KWU Sports Information
McPHERSON – Kansas Wesleyan men's volleyball splits its two matches on the second day of the Central Christian Invitational at Jerry Alexander Arena.
After dropping the first match of the day to No. 12 Mount Mercy, the Coyotes bounced back to sweep NCAA Division III Simpson College in the last match of the day for KWU.
Against Simpson, the Coyotes set a new program record for hitting percentage in a match, hitting .415 for the match, passing the previous record of .395 set on February 6 against Central Christian.
KWU 3, Simpson 0 (25-10, 25-9, 25-10): It was a dominating performance for the Coyotes in their match with Simpson.
The Coyotes raced out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set, and quickly pushed the lead to 14-3 after back-to-back kills by Jeremy Lapeze. From there it was all Coyotes in the set on the way to the 25-10 win.
The set second looked a lot like the first as the Coyotes raced out to a 14-3 lead and never looked back, cruising to the 25-9 win in the set.
In the third, the Coyotes led 13-8 when the offense got going thanks to an 8-1 run that made it 21-9. After Simpson scored a point the Coyotes scored the final five of the match.
Lapeze led the Coyotes with 13 kills and added seven digs. Marcus Taylor had 19 assists and Angel Diaz had 11. Justin Burras had 15 digs in the match. Diaz and Lapeze had three aces each.
Mt. Mercy 3, KWU 0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-21): KWU opened the second day with a three set loss to No. 12 ranked Mount Mercy.
Andy Tran's kill in the first set gave KWU an early 3-2 lead but seven straight points by the Mustangs made it 9-3. Mount Mercy increased its lead out to 20-9 in the set before coming away with the 25-11 win.
In the second set it was close throughout, the Coyotes trailed by only three at 20-17 after a kill by Viet Nguyen before the Mustangs took over to close the set, outscoring KWU 5-1 the rest of the way.
The Coyotes led 8-4 in the final set before a 6-0 run by the Mustangs made it 10-8. Wesleyan led 17-15 in the set before Mount Mercy again came back, taking a 19-18 lead. Wesleyan twice fought off match points by the Mustangs before closing out the match.
Justin Burras led the Coyotes with eight kills. Marcus Taylor had 14 assists. Jeremy Lapeze had eight digs.
The Coyotes are back in action this weekend, at Missouri S&T on Friday at 5 p.m., and then at No. 8 ranked William Penn on Saturday at 4 p.m. KWU plays its final regular season home match of the season next Thursday against Central Christian inside Mabee Arena.