BETHANY, Texas. - The Texas Wesleyan volleyball team escaped day one of the Southern Nazarene Classic with a split Friday afternoon.

     The Lady Rams were swept by Lubbock Christian, 30-19, 30-21, 30-16, but defeated Wayland Baptist in five games, 25-30, 30-28, 30-24, 15-30, 15-10, to salvage a split.

     The Lady Rams could never get anything going against Lubbock Christian as they committed 47 hitting errors for the match.

     Sophomore Rachel Loftin led Texas Wesleyan with 13 kills and two blocks. Junior Cortney Johansen dished out 25 assists and sophomore Allyson Gaudi recorded 15 digs.

     Texas Wesleyan (13-3) again had a terrible outing hitting as they totaled 60 hitting errors against Wayland Baptist. The Lady Rams had 18 hitting errors as Wayland Baptist took the opening game, 30-25. Texas Wesleyan had another terrible hitting game in the second game with 16 errors but was able to scrape out a 30-28 victory. The two teams would split the next two games. In game five, it was Wayland Baptist who struggled with its hitting, committing four hitting errors in the last five points of the match to give the Lady Rams the game and the match.

     Loftin again led Texas Wesleyan with 16 kills, with junior Nick Davis and freshman Sara Southerland adding 13 and 12 kills respectively. Loftin also had 10 blocks.

     Johansen finished the match with 48 assists and Gaudi chipped in 17 digs. Sophomore Susan Taylor and junior Kat Williams offered up 13 digs.

     "We didn't play very well in either game today," head coach Rick Johansen said. "The girls did, however, never quit in the second match and showed me a tenacity I haven't seen this season. Hopefully we can get it turned around before tomorrow."

     Texas Wesleyan returns to action Saturday for day two of the Southern Nazarene Classic. The Lady Rams will face Mid-America Nazarene at 10 a.m., and do battle against the host team Southern Nazarene at 4 p.m.