SALINA, Kan. – The Southwestern College volleyball team proceeded north to Kansas Wesleyan University on Friday evening for the Builder squad's third Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) battle of the campaign. After a stellar start to the match, where SC prevailed in a 25-23 opening set, KWU was able to right the ship and win the final three sets to beat the Moundbuilders 3-1.

In the opening set, Southwestern shocked the Coyotes with a 25-23 win in the opening set. The stanza was played extremely evenly, as both teams had 12 kills. The Moundbuilders attacked at .062 in the set, while KWU was at a .083 percentage. Southwestern committed nine errors while attacking, accruing just one more miscue than Kansas Wesleyan in the opening frame. After falling behind by as many as seven points in the set (19-12), SC finished the set on a 13-6 run to take victory in the opener.

The defense for the Builders would take a step back in the second frame, as 16 kills were allowed to the Coyotes, and only one error was forced. The outstanding numbers put KWU at a .455 attacking percentage in the stanza, which far outpaced the .054 showing from SC. Just eight kills in comparison to six mistakes from the Builders was not nearly enough to match the Coyote efforts. It was a 25-12 win for Kansas Wesleyan to knot things up at a set apiece.

As the match entered its third period of play, the trend continued to favor KWU, as another 16-kill frame from the home side made it difficult for SC to compete. A .262 clip on offense for the hosts compared favorably to the paltry .024 showing from Southwestern in the third set. Kansas Wesleyan had their share of errors in the stanza, though they had two less than the Builders. Set three concluded with a 25-13 Coyote win.

Southwestern tried to put up a fight in the final set, but would come up short. They had eight kills, but also racked up eight miscues, which put them behind the eight ball for the third straight set. The Coyotes continued to put down their swings with efficiency, tallying 13 putaways on 36 tries, while committing six errors. At the conclusion of the stanza, SC fell by a final of 25-17.

Hannah Weber swung an astounding 54 times in the bout, and was able to put away 11 of those tries for a .037 attacking clip. She led the squad in kills, and was followed by Brianna Ede and Cierra Harrison with eight. Ede paced the Moundbuilders in attacking percentage, as she posted a .231 showing in the tilt. Daci Stover managed five finishes on 22 tries as the final SC attacker with five or more kills.

Sierra Norlin continued to be the leading distributor of the ball on Friday, as she was able to conjure up 18 assists on the evening. Maela Stevens tallied 14 assists, as well, splitting the setting duties with Norlin.

An impressive 22 digs were picked up by Sophia Wicker in the battle, as she led the team in that category. Weber came in second on the team with 16 digs, and was followed by Avery Riedel, who had a total of 13 pickups. The Builder block was of much greater significance in this battle, as the team totaled 16 block assists. Weber had six of those, while Ede and Jayda Brittenum had four apiece. Stover and Harrison added one each to that category.

Though it was a loss in the books, the Builders (4-10, 0-3 KCAC) will have some positives to take away from the battle. They will now have a few days to prepare for their next home battle against the Tabor College Bluejays on Wednesday, October 5 at 6 p.m. inside Stewart Field House. Their next four matches will be played from the comforts of home, starting with the bout against Tabor.

--buildersports.com--