LINDSBORG – Kansas Wesleyan Women’s Volleyball needed four sets to pick up a ninth consecutive win on Friday night in a non-Kansas Conference match against the Bethany Swedes in Hahn Gymnasium. The Coyotes would come out victorious 25-18, 25-14, 22-25, 25-23.
It was the first time in nine matches that the Coyotes needed more than three sets for a win, a streak that went back to Wesleyan’s final match in Florida on September 3. The Coyotes are 27-1 in sets during the current nine-match winning streak.
After cruising in the first two sets, the Coyotes fell behind out of the gates in the third set 4-1 and trailed 10-6 when a little bit of a run got them back into it. The Coyotes tied it on three straight kills from Morgan Bryand (SR/Wichita, Kan.), Alexis Utz (JR/Kansas City, Mo.) and Maddy Beckett (SR/Halstead, Kan.) to make it 11-11, and the Coyotes took a brief lead at 15-14 on another kill by Beckett.
KWU fell behind 23-21 in the set, but couldn’t recover and dropped the set 25-22.
A kill from Elizabeth Hardacre (SR/Kensington, Kan.) gave the Coyotes an 11-5 lead in the final set, but Bethany came back and tied it at 17-all. Four straight Coyote points culminating with a block by Beckett and Utz gave Wesleyan a 21-17 lead.
The Coyotes led 22-19 when Bethany would come back and tie it at 23-all. Beckett would kill it home for the Coyotes, with a big kill and then a service ace to end it.
Wesleyan opened up the first set with a 5-1 lead and later extended it to 17-7 on a Melinna Schumann (SO/Sabetha, Kan.) service ace. Morgan Bryand‘s kill would end the first set in favor of the Coyotes 25-18.
The Coyotes trailed briefly in the second set but used a 9-1 run to take a 21-11 lead before Beckett’s kill ended the set.
Freshman Rylee Serpan (FR/Spring Hill, Kan.) dominated the match again with 16 kills while hitting .406 for the match. Beckett added 14 kills and Bryand had 12. Wesleyan hit .260 as a team. Josie Deckinger (JR/Wichita, Kan.) had 44 assists. Kelcey Hund (JR/Leavenworth, Kan.) had 29 digs, while Beckett added 19 and Schumann 11.
Wesleyan heads to Kansas City on Tuesday to take on the Avila Eagles in a Kansas Conference match starting at 6 p.m.
