ONE STREAK ENDS, ANOTHER CONTINUES:

#12 RAMS KNOCK OFF #16 HOUSTON BAPTIST
October 28, 2005

ODESSA, TX:  The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team (22-3, 14-0 RRAC) saw one streak come to an end while another stayed alive in a pair of matches at the Red River Athletic Conference Crossover Tournament hosted by UT-Permian Basin on Friday.  The Rams opened the day by sweeping Huston-Tillotson (8-27, 5-9) 3-0 with scores of 30-12, 30-16, 30-7 and followed that performance by defeating 16th ranked Houston Baptist (28-3, 10-2) in four games with scores of (30-26, 30-33, 30-16, 30-23).

In the 3-0 win over Huston-Tillotson, Rachel Loftin led the team with 13 kills and 6 blocks.  Susan Taylor recorded 20 digs and 5 service aces.

When Houston Baptist took game two by the narrow margin of 33-30, it snapped a remarkable streak as the Lady Rams had won a school-record 58 consecutive games.  They had not dropped a single game since a 3-1 loss at Concordia-Irvine way back on September 3.  However, the loss did not rattle the Lady Rams.  In fact, it may have riled them up as they pounded HBU 30-16 in the following game before finishing the match with a 30-23 win in game four.

Loftin and Bela Gaulberto led the Lady Rams with 18 kills apiece while Misty Tarbet added 17.  Loftin and Gaulberto each had 5 blocks as well.  Whitney Johansen recorded 52 assists, and Susan Taylor had a career-high 39 digs, which was one short of the Texas Wesleyan single-match record.

By defeating the Huskies, the Rams kept another streak alive.  Their current winning streak now stands at 21 consecutive matches, which is just three shy of the school record of 24 set during the 2004 season.

The schedule does not get any easier as they Rams will face another ranked team on Saturday.  Texas Wesleyan will play #25 Texas A&M International at 11:00 a.m.  TAMIU broke into the top-25 with an upset over Houston Baptist last week.