Lady Coyotes sweep Friends in Conference Opener
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Freshman Ashley Geasland (22) puts down a kill during the game of Wesleyan's sweep of Friends on Wednesday night.

Make no mistake, it was hot inside Kansas Wesleyan’s Muir Gym on Wednesday night. However, the action on the floor was even hotter as the Lady Coyotes swept Friends University 30-17, 30-28, 31-29 in both teams’ conference opener.

Sarah Claborn got things started for the Lady Coyotes in game one, opening the match with a thunderous kill, much to the pleasure of the large crowd in attendance. A service error by the Lady Coyotes tied things up at 1-all, before Wesleyan scored three of the next four points to jump out to a 4-2 lead.

Three straight by Friends gave them a short lead at 5-4, before Wesleyan would score five on the next six giving them a 9-6 lead. Friends would come back, answering with a 6-3 run, tying things up at 12-all. Wesleyan then turned up the firepower, using a 6-0 run to jump out to a 18-12 lead. The Lady Coyotes extended the lead to 20-13, forcing a Friends timeout.

After the break, Wesleyan picked back up and outscored the Lady Falcons 10-4 to end the first game.

Game two was a back and forth affair, until Friends used a short 3-0 run to take a 8-5 lead, forcing a Wesleyan timeout. First year coach Shawn Taylor calmed the troops and Wesleyan came out of the break with a 5-1 run to take a 10-9 lead. Friends would regain and hold a slim lead, before using a 5-1 run to take a 25-21 lead, forcing another KWU timeout. Again the Lady Coyotes used the timeout to regroup as they scored five unanswered to regain the lead 26-25. Friends would get two quick points on Wesleyan errors, before the Lady Coyotes capped the game with a kill by Claborn giving them a 30-28 win in game two.

Game three saw the Lady Coyotes jump out to an early 9-5 lead, but Friends would rally, and eventually tie things up at 17-all. Wesleyan would regain a lead with a 4-1 run, but Friends (0-1, 0-1) stuck around, finally taking a 26-25 lead. Ashley Winters would record a tip-kill to tie things back up, but Friends would pull ahead 27-26 on the next point, and would have a chance to get the game three win, but a service error tied things up at 29-all. Wesleyan would have match point at 30-29, when Claborn hammered a ball to the back corner, giving the Lady Coyotes the three game sweep.

Claborn led the way for Wesleyan (2-4, 1-0) with 12 kills, while Rhoades added 11 and Winters had five. Kelli Berg had 29 assists on the night to lead the Lady Coyotes, while Winters added five service aces to lead Wesleyan. Rachel Ehrlich had seven digs to lead Wesleyan, while Whitney DuBois led the way with a solo block.

Wesleyan is off until next Tuesday when the Lady Coyotes host Saint Mary in a 7:00 p.m. first serve at Muir Gymnasium.

-- KWU SI --