SIOUX CITY, Iowa. - No. 20 Indiana Wesleyan volleyball defeated RV Texas Wesleyan in a five-set thriller this afternoon in the NAIA national tournament. Wildcats won the first set, dropped sets two and three, and battled back for a win in sets four and five. The relentless effort by the Wildcats led to new season-highs with 67 kills and 103 digs. Wildcats won 3-2; 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 25-15, 16-14.
- Location: Tyson Event Center | Sioux City, Iowa
- Records: IWU (24-5) | TXWU (25-8)
- NAIA Top-25 Ranking: IWU #20 | TXWU #RV
- Historical Matchup: IWU leads the series 2-0
- 7 - how many errors each team had in the first set.
- .088% - the amount IWU improved their hitting in the second set despite failing in set two.
- 10-1 run by TXWU to start the third set proved to be too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
- 2 - back-to-back service aces by Paige Thibault during the fourth set propelled Wildcats momentum.
- 6 - TXWU unanswered points during the final set.
- "I love the fact that we won the first set and that was encouraging them because then we knew that we could get it. Texas Wesleyan started serving more aggressive and got us out of system and we knew what we had to do. What I liked was the fight that happened during this match. That fourth set was just a fresh breath of air and new fight that we were going to come back. I loved the poise that happened during the fifth set getting up by a lot and then having them catch up, previously we wouldn't have fought through it and this time we did. Really proud of our team's fight tonight!"
- Pool play action continues tomorrow morning at 11:30am EST as the Wildcats face No. 1 Jamestown University.
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