FORT WORTH, Texas - Kansas Wesleyan Women's Volleyball posted a 2-2 record in four matches in the Texas Two-Step Tournament hosted by Texas Wesleyan University and Nelson University on Friday and Saturday.
KWU split its two matches each day. On Friday, the Coyotes opened with a four set loss to Texas Wesleyan, but bounced back with a 3-0 win over Rochester Christian. On Saturday, the Coyotes knocked off Nelson 3-1, but then lost to Texas A&M-Texarkana in four sets.
TXWES 3, KWU 1 (22-25, 21-25, 25-20, 16-25): The Coyotes battled tough with the Texas Wesleyan Rams, but TXWES came away with the four set win.
The Coyotes had to fight back from a deficit several times in the opening set, but after tying things at 19 on a block by Kylee Harris and Sarah Girard, the Rams scored the next three to make it 22-19 and were able to get the set win.
KWU led 12-10 in the second, but a 6-0 run by TXWES put the Rams up 16-12. KWU got within two at 21-19, but TXWES was able to close out the set winning 25-21.
KWU trailed 14-9 in the third, but tied it at 17-all and pushed out to a 19-17 lead on a Kate Bebout and Harris block. The Rams tied it back up at 19, but KWU scored six of the last seven, including the final four points to win the set 25-20.
Texas Wesleyan pushed out to a 14-4 lead in the fourth, and the Coyotes couldn't recover dropping the set 25-16.
Rylee Serpan had 10 kills to lead the Coyotes, while Joey Pennington had eight and Gianna Adriaanse had six. Kori Arnold had 24 digs. Ryleigh Stulzsatz had 15 assists and Sara Bebout had 12.
KWU 3, RCU 0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-17): The Coyotes finished Friday on a high note winning in straight sets against Rochester Christian University.
KWU sped out to an 8-1 lead in the first set and led 12-3. RCU made it 14-8 before five straight points from the Coyotes made it 19-8 on the way to the 25-12 win.
The Coyotes sped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set, but RCU tied it up at 5. The set went back and forth until right at the end when KWU scored the final five points to win the second set.
The third set started a lot like the second, back and forth, and each team had mini runs until midway through the set when a 5-0 spurt by the Coyotes broke a 14-all tie and gave KWU a 19-14 lead. It was 23-17 when the Coyotes scored the last two points to close out the match.
Serpan was phenomenal in the match for the Coyotes with 15 kills, no errors on 20 tries for a .750 attack percentage as the team hit .353. Blair Pennington had 14 assists and Stuhlsatz had 17. Arnold had nine digs.
KWU 3, Nelson 1 (26-24, 24-26, 28-26, 25-19): Three of the four sets went "overtime" when the Coyotes faced Nelson University, but things landed in favor of Wesleyan who came aay with the win.
Nelson took an early 5-1 lead in the first set, but the Coyotes tied it at 11. Back-to-back service aces by Maddy Wolf gave KWU a 14-13 lead, but Nelson came right back with five straight to lead 18-14. It was 22-18 Nelson when the Coyotes would scored five of the next six to tie it at 23. Nelson scored to have set point, but the Coyotes got the last laugh scoring the last three points to take the set 26-24.
Trailing 8-6, the Coyotes scored five in a row to take an 11-8 lead and pushed the lead out to 20-15. Nelson scored four straight to get within one, but then KWU had a 23-20 lead. Nelson scored the next three to tie it. In reverse fashion of the first, KWU scored the next point to have set point, but Nelson would get the last three to win 26-24.
Wesleyan led 8-6 in the third, but Nelson scored four to take a 10-8 lead. KWU was within a point at 12-11 before Nelson scored three straight. Nelson led 23-17, but the Coyotes said not so fast, scoring the next three. Nelson had set point at 24-20, but the Coyotes went on a run, scoring the next five to take a 25-24 lead. KWU led again at 26-25 when Nelson tied it, but KWU finished it with two points to win 28-26.
The Coyotes trailed 5-4 in the fourth, but a 7-2 run gave KWU an 11-7 lead. KWU led 15-9 but the Lions got within two at 17-15. Three straight from the Coyotes made it 20-15 and KWU closed out the match with a 25-19 win.
Serpan had another monster match with 20 kills while Adriaanse had 10. Stuhlsatz had 35 assists and Blair Pennington had 19. Tristyn Hedman had 27 digs in the match, while Pennington had 12 and Ella Schmid had 15.
TAMUT 3, KWU 1 (25-20, 13-25, 18-25, 20-25): KWU won the first set, but Texas A&M Texarkana won the final three to win the match.
KWU trailed 7-3 to start the first set but Wesleyan turned the tides, scoring the next eight points to take an 11-7 lead. TAMUT made its own five point run to take the lead back 12-11, before things bounced back and forth in the set. The Eagles got within two at 22-20 before the Coyotes scored the last three to win the set.
Almost nothing went right for the Coyotes in the second set as the Eagles opened up the lead and coasted to the win.
KWU led early in the third, but a TAMUT run made it 9-5 in the Eagles' favor and the Coyotes couldn't recover. KWU got within three at 21-18, but the Eagles scored the final four to win the set.
Leading 7-3 in the fourth, the Coyotes couldn't hang on as the Eagles took 9-7 lead. KWU regained the lead at 10-9 briefly, but a late press by the Eagles gave them the match win.
Serpan was solid again in the setback, with 16 kills while hitting .452. Stuhlsatz had 19 assists and Pennington 12. Hedman had 15 digs.
The great Coyote road trip to start the season continues next weekend, as the Coyotes head to Ottawa on Friday to take on Stephens College, then head to Hays to take on Division II Fort Hays State on Saturday.