Lady Coyotes cap regular season play with 3-1 win over Sterling
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

KWU's Kendra Krier makes another perfect pass in game two of Thursday night's match vs Sterling College. KWU won 3-1.

It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but it was a win. Gordon Reimer’s KWU Lady Coyotes defeated Sterling 30-19, 28-30, 30-21, 30-19, to close out regular season play with a 13-5 record in the KCAC, 17-10 overall. Wesleyan has earned the number three seed in the KCAC Post Season Tournament starting next week, and will host a first round game on Tuesday at 7:00 PM in Muir Gym.

Reimer, in his second season, has got the program back in the top third of the KCAC, the direction it was headed in 2003, when the Coyotes finished 14-4 in the conference and made it to the KCAC Championship game against perennial powerhouse Tabor, losing in five games. Last season the Coyotes finished 8-10 in the KCAC.

Game one saw the Coyotes jump out to a 5-0 lead before the Warriors were able to get back within four points at 10-6 on an ace by Sarah Selenke. From there, the Coyotes exploded on a 8-3 run forcing a Sterling timeout. After the timeout, Wesleyan extended the run to 14-4, taking a 24-10 lead, before Sterling put together a short 4-0 run, to get back within 10, at 24-14. Wesleyan was up 11 at 28-17, when Sterling coach Mary Ver Steeg called her second timeout of the game. After the break, the Coyotes had game point at 29-17, but a missed block by Sarah Carlson and a bad pass by senior Beth McDonald gave Sterling two quick points, before Wesleyan captured the game on a service error by Jessie Cady.

Game two was a stark contrast to game one, as Sterling jumped out to an early 9-4 lead, before going on a 7-4 run to force Reimer to use a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Coyotes responded going on a 11-7 run to get back within four at 23-19, forcing a Sterling timeout. The Coyotes extended the run to 14-7 to get within one at 23-22. Sterling was able to hold the lead, despite the Coyotes tying it at 28-all, but Sterling scored the last two points and won game two 30-28.

Game three started out with Sterling grabbing a 5-1 lead, but Wesleyan clawed back into it, using a big 9-1 run to take a 13-10 leading into a Sterling timeout. The run was ignited by four Carlson and two Griffeth kills. Sterling hung with the Coyotes after the timeout, using a 7-4 run retie the score at 17-all. From there the Coyotes went on a decisive 13-4 run to finish the game off, winning 30-21. Sterling’s Grace Friedman capped the game as her tip kill attempt went into the net.

Seniors Tessa Showman (10) and Beth McDonald pose for a picture while the Coyotes wrapped up game four in the 3-1 win over Sterling on Thursday

Game four was all Wesleyan again, as the Coyotes jumped out 14-9 and never looked back. After a Sterling timeout, Wesleyan used a 12-7 run to pull away from the Warriors. Reimer turned to his senior leadership in Tessa Showman during the run, as she had five kills in the stretch including the last four KWU points of the run. Sterling got to within seven at 26-19, but the Coyotes scored the final four points to come away with the 30-19 win.

The Coyotes were led in kills by Tessa Showman with 18 against only two errors in 27 attempts. Kristal Griffeth added 14, and Kelli Berg 12. Doris Kometani had 40 assists on the night. Berg also led the Coyotes with three aces, while Kayla Banzhaf, Griffeth and Carlson each had two. Kendra Krier led the Wesleyan defense with 27 digs, while Kometani had 22, and Banzhaf 21. Griffeth led the Coyote blockers with 4.0 total blocks.

The Coyotes are off until the first round tournament game on Tuesday. Tournament seedings and pairings will be released by the KCAC Sports Information Office as soon as they are decided. Wesleyan is assured the number three seed as they tied with McPherson with a 13-5 record in the KCAC. The teams split their head to head meetings, but Wesleyan holds the third tiebreaker, better overall record.

-- KWU SI--