Volleyball hangs tough, but drops three set decision to Friends
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Sarah Claborn (9) and Ashley Geasland go for a block against Friends' Julie Phillips during the second set of Thursday night's match

A very talented group from Friends University entered Muir Gymnasium on Thursday evening, and the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes played well, but could not get over the hump, as Wesleyan lost 20-25, 22-25, 20-25 to the Falcons. Friends remains undefeated in the KCAC at 6-0, while KWU slips to 2-4 in conference play.

The first set went back and forth between the two teams in the beginning. Wesleyan used a Danielle Griffis kill to take a 6-5 lead and held the lead at 11-9 before the Falcons came roaring back. A block got things started as Friends knocked out four straight points to take a 13-11 lead and force a Wesleyan timeout.

After the stop, Griffis put down a kill and a net call on Friends tied things back up. Friends got three more in a row and would eventually take a 19-15 lead before Wesleyan would mount its own rally. Sarah Claborn put down a kill that started a 5-1 Coyote run that tied things up at 20-all, forcing Friends to use a timeout.

Wesleyan then fell apart, a service error from Jordyn Rahlf got things headed in the wrong direction for the Coyotes, as Friends scored the last five points of the set, all on Wesleyan errors to win 25-20.

Friends (11-5, 6-0) took early control in the second set with a 4-1 lead, but Wesleyan rallied back, taking a 5-4 lead. After a Friends timeout, the Falcons rallied back, taking a 11-8 lead.

The Coyotes fought back, scoring ten of the next 15 points to take an 18-16 lead. After Friends called its second timeout of the set, the Falcons got four in a row, capped by a Rachel Strickland kill and a lift call against KWU to take a 20-18 lead. Rahlf broke the run with a kill and Griffis put down an ace to tie things up at 20-all, but again the Coyotes fell apart at the end. Jennifer McConnell got Wesleyan within one at 22-23, and nearly tied it, but Jenn Lee dove for a ball off a block that was clearly out of bounds, giving the point to Friends. Friends won the second set 25-22.

Wesleyan (4-13, 2-4) jumped out to a big 4-1 lead, but Friends rallied, eventually taking a 9-7 lead when Lee was called for a double hit on a set. Chandra Slates gave Friends an 11-9 lead that the Falcons eventually strung out to 17-13. A service error by the Falcons gave the ball back to the Coyotes, who were able to roll off three straight to get within one at 17-16 and force a Friends timeout. The Coyotes tied things up at 18-all before back-to-back in the net calls gave Friends a 20-18 lead that the Falcons would never surrender and Slates ended the match when her attack to Lee was misplayed.

Claborn led the way with ten kills, while Kathleen Thomas had six. Lee had 14 assists, but also recorded seven ball handling errors on the night. Claborn added 11 assists as she and Lee split time at the setter position. Three different players had two assisted blocks each, while Claborn and Karissa Kent split top digging honors with 12 each.

The Coyotes are back in action on Saturday, hosting York College and Tabor College in a triangular. Wesleyan will play Tabor starting at 9 a.m., followed by Tabor and York facing each other at about 11 a.m., and KWU and York will match-up at about 1:00 inside Muir Gymnasium.

-- KWU SI --