HILLSBORO, Kan. - After dropping Wednesday's second set against the Tabor Bluejays, the Kansas Wesleyan Women's Volleyball team decided to turn things up a notch.
Outstanding performances from the Coyotes in the third and fourth set fueled KWU's 25-17, 22-25, 25-10, 25-14 win over the Bluejays at the Tabor College Gymnasium.
In the opening set, Tabor led 4-1 but the Coyotes came back with a 6-1 run to take a 7-5 lead. Tabor was within a point at 12-11 but back to back kills by Campbell Bohling gave the Coyotes a 14-11 lead. The Coyotes extended the lead to 18-13 before Tabor got within three at 20-17. The Coyotes then scored the final five points of the set to win 25-17.
The second set was back and forth between the teams. The Coyotes led 9-7 before Tabor took a 10-9 lead. KWU scored the next three and six of the next seven to take a 15-11 lead. An 8-3 run by Tabor gave the Bluejays a 19-18 lead which turned into a 22-19 advantage. The Coyotes couldn't bounce back and dropped the second set.
The Coyotes came out on fire in the third. KWU scored seven of the first eight points of the set and later pushed the lead to 14-4 on a kill by Ryan Pennington. It was 17-10 when the Coyotes made another run, scoring the last eight points of the set for the 25-10 win.
Another fast start in the fourth sent the Coyotes to victory. KWU took an 11-3 lead in the set and pushed the advantage to 16-6 on a block by Avery Conner and Ivi Marcolino. A block by Giovanna Ishii and Conner would close out the match for the Coyotes.
Ryan Pennington had 16 kills and hit .395 in the match to lead the way for the Coyotes. Marcolino added 15 kills. Blair Pennington had 34 assists and Ishii had 12. Five different Coyotes had 10 or more digs led by Tristyn Hedman with 17. Camryn Lewis had six total blocks (two solo) to lead the front row defense.