Kansas Wesleyan Men's Volleyball got back in the win column on Tuesday night as the Coyotes took out the Central Christian College Tigers in four sets - 25-22, 25-22, 27-29, 26-24 inside Mabee Arena.
In the opening set, the Coyotes jumped out to a 3-1 lead, and led 7-4 before Central came back and tied it at 8-8. A kill by Dallas Manaku and another by Alexander Rivera got the Coyotes back ahead as KWU led 11-8. The Coyotes pushed the lead out to 16-10 and led 19-13 after a kill by Conor Williams before Central scored four straight to get within two at 19-17.
The Coyotes never let Central tie or take the lead but the Tigers got within a point several times. Leading 22-21 KWU got two points on kills by Kaleb Cui and Anthony Mule to set up set point and after giving a point to Central, the Coyotes closed out the set on a Williams kill.
Wesleyan rocketed out to a 5-1 lead in the second set and led 10-5 and 14-9 and 18-12 and 21-15 before Central made a push to get back into it. The Coyotes led 23-18 when Central got three straight to get within two. A Cui kill would give the Coyotes set point and after a point to Central, Cui put down a kill to end the set.
The Coyotes had to play from behind in the third set several times. KWU led 13-12 when Central scored seven straight points to take a 19-13 lead. Wesleyan battled its way back into it, scoring three straight to lead 19-16. Central would have a chance at set point leading 24-20, but the Coyotes said 'no so fast'. The Coyotes scored the next four to tie it at 24-all and force 'volleyball overtime'. Wesleyan fought off several set points, tying things up, the last time at 27-all before Central would get the 29-27 win.
In the fourth, KWU pushed out to a 9-5 lead and led 12-8 on a service ace by Cui. Central came back and took a 15-14 lead before the Coyotes regained control with a 4-1 run to lead 18-16 on back to back service aces by Mule. A kill by Williams gave KWU match point at 24-23 but Central tied it, but gave the lead right back to the Coyotes on a service error and Williams would finish it with a kill.
Williams led the Coyotes with 19 kills while Cui added 18. Alexander Rivera had eight and Dallas Manaku had seven. Manaku added 46 assists, two aces and 15 digs for the Coyotes. Kiely had 20 digs. Cui added three total blocks and four service aces.