Volleyball sweeps Sterling in three games
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Jenny Baney (left in white) and Kristal Griffeth (center in white) celebrate a kill by Griffeth during the second game of KWU's 3-0 sweep of Sterling Wednesday night

Kansas Wesleyan opened the home portion of their volleyball schedule in convincing fashion as the Coyotes swept Sterling College 30-25, 30-26, 30-22 on Wednesday night at Muir Gym.

The Coyotes christened the new Muir Gym lights with some impressive hitting and outstanding defense.

“The new lights are certainly a helper,” KWU coach Gordon Reimer said. “We can actually see the lines on the other side now,” he said jokingly. “That always helps.”

For anyone who hasn’t been in Muir Gym yet this fall, the new lights make it look like a whole new arena. Gone are the dark dingy yellow lights that have been in service since the facility was built in 1981. It was also discovered that the scoreboards are dark blue, instead of the black they had appeared for many years.

Facility issues aside, the Coyotes were on fire tonight, both offensively and defensively. Reimer pointed to some key statistics after the match. “We had 14, 16, and 12 kills in the three games tonight. Statistics say that if you have 14 kills in a game, you have a very strong chance of winning, and we did tonight.”

Baney kicks off the KCAC opener for KWU with the first serve of the match.

“Our defense was outstanding,” he said. “We were all over the floor digging balls, keeping balls live, and that helped us score some points. Naomi (Hobayan) was all over the place tonight. There were some balls that no one though she could get to that she did, and it really got the crowd excited and behind us.”

Wesleyan (3-3, 1-0) jumped out to early leads in games one and three, but saw Sterling (2-5, 0-2) come back and tie things up and take short leads in all three games. Game two saw Sterling jump out to a 7-1 lead, but the Coyotes fought back, tying things up at 7-all before taking the lead.

Reimer said the match was a good one to watch and to coach. “It was a back and forth affair all night. No one could make a big run on the other. It was certainly exciting.”

“Sterling is a very good volleyball team,” Reimer said. “I expected them to come in here and play very well, and they didn’t disappoint.”

Kolby Rhoades led the Coyotes with 18 kills, while Kelli Berg added nine. Naomi Hobayan had 23 digs while Rhoades added 11 and Ashley Winters had nine. Jenny Baney led the Coyotes with 37 assists.

Freshman Caitlan Rush (6) and Junior Kelli Berg (16) go up for a block during game three

Reimer was pleased with the way that the hitters played tonight, highlighting the play of West Texas A&M transfer Kolby Rhoades. “Kolby played really well tonight,” he said. “She is a great hitter, and displayed some power tonight.”

Reimer pointed out that the Coyotes are not quite where he wants the team to be yet. “It’s obvious we have the firepower on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, but we need to work on getting faster and quicker. Once we do that we will be a much better volleyball team.”

The Coyotes are off until next Tuesday when they travel to Winfield to play Southwestern College.

-- KWU SI --

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match Point