Maddy Beckett (JR/Halstead, Kan.) recorded 15 kills and hit .433 to help the Kansas Wesleyan volleyball team win its sixth straight match in straight sets over Avila 25-15, 25-14, 25-12 on Wednesday night at Mabee Arena.

Strong thunderstorms in the area late in the afternoon knocked out power to most of the KWU campus and a good chunk of Salina, but was restored just before match time. The outage did not affect KWU’s Student Activity Center, except that internet service was down and remained down until the match was nearly at its conclusion.

The Coyotes raced out to a 9-2 lead in the opening set, but Avila got back within five at 11-6. A blocking error by Avila gave Melinna Schumann (FR/Sabetha, Kan.) a kill and turned things back in the favor of the Coyotes. Back-to-back kills by Beckett put the Coyotes up 19-9 in the set and Josie Deckinger (SO/Wichita, Kan.)’s service ace closed out the first set.

Avila briefly led in the second set, but it started out close as KWU would build a two point lead only to see Avila come back and tie it, then KWU would take the lead again. Avila rallied from an 11-9 deficit to tie it at 11-all when the Coyotes took over. A service error put Wesleyan on top and a kill by Morgan Bryand (JR/Wichita, Kan.) made it 17-12. After an Avila point, the Coyotes scored the next five to take a 22-13 lead. Leading 23-14, Emily Monson (SR/Cheney, Kan.) dug a ball that found its way over the net and fell to the floor in for a kill setting up set-point which went to the Coyotes on a hitting error by the Eagles.

Wesleyan zoomed out to a 5-1 lead in the final set and the Eagles got no closer that 6-3 the rest of the way. Malia Mack (JR/Joplin, Mo.) got a kill to spark a quick four point push for the Coyotes to make it 11-3. A kill by Beckett gave KWU match point at 24-10, but Avila got a couple points back before Chelsea James (JR/Wichita, Kan.) closed things out with a kill.

Bryand added eight kills for the Coyotes and James added seven, hitting .700 for the match. KWU hit .389 as a team with 45 total kills. Deckinger served two aces and added 20 assists in the match. Cortney Hanna (JR/Lawrence, Kan.) had 15 assists. Monson led the way with 13 digs on defense while Schumann had 11. Malia Mack had six blocks and Bryand four.

The Coyotes are at Southwestern on Friday night in Winfield.