Shorthanded Coyotes drop match to Swedes
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Ashley Geasland and Kathleen Thomas (10) go up for a block against Bethany's Angelisa Sexson in game two of Tuesday's match

A shorthanded Kansas Wesleyan volleyball team dropped its first match of the season in KCAC play, as the Bethany Swedes knocked off the Lady Coyotes 30-25, 34-32, 30-20, in front of a packed house on Tuesday night at Muir Gym.

Without the services of top hitter Sarah Claborn, who was scratched from the lineup late Monday evening, the Lady Coyotes struggled to get the offensive attack going.

“Losing a top player like Sarah definitely hurt us tonight,” KWU coach Shawn Taylor said. “We had to shuffle our lineup and play a couple people out of position, and I think that created a lot of confusion for us out on the court.”

Bethany jumped out to an early 7-3 lead in game one, but Wesleyan fought back to tie things up at 12-all on a kill by Kolby Rhoades. Lisa Runnebaum would tie the score at 14 for Bethany, but a service error would give Wesleyan a shortlived 15-14 lead. The Swedes would score five of the next six points, grabbing a 19-16 lead, forcing a Wesleyan timeout.

After the break Whitney DuBois nailed a kill to break the Swede run, but Bethany answered again, scoring five of the next seven points to that a 24-20 lead. The Coyotes never could get back in the game as the Swedes grabbed game one 30-25.

In game two Wesleyan jumped out to the big 6-1 lead before Bethany’s Megan Laughery would score to get Bethany within four at 6-2. Following a kill by Rhoades, Bethany would reel off five straight points to tie things at 7-all, forcing a Wesleyan timeout. After the stop, the Lady Coyotes would regroup and use an 8-2 run to take a 15-9 lead. Bethany would answer back, using a 7-2 run to get within one at 17-16.

After another Lady Coyote timeout, Wesleyan would regroup and hold a 22-20 lead when the Bethany offense would come alive scoring the next six points to take a 25-22 lead. Wesleyan didn’t give up, and fought back, tying the score at 28 on a DuBois ace. The Lady Coyotes held off two Bethany game points, forcing the game into extra points. Wesleyan had its own chance to pull out the game two win, but a net call against the Lady Coyotes tied it up at 30. Bethany would hold a 33-32 lead when DuBois’ shot to the back corner was long, and Bethany would take game two 34-32.

Game three again saw Wesleyan (9-7, 4-1) take an early lead, only to see Bethany rally. The Lady Coyotes led 5-1, but the Swedes would rally, tying it up at 9-all. Wesleyan would jump back out to a 12-10 lead, but Bethany (10-5, 5-0) would score nine of the next 11 points to take a 17-13 lead. Both teams would trade points back and forth on the next 11 rallies, before Bethany’s offense got untracked, finishing the game and the match with six straight points to take the game, 30-20.

Rhoades would lead the way for the Coyotes with 23 kills, while Winters added 11 and DuBois had 10. Karissa Kent would have 26 digs to lead the Lady Coyotes while Rhoades added 18 and Winters had 13. Kelli Berg had 41 assists. Rhoades would lead Wesleyan with four solo blocks, while Berg had a solo block and DuBois and Winters each had a assisted block.

The Lady Coyotes return to action on Thursday when they host Southwestern College at Muir Gymnasium with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m.

-- KWU SI --