MARION, Ind. -- Saturday featured an impressive display by No. 17-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University volleyball in wins over Texas Wesleyan and Indiana Tech during the final day of the IWU-Taylor Crossover Tournament.

Indiana Wesleyan beat both Texas Wesleyan (5-2) and Indiana Tech (1-7) today by 3-0 scores. IWU head coach Candace Moats believes the key victory for her team today was the win over Texas Wesleyan. On Friday, Texas Wesleyan defeated #22 Point Park (Pa.) and #RV Davenport (Mich.) in Luckey Arena.

“Every time we play we are learning something and getting better because of it,” said Moats. “What we learned from the loss to Davenport last night was some pieces we had not quite understood yet. So we had a very good conversation about it, what did we learn and what did we take away from it. Some of the stuff we learned made us better today.”

The Wildcats defeated the Rams by scores of 25-18, 25-23, 25-14.

Seniors Kristine Egebrecht and Rae Brandes each had 13 kills in the victory. Egebrecht finished with a .480 kill percentage while Brandes tallied a double-double as she also collected 10 digs. Sophomore Kristin Predajna added seven kills and a .429 hitting percentage.

Assisting on a majority of those kills was sophomore Katey Holler who had 32 of the team’s 35 assists. Holler also had one of the Wildcats’ four aces in the win. Defensively, Rebecca Brandes led the team with 16 digs and freshman Remy Bucknor earned one solo block and one block assist.

Indiana Wesleyan continued its dominant play in the afternoon match against Indiana Tech. IWU won with scores of 25-18, 25-16, 25-13.

Rae Brandes paced the team with 14 kills, nine digs, and a .480 kill percentage. Egebrecht amassed 13 kills while Predajna once again had seven kills and a team-best .538 hitting percentage. As a team, Indiana Wesleyan hit .350.

Indiana Wesleyan improves to 5-3 on the season with three straight victories.

 “We just connected as a team today but I felt that we still aren’t 100-percent on all our plays,” said Rae Brandes. “But because we are working together and able to work through those mistakes I think we are having some success.”

This coming week opens Crossroads League play and Indiana Wesleyan will have three matches. The first of those comes at home against Spring Arbor (Mich.).

“We always lose our first game in the Crossroads League. This year it’s a goal to win the first one,” laughed Moats. “It is a home game and that is encouraging. I’m looking forward to the possibility that we are going to bust that little curse for us.”

Following the league opener on Wednesday, Indiana Wesleyan will host county rival Taylor (Ind.) at 6 p.m. on Friday before traveling to Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) for a 3 p.m. match on Saturday.