Rylee Serpan's dominant and relentless effort was impressive but wasn't enough to carry Kansas Wesleyan past Benedictine in the Coyotes' 2023 home opener.
Benedictine toppled KWU 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-9) in a tense and tight non-conference match before a sizeable crowd Tuesday night inside Mabee Arena.
Wesleyan (5-2) appeared to have the momentum after pulling away late and winning the fourth set. But Benedictine (3-0) scored the first six points of the decisive final set then used a 6-1 surge later on to seal the Coyotes' fate.
Serpan, an NAIA/AVCA All-American and the Kansas Conference's Freshman of the Year last fall, was at her best though. The sophomore right side finished with 22 kills on a .298 hitting percentage to go along with 16 digs and four block assists.
"I was proud of her, she made a lot of errors in that first set but she reset and didn't make another one," KWU coach
Jessica Biegert said. "It was good to see her bounce back after starting off a little down."
Kylee Harris had 14 kills for the Coyotes who hit .201 as a team compared to Benedictine's .167. But the Ravens were able to contain KWU's power attack for the most part. Four different players had at least 12 digs in the match.
"We have some really heavy hitters but we're used to the ball going down (on the court) and not having to respond so fast (when it doesn't)," Biegert said. "That was different from any team we've played so far."
The first set was close throughout. The Ravens led 24-20 but KWU got within 24-23 before a Coyote serving error ended the suspense. Wesleyan had 13 service errors in the match.
Benedictine led the second set 10-8 but a 6-0 run gave the Coyotes a 14-10 lead. A late 5-1 surge gave the Ravens a 23-22 lead but KWU clinched it by scoring the last three points, two on Serpan kills.
Benedictine led the third set 24-18 but the Coyotes made it interesting with three unanswered points to get within 24-21 before the Ravens notched set point.
Clinging to a 19-18 lead in the fourth set Wesleyan closed it out by scoring six of the final seven points.
Benedictine controlled the final set from the start.
"I think they out-hustled us and out-energized us and that's what it takes to win a fifth set," Biegert said.
Setter
Josie Deckinger had 53 assists for KWU while libero
Kelcey Hund led the defense with 28 digs.
Ella Schmid added 12 digs and Deckinger had 10.
Wesleyan travels to North Sioux City, S.D. for two matches Friday and two more Saturday. Three of their four will be against teams that are ranked in the top five in the NAIA coaches' preseason poll – No. 1 Jamestown (N.D.), No. 4 Concordia (Neb.) and No. 5 Northwestern (Iowa). The Coyotes will also play Indiana University East.
"The scheduling is really strong, I kind of set that bar," Biegert said. "It's not going to get any easier this weekend but this is college volleyball. Welcome. It's going to be a grind for sure."
