OTTAWA, Kan. – Kansas Wesleyan Men’s Volleyball saw its season come to a close on Saturday as the Coyotes dropped a straight-set match (25-19, 25-23, 25-20) to the Ottawa Braves in the first round of the GPAC playoffs inside Wilson Field House.

In the opening set, the Coyotes trailed 7-3 but came back and tied things up at 8-8 on a kill by Colin Lindo (JR/Las Vegas, Nev.). Ottawa pushed back out to a 12-9 lead. The Coyotes got back within a point at 16-15, but Ottawa pressed out to a 21-16 lead which proved to be enough advantage for the Braves to win the first set.

Wesleyan jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set, but fell behind 9-5. KWU tied it back up at 12, and took a 19-17 lead in the set on back-to-back blocks, but Ottawa responded with four straight points to take a 21-19 lead. Ottawa would win the set 25-23.

The Coyotes led several times early in the third set, the latest at 10-9, but with the set tied 12-12, Ottawa used a four-point run to take a 16-12 lead. The Coyotes got no closer than 17-15 on Jeremy Lapeze (FR/Burbank, Calif.)’s kill the rest of the way.

Justin Burras (FR/Burbank, Calif.) led the Coyotes with 12 kills. Viet Nguyen (SO/Wichita, Kan.) had eight and Lapeze had five. Marcus Taylor had 29 assists and four blocks. Andy Tran (FR/San Jose, Calif.) and Lapeze had six digs each.

The Coyotes close their second season with a 10-19 record.