OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City volleyball team suffered its second conference loss and dropped its fourth consecutive match after falling in four sets to Texas Wesleyan at home Saturday afternoon.  

Score  

Texas Wesleyan 3, Oklahoma City 1 

• Oklahoma City (5-6, 4-2 SAC)  
• Texas Wesleyan (11-3, 6-0 SAC)  

Match Summary  

Set 1: 25-19 (TWU)  

Set 2: 25-23 (TWU)  

Set 3: 25-23 (OCU)  

Set 4 25-12 (TWU) 

Set 1  

Texas Wesleyan started hot going up 5-2 in the early going. The Rams continued to pour it on the Stars by stringing together a 9-3 run to take a 14-5 lead. Down 20-9 and coming out of a timeout OCU began to hit its stride and inch a bit closer as Rylee Steward and Ruby Kelley brought the Stars back to single digits. Trailing 24-14 Oklahoma gave one last push as the Stars scored five consecutive points on a pair of kills by Steward, a kill from Riley Winkler, and Michela De Stefano finishing off with an ace. With the lead trimmed back down to five the Rams closed the door on the first set as Kendal King got the final spike to win 25-19.  

Set 2  

The second set started with each team trading leads a handful of times as well as featuring a 4-0 run from each side. With the Rams up 9-8, the Stars put together another run by scoring seven points in a row on a pair of kills by Marina Kalajdic and a pair of aces from Natalie Adams. Trailing 15-9 Texas Wesleyan found a way to climb back into the set by putting together a 6-1 run and bringing the deficit to just a point. Ruby Kelley helped OCU stay out in front with a couple of kills and the lead sat at 23-20 in favor of the Stars. However, Texas Wesleyan caught a wave of momentum and rallied to score the next five points to take set two 25-23.  

Set 3   

Looking to avoid the sweep, the Stars got off to a solid start by going on an early 5-1 run on a pair of kills from Kelley to help get out in front. Leading 16-7, OCU had its largest lead of the match thanks to another Kelley kill. The Rams began to battle back as they rattled off five consecutive points trying and make their way back into it. With an 18-12 lead Texas Wesleyan cut the lead down to two off three kills by Hannah Rubis. Points began to trade hands as neither team could put together any sort of run. Cary Unruh for Texas Wesleyan brought the Rams to within a point with back-to-back kills bringing the score to 23-22. Sitting at 24-23 now after another Unruh kill OCU had a chance to win the set as Kelley came up with a clutch kill to help to the Stars survive in set number three by a score of 25-23. 

Set 4 

The Rams came out in the fourth set on fire as Texas Wesleyan went off on a 7-1 run to take a 10-3 lead forcing the Stars head coach Kristen Coventon to take a timeout. The Stars had a difficult time stopping the Rams as TWU put together another big run going up 19-7. De Stefano and Kelley worked in a couple of kills, but the lead ended up being too much to overcome as the Rams closed out the fourth set on a 4-1 run capped off with a kill by Grace Pavelka to win 25-12 and win the match in four.  

Game Notes  

• Oklahoma City tallied a total of 40 kills in the four-set contest falling short of the Texas Wesleyan total of 49.  
• Each team posted seven aces while Texas Wesleyan held the edge with 98 digs and 45 assists to OCU's 84 digs and 38 assists.   
• Ruby Kelley led the match with 14 kills, her third-highest total of the season Rylee Steward followed with 10 kills making it her second-highest total in 2023. 
• Natalie Adams just squeaked by Ruby O'Brien of Texas Wesleyan for the game-high in assists as Adams finished with 21 assists to O'Brien's 20.   
• Kaitlyn Dunlap set a new season-high with 28 digs surpassing her previous total of 22 set back on Sept. 6 against John Brown.  
• Tonight's matchup was the 30th all-time matchup between the two schools dating back to 2006. OCU holds a 17-12 lead despite dropping the last four matchups between the two schools.  
• Before the four consecutive wins by Texas Wesleyan in the series matchup the Stars carried a 14-game winning streak that went from 2015-2021. 

NEXT GAME  

OCU volleyball will take a break for a couple of days before being back in action on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 7 PM against Langston.