Kansas Wesleyan volleyball coach
Jessica Biegert was looking for some positive signs from her team in their final home match of the season.
The Coyotes provided plenty in a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-19) Kansas Conference sweep of York on Wednesday night inside Mabee Arena.
KWU improved to 17-11 overall and 7-5 in the conference while York fell to 19-13 and 5-7.
The Coyotes hit at a .300 percentage while York managed just .107 percent. They also had 12 service aces.
"It was a good recovery from Saturday," Biegert said, referring to KWU's 3-2 loss to Southwestern in Mabee Arena.
The regular season concludes this Saturday with a trip to Springfield, Missouri for a match against Evangel starting at 11 a.m. Quarterfinal play in the KCAC postseason tournament begins February 12 at campus sites.
Gianna Adriaanse led the Wesleyan attack with 13 kills on a .379 hitting percentage while
Kylee Harris had 11 kills and hit .346.
Rylee Serpan added eight kills and hit .238.
Sara Bebout had four service aces,
Sarah Girard and
Kori Arnold three apiece and
Josie Deckinger 30 assists.
Arnold led the defense with 16 digs, Deckinger had 12 and Girard was superb at the net with five block assists.
"We served super aggressive," Biegert said. "It was good to play with stability and play loose, get our confidence back and remind us what K-Dub volleyball is." Biegert said.
Biegert said she saw some of the individual attributes she was looking for.
"Mental toughness and consistency — if you make an error how are you responding?" she said.
Leading 4-3 in the opening set the Coyotes scored seven unanswered points. A 5-1 run extended the lead to 19-8.
KWU bolted to a 14-4 lead in the second set, but York answered with a 7-1 run and trailed 15-11. The Coyotes immediately responded with a 6-1 burst for a 21-12 lead. Four consecutive York points trimmed the lead to 21-16 but Wesleyan scored four of the final five points.
Another fast start in the third set gave the Coyotes an 11-5 lead. A 4-0 York run trimmed the advantage to 11-9 before KWU extended the lead back to 17-11. York made it interesting, though, with a 6-1 burst and trailed 18-17 then 19-18.
Clinging to a 20-19 lead the Coyotes seized control scoring the game's final five points, two on Harris kills.
Biegert said she is looking forward to the Evangel challenge. The Valor (22-5) defeated Avila 3-0 Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri and is tied for fourth with Ottawa in the KCAC standings at 9-3.
"It will be a good pre-postseason warm up for us, they're a pretty solid team," she said. "It will make us step up our game mentally and physically a little bit. This will be our first time going (to Springfield)."
