SAN ANTONIO, Texas – #24 William Carey Volleyball opened their season with a straight set victory over Texas Wesleyan in the morning and in the evening picked up where they left off, defeating Oklahoma City in straight sets.
 
"It was great to have the opportunity to work on a few different line-ups today and give some new players an opportunity to showcase their talents," said Head Coach Ronda Shirley. "Katarina Vulic did a solid job of running the offense in both matches."
 
"In the first match against Texas Wesleyan our serve and pass game was very strong and our pins were solid," said Shirley.
 
Against the Rams, Carey got off to a hot start, thanks to a few attack errors and kills by Sofia Bettini, Natalie Bartolomew, Alyssa Portee, and Zoie Mitchell to take an early 10-1 lead. That was all the momentum Carey needed, as they continued the attack, pulling away to a 20-7 advantage before going on to take the set 25-10.
 
Set number two saw the Lady Crusaders take an early 10-5 lead. After some back and forth, TWU went on a 6-1 run to get within one point at 13-12. From there things remined close with the Rams staying within striking distance.
 
With Carey leading 19-16, Texas Wesleyan made things interesting. This time going on a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the match. The Lady Crusaders quickly retook the lead and after trading points a kill by Bartholomew put WCU within one point of victory with an attack error sealing the win.
 
The third set started just like the first two with Carey taking the early lead. Just like in the previous set, the set remained close until the Lady Crusaders slowly built a 17-13 lead before extending that lead to 22-17. Just as it looked as if the Lady Crusaders had thing well in hand leading 24-19, the Rams rallied off three straight points to get within two but a kill by Junior transfer Agnes Hegardt shut down any hope of a comeback.
 
"In the second match our ball control was strong again and our middles were producing more at the net," said Shirley. "Both hitting and blocking."
 
Game two of the day was a stark difference from the first in that neither team led by more than a point until Carey took a two-point lead at 9-7. That trend continued with both teams going back and forth until two attack errors and kills by Mitchell and Portee put WCU ahead 20-16 and they never looked back going on to take the set 25-21.
 
Set two saw the same back and forth but with the Lady Crusaders taking an early 9-5 lead. The Stars though regrouped and countered with a 4-1 run to get within one point. However, WCU answered with a 5-0 run to stretch their lead to 15-9. From there Carey went on to take a 19-14.
 
OCU would not go down without a fight and stormed back behind a 6-0 run to take the lead before going on to take a 24-22 lead. However, just as the Stars did, Carey stood strong tying the set on kills by Portee and Bartholomew and retook the lead on an ace by Bettini with Mitchell sealing the win.
 
The Lady Crusaders carried that momentum into the third set, jumping out a 7-3 lead before building a 16-7 advantage. From there it was all WCU, as they went on to take the set 25-12.
 
"It feels great to be back especially with these girls that bring only positive energy," said Vulic. "I'm glad that we got challenged today but also that we showed that we fight till the end. I'm so excited for tomorrow and for the rest of the season."
 
Carey returns to the court tomorrow, as they take on Embry-Riddle at 8:00 am and host Our Lady of the Lake at 3:00 pm.