Box Score
BETHANY — For the second straight match Morgan Loewen and Ellen Martin led the way as the two combined for 21 kills as Southern Nazarene took down Texas Wesleyan, 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-17).
Loewen led the way with 11 kills while Martin had 10 for the Crimson Storm (18-11). Loewen added five digs while Martin served four aces. Danielle Hampton ripped seven kills and served a pair of aces. Taryn Steele dished out a match-high 28 assists and recorded seven digs.
Sarah Groesbeck recorded a team-high 11 digs and added two aces as well. KateLyn Biddy added seven digs while Angela Evans had four blocks.
SNU posted 6.5 team blocks and hit .351 (41-8-94). TWU hit just .146 (32-18-96) and notched just one team block. The Crimson Storm hit over .300 in every set and improved their percentage in each set. SNU hit .342 in the first, .345 in the second and .370 in the third.
The Crimson Storm trailed 4-1 early in the first set, but used a 6-1 run to take a 7-5 lead. The Rams answered and retook the lead at 11-9 before Steele sparked a 9-2 run with a kill to put SNU up 18-13. Loewen had five kills in the run. TWU cut the deficit to two on two different occasions, but Martin and Hampton combined to close out the set. Leading 22-20, Martin blasted a kill and then stepped back and delivered an ace before Hampton sealed it with a kill.
The Rams jumped out quickly in second set as well and forced an SNU timeout after taking a 5-1 lead. The Crimson Storm responded with a 6-2 run to tie it at seven; the first of eight ties in the set. SNU finally gained control when Hampton scored the first point of a 4-0 run to put the Storm up 21-17. Groesbeck followed the kill with an ace before two straight kills by Kira Roberts and Martin. TWU made it 21-18 with a kill before SNU scored the final four points of the set.
It was all SNU in the final set. The Storm jumped out to a 10-3 lead to start the third, but Texas Wesleyan cut it to 13-10 with a 7-3 run. That was as close as the Rams came. Back-to-back kills by Martin and Hampton made it a 15-10 set for SNU and the Crimson Storm controlled the match from there.
Southern Nazarene gets back to conference play, Tuesday, when they host Mid-America Christian at 7 p.m.
