Kansas Wesleyan Men's Volleyball played neck-and-neck with one of the top teams in NAIA Men's Volleyball on Friday night but came up just short.
 
The Coyotes went four sets with Missouri Baptist but came up just short falling 21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 23-25 inside Mabee Arena.
 
MBU was ranked No. 6 in the NAIA Preseason Poll but fell out of the NAIA Top 15 poll after a 3-5 start to the season.
 
The Coyotes were right there during the entire match.
 
MBU jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set but the Coyotes came back and took a brief 7-6 lead on a kill by Kaleb Cui before MBU regained the lead 9-7.
 
The Coyotes again pressed back and tied it at 12 on a block by Alexander Rivera and Dallas Manaku, but MBU got the next three points to lead 15-12. Again the Coyotes fought back tying the set at 17 on a Conor Williams kill and KWU tied it again one more time at 20 all before MBU scored five of the last six points to take the set.
 
KWU fell behind 4-1 to start the second set and was behind 12-5 and trailed 17-11 before making a run. The Coyotes rattled off four straight points to get within two at 17-15. MBU pushed its lead out to 24-17 before the Coyotes got two points back at 24-19 but MBU would close out the set.
 
A 5-0 run in the third set turned a 5-4 deficit for the Coyotes into an 8-5 lead as Wesleyan then expanded its lead to 11-6 in the set. The Coyotes had an answer for every little run that MBU tried to make back. The Spartans did close the gap getting within a point at 23-22, but a kill by Williams would close out the set in favor of the Coyotes 25-23.
 
KWU led 5-3 in the fourth set, but MBU scored seven of the next eight points to take an 11-6 lead. The Coyotes pushed back again getting within two at 13-11 on Cui's service ace. The Coyotes trailed 22-18 but made a run scoring five of the next six points to tie the set at 23 on a Williams kill. MBU would score the final two points to close out the match win.
 
Cui and Williams had 12 kills each to lead the Coyotes, while Dallas Manaku had eight kills to go along with 34 assists and seven digs. Cui had 14 digs and Josh Kiely had 11.
 
The Coyotes are back in action on Saturday, hosting a triangular with Central Christian and University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy of St. Louis in Mabee Arena. KWU takes on UHSP at 11 a.m., followed by UHSP facing Central Christian at 1 p.m., and KWU will face Central Christian at 3 p.m.