FORT WORTH, Texas -- After erasing a seven-point deficit and twice reaching set point in a dramatic opener, the John Brown University volleyball team could not carry the comeback through as second-seeded Texas Wesleyan ended the Golden Eagles' season with a straight-set decision (26-28, 17-25, 20-25) Tuesday evening (Nov. 10) in the Sooner Athletic tournament quarterfinals inside the Sid Richardson Center.

John Brown (17-14), the tournament's No. 7 seed, entered the postseason having won both regular-season meetings with Texas Wesleyan, including a straight-set victory on the same floor in September. The third meeting turned on a different statistical profile, however, as the Rams hit .237 (44-17-114) against JBU's .111 (29-18-99) and finished with 9-1 advantages in both total blocks and service aces.

Junior Federica Ferrari provided John Brown's most efficient attack, putting away a team-high nine kills with only two errors on 18 swings for a .389 percentage. Freshman Whitley Underdown added four kills without an error on eight attempts, while sophomore Olivia Tucker contributed five terminations.

Sophomore Paige Addington collected a team-high 14 digs and landed one of JBU's two aces. Senior Mia Bowman added nine digs, while junior Tessa Medina finished with 11 assists, seven digs and an ace and sophomore Taylor Kosmicki handed out seven assists.

Texas Wesleyan received 11 kills on .435 hitting from Loes Peijnenburg, who also landed five aces and contributed four blocks. Faith McClellan added 10 kills, while Madison Grekstas finished with eight kills on a .429 percentage and four blocks as the Rams advanced to the SAC semifinals.

Set 1: Texas Wesleyan opened the postseason meeting with seven unanswered points, putting John Brown in an immediate hole before a service error finally gave the visitors their first point. The Golden Eagles steadily worked back, and a Ferrari kill eventually trimmed the margin to 16-11.

Medina then changed the complexion of the set from the service line. Her ace began a five-point JBU surge that also included two Texas Wesleyan attacking errors, a Tucker kill and another Rams error, pulling the Golden Eagles even at 16-16.

From there, the opener became a possession-by-possession battle that produced 10 ties and four lead changes. John Brown moved ahead for the first time at 19-18 on a Tucker-Underdown block and later held a 20-19 advantage after another Tucker kill.

The teams traded sideouts through ties at 20, 22, 23 and 24 before a Texas Wesleyan attacking error handed JBU its first set point at 25-24. The Rams answered, but another service error gave the Golden Eagles a second opportunity at 26-25.

Peijnenburg erased that chance with a kill before a JBU attacking error moved Texas Wesleyan to set point. Another Golden Eagle error followed, allowing the Rams to escape the opener 28-26 despite John Brown's recovery from the early seven-point deficit.

Set 2: John Brown carried some of that momentum into the second, taking an early 2-0 lead before Texas Wesleyan answered and gradually moved in front. The Golden Eagles remained within striking distance through the opening half, trailing only 8-7 after a Rams setting error.

Texas Wesleyan then began creating separation, using a 3-0 push to build an 11-7 advantage before extending the margin to 16-11. Addington's ace later helped JBU pull within 13-10, and Ferrari supplied consecutive kills during another response that cut the deficit to 18-15.

The Rams shut down the comeback from there. Texas Wesleyan scored seven of the final nine points, with Grekstas and McClellan supplying kills during the closing stretch, to secure the 25-17 decision.

The statistical gap widened in the second as Texas Wesleyan hit .310 (12-3-29) while John Brown finished at .103 (8-5-29). The Rams also produced three blocks and four aces in the frame.

Set 3: JBU briefly moved ahead 3-2 in the third before Texas Wesleyan answered with four straight points to take a 7-3 advantage. The Rams later stretched the margin to 14-8, putting the Golden Eagles in another comeback position.

John Brown responded behind Jury's serve, forcing four consecutive Texas Wesleyan errors to climb within 14-13. The Rams immediately answered with five straight points, however, with Peijnenburg landing an ace and Bernal adding a kill as the margin expanded to 19-13.

The Golden Eagles made one final push. Underdown supplied a kill, another Texas Wesleyan error followed and Underdown struck again to cut the deficit to 19-16 before Ferrari later pulled JBU within 20-18.

Texas Wesleyan closed from there, scoring five of the final seven points to take the frame 25-20 and end John Brown's 2026 season at 17-14.

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