LADY RAMS FALL IN CLASSIC WITH WILEY
November 14, 2008

Box Score - vs. Bacone

Box Score - vs. Wiley

AUSTIN, TX:  The Texas Wesleyan University volleyball team took a 3-1 win over Bacone (12-19) in quarterfinal action at the Red River Athletic Conference tournament before suffering a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in the semifinals to second seeded Wiley College (31-7) on Friday.

In the quarterfinal match, the Rams cruised to wins of 25-14 and 25-18 in the first two games.  In game three, they faced their first deficit of the match.  Bacone jumped ahead 11-7 and went on to win 25-15.  The Warriors kept themselves in game four at 15-10, but the Rams pushed their lead to 19-11.  Emily Millican then served out the match throwing in a pair of service aces on the way to a 25-11 win.

The Rams out hit the Warriors .195-.070 and earned 65 points compared to just 35 for Bacone.  Brittney Person led the way with 17.5 points on 16 kills, one ace and one block assist.  Destiny Clemmons added 16.5 on 14 kills, two aces and a block assist.  Evoni Darling just missed a double-double with 39 assists and nine digs.  Katlynn Romig had 16 digs and Emily Millican added 10.

The semifinal with Wiley was a rematch of one of the Rams’ two regular season conference losses.  The lone regular season meeting between the two teams ended in a 3-1 win for the Wildcats.

The Rams started the match with a 4-0 run and forced the Wildcats to call timeout at 15-8.  The Rams made just two hitting errors in game one and prevailed 25-21.

Wiley started game two on the offensive forcing head coach Christy Clawson to call timeout at 4-2.  Clawson’s team responded by tying the game at six.  Three consecutive aces from Kristen Venhuizen brought the score to 17-12, and the Rams went on to a 25-20 decision.

Wiley started game three with three straight points, but the Rams stormed back to take an 8-3 lead.  Texas Wesleyan continued to lead until Wiley tied the game at 16.  The game rolled through five ties before Wiley closed it out with a 7-1 run winning 25-21.

Texas Wesleyan shook off the game three loss and ran out to a 5-0 lead in game four.  The Wildcats called their final timeout at 11-4.  The intensity really picked up after Wiley tied the game at 21.  The Wildcats fought off two match points and held on to win 29-27.

Wiley took a 4-1 advantage in game five, but the Rams came right back to tie the score at five.  After six ties, the Wildcats used a 5-2 run to earn three match points at 14-11, finishing on their first try.

Wiley out hit the Rams .161-.118.  Texas Wesleyan earned 81 of their points while Wiley earned 77.

Brittney Person led four Rams in double-figure kills with 16.  Destiny Clemmons added 15.  Rachel Daniel had 11 kills and eight blocks.  Kristen Venhuizen added 12 kills and 12 digs.  Emily Millikan also had a double-double with 11 assists and 15 digs to go with five kills and six blocks.  Darling finished with 41 assists and nine digs.

“We played our hearts out tonight,” Clawson said of a classic match.  “We have certainly come a long way this season.  I’m proud of these girls, and I expect to have a great year with everyone coming back next season.”  The 2008 Rams featured no seniors and only three juniors.

The loss ended Texas Wesleyan’s season at 14-26 overall.  They nearly pulled off the upset for what would have been a sixth appearance in the RRAC final in the last seven years.