SAN ANTONIO - Kansas Wesleyan Women's Volleyball got the Aubrey Wilson era off to a good start in Thursday's season opener against William Penn in the Texas Two-Step Invitational hosted by Our Lady of the Lake University.
It took five sets, but the Coyotes got it done, closing the match with an emphatic 15-5 win to win the match 20-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 15-5.
The first set was tied 3-3 before William Penn went on an 8-1 run to take an 11-4 lead. The Coyotes battled back from a 16-6 deficit, cutting the difference to as few as four at 20-16 on a block by newcomer Ivi Marcolino. WPU had set point at 24-17 before the Coyotes scored three straight points to again get within four but WPU got a kill to close out the set.
WPU took a 4-0 lead in the second set, but the Coyotes responded right back scoring six straight points to take a 6-4 lead. Each team would go on runs as KWU led 9-6, then WPU lead 11-9 before the Coyotes grabbed another brief 14-13 advantage. The set was tied 19-19 when the Coyotes scored four straight points capped by back-to-back aces by Ryan Pennington to take a 23-19 lead. WPU got back within a point at 24-23 but the Coyotes closed it out on a Marcolino kill.
The third set was another set of runs for each team as the lead bounced back and forth. It was tied 16-16 after a kill by Campbell Bohling when WPU would score seven of the next eight points to take a 23-17 lead and go on to win the set.
Wesleyan led by five points several times in the fourth set including at 19-14 before William Penn got within a point at 19-18. A kill by Camryn Lewis got the Coyotes back on track and KWU extended the lead out to 24-20 before WPU scored two points, but a block by Avery Conner would give the Coyotes the set win and force a deciding fifth.
The Coyotes raced out to a 9-2 lead in the fifth set and led 10-5 when the Coyotes scored the final five points to close out the match.
Marcolino led the Coyotes with 15 kills in her Coyote debut while Ryan Pennington had 12 and Bohling had 10. Blair Pennington had 28 assists. Tristyn Hedman led the defense with 21 digs. Conner had three blocks.