Dustin Sahlmann took a bit of solace in the fact his shorthanded Kansas Wesleyan men's volleyball team played Ottawa close.
"We had some guys playing that aren't normally playing all the time," he said following the Coyotes' 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-22) loss in the home and Heart Conference opener Tuesday night inside Mabee Arena. "We did a good job competing even though we had to play some guys out of position and do some things we don't normally do."
KWU fell to 2-4, 0-1 in the Heart, while Ottawa improved to 5-2, 1-0 in Heart play.
Despite the loss Sahlman said he remains optimistic.
"I said in preseason we could be more physical and more dynamic than we've been in the past and we are," he said. "It's just making sure we have the right group of guys on the floor at the right time."
Sahlmann said his team routinely works on late-game situations in practice.
"We play games from 22-all in practice every day or every other day so we know that we're able to compete from that time but tonight we acted like we didn't," he said.
"It's about 'what's my mentality and what's my mindset. Am I going to let somebody push me around or am I just going to go take it?' We don't have enough guys who just want to go take it."
Ottawa took control of the opening set with a 9-2 run that turned a 14-12 deficit into a 21-16 lead. KWU got no closer than four (22-18) the rest of the way.
The Coyotes trailed 21-20 in the second set, but the Braves scored four unanswered points for the victory.
Set three was tied 21-21 before Ottawa scored four of the next five points for the victory and the sweep.
Sahlmann said his team might have been pressing while playing at home for the first time.
"I think that puts a little bit of extra tension on what we're trying to accomplish," he said. "This weekend we're supposed to be on the road, so we won't have anybody staring at us except for the opponents. That might help us."
KWU hit .103 for the match and was led by Matt Lucas and Zayin Martinez with eight kills apiece while Jaron Lindsay had seven. Ethan Ricketts had 23 assists. Defensively libero Jeremy Lapeze had 10 digs.
Ottawa hit .210 percent and was led by Leo Betin and Petar Lazic with 10 kills each.