TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. – Kansas Wesleyan Women’s Volleyball split its two matches on the second day of the Florida College Tournament. The Coyotes fell in a five-set thriller with William Carey, then swept Florida College. KWU ended its trip to Florida with a 4-1 record, improving to 8-4 on the season.
WILLIAM CAREY 3, KWU 2 (25-22, 28-26, 25-27, 24-26, 17-15): The Coyotes faced unbeaten William Carey in the first match on Saturday, and four of the five sets needed extra points to be decided before the Crusaders came away with the win.
The Coyotes led 9-4 in the first set, but William Carey came back to tie it at 12. The Crusaders grabbed the lead at 15-14, but a Chelsea James (SR/Wichita, Kan.) kill tied it back up. The set went back and forth until Carey scored four of the final five points to win the set.
Wesleyan led 8-4 in the second set and led 14-11, then 19-15 when Carey made a push to tie it at 21-all. The Coyotes had a chance at 24-22 to win the set, but Carey scored the next two points to tie it at 24. The Crusaders tied it again at 25, forcing extra points. Elizabeth Hardacre (SR/Kensington, Kan.) set up a chance for the Coyotes, but William Carey scored the last three to win the set.
KWU turned the tables in the third set, falling behind, then rallying, taking a 16-13 lead on a block by Hardacre and Morgan Bryand (SR/Wichita, Kan.). William Carey tied it at 20, and several more times, even having a match point chance at 25-24 before the Coyotes scored the last three of the set to win 27-25.
William Carey led 14-8 at one point in the fourth set, and had a 19-15 lead when the Coyotes came back and took a 20-19 lead before the Crusaders took a 22-20 lead. KWU tied it back up at 22 on a kill by Maddy Beckett (SR/Halstead, Kan.), and after Carey had another match point chance, the Coyotes scored the final three points of the set to win 26-24.
KWU led 12-9 in the deciding set, but William Carey took a 13-12 lead. Bryand tied it up with a kill, and the Crusaders would score the final points to win 17-15.
Hardacre and Bryand led the Coyotes with 16 kills each, while Beckett added 12 kills to go along with 22 digs. Melinna Schumann (SO/Sabetha, Kan.) had 23 digs. Hardacre had seven total blocks.
KWU 3, Florida College 0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-21): The Coyotes closed the trip to Florida with a sweep of Florida College.
The Coyotes broke open a one point game in the first set, pushing the lead out to 20-14, and would take the set 25-16 on a kill by Rylee Serpan (FR/Spring Hill, Kan.).
Late in the second set, the Coyotes would open just enough of a lead to make it be decisive as the Coyotes held on for the 25-22 win.
Wesleyan trailed 16-10 in the third set, but scored the next six points to tie it at 16 on a kill by Bryand. KWU took an 18-17 lead on James kill, and took the lead for good on Morgan Bryand‘s service ace that made it 22-21 as the Coyotes cored the last five points of the set to win.
Serpan led a balanced KWU attack with 12 kills, while Bryand had seven and Hardacre had eight. Schumann had 22 digs. Hardacre added three more blocks in the match.
The Coyotes return back to Kansas and will play their first home match of the season on Thursday night, hosting Friends University in a non-conference match at 7 p.m. inside Mabee Arena.
