 digs and added a service ace.
The Rams hit the road next weekend as they take on Southwestern Christian on Friday, September 18 at 6pm.
