PARKVILLE, Mo. - Kansas Wesleyan Men's Volleyball dropped both matches on the first day of the Park Invitational at Breckon Sports Center.
The Coyotes opened with a four-set loss to Westcliff (Calif.) 21-25, 25-20, 12-25, 22-25.
Wesleyan had a 4-2 lead in the opening set, and led 8-7 when Westcliff scored three straight to take a 10-8 lead. Back came the Coyotes with three in a row to take an 11-10 lead, and the teams went back and forth, no one leading by more than two points until late when Westcliff scored four in a row to take a 24-20 lead. A kill by Zayin Martinez stopped the run, but Westcliff finished the set on the next point.
KWU trailed early in the second set, but down 10-8, KWU responded to take a 12-11 lead. KWU led 13-12 when Westcliff scored four straight to take a 16-13 lead. Back came the Coyotes however, rattling off five straight points to take an 18-16 lead. Westcliff tied it at 18, but five straight for the Coyotes was enough of an advantage to take the set 25-20 on an ace by Jaron Lindsay.
The third was a struggle for the Coyotes who fell behind 8-2 and couldn't catch up.
The fourth set went back and forth to start both teams trading the lead. Wesleyan led 16-14, but Westcliff was able to take an 18-17 lead. KWU came back to tie it on a block by Martinez and Ryan Wagner, but Westcliff got the final three points of the set to win.
Martinez had 12 kills to lead the Coyotes. Ethan Ricketts had 29 assists and 10 digs to lead the way. Jeremy Lapeze had eight digs.
The Coyotes then faced Goshen (Ind.) and dropped the match in straight sets, but went extra points twice - 25-27, 14-25, 24-26.
The Leafs took a 5-1 lead in the first set, and led 12-5 when the Coyotes got back into it. It was 15-8 Goshen when the Coyotes scored five straight to get within two at 15-13. Trailing 21-19 the Coyotes scored three straight to take a 22-21 lead. Goshen had set point at 24-22, but the Coyotes got two points to tie it at 24. The teams traded points until the Leafs scored the final two to take the set.
The second set was close with the Coyotes trailing 14-13 when Goshen went on a 9-0 run to take a 23-13 lead.
Wesleyan led 8-4 in the third set, and after Goshen tied it at 10, scored four in a row to take a 14-10 lead. The Coyotes led 17-13, but the Leafs got back within a point at 17-16. The Coyotes had a chance at set point at 24-23, but Goshen closed the match with three points to earn the sweep.
Matt Lucas led the Coyotes with seven kills. Rickets had 16 assists and Angel Diaz had eight. Lapeze had 12 digs and Josh Kiely had 11.