LOFTIN SNAPS RECORD:

RAMS ROLL
October 25, 2005

FORT WORTH, TX:  The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (20-3, 12-0 RRAC) won a pair of matches on Tuesday.  The day began with a 3-0 (30-18, 30-13, 30-25) win over UT-Tyler (12-17).  The highlight of the night came in the third game of a 3-0 (30-5, 30-8, 30-16) win over Paul Quinn College (2-16, 1-10).  That is when Rachel Loftin broke the school record for career kills.

In a match that saw the Lady Rams breeze to another 3-0 win, Loftin set a career high with 27 kills against Paul Quinn.  That mark was enough to set a new school record for kills in a career at 1, 542 breaking Carmen Biel’s mark of 1,536.

“We wanted Rachel to get the record at home,” said Head Coach Rick Johansen.  “Rachel has worked very hard for four years, and I am thankful to have had her here.”

The match against UT-Tyler began as a close contest.  The Rams led 20-16, but closed out game one on a 10-2 run to take a 30-18 win.  Game two was tied at seven, but Texas Wesleyan outscored the Patriots 23-6 from there and took a convincing 30-13 win. 

The Patriots regrouped in game three and gave the Rams all they could handle.  Texas Wesleyan led 7-4, but UT-Tyler took the lead at 10-9 and stretched that lead to four at 15-11.  They would maintain that four-point margin at 24-20 and had the Rams on the ropes, but Texas Wesleyan stormed back with a 10-1 run to finish the match.

Rachel Loftin led the team with 13 kills against the Patriots, giving her 40 on the day.  Whitney Johansen had 32 assists and Sandra Ayala recorded 13 digs.

Today’s wins stretched the Lady Ram’s winning streak to 19 matches, and 54 games.  Texas Wesleyan will hit the road as they participate in the Red River Athletic Conference Crossover in Odessa, TX.  They will take on Huston-Tillotson and Houston Baptist on Friday, then play Texas A&M International on Saturday.