SALINA, Kan. – The Southwestern College volleyball team had been coming off of a three-game winning streak when entering play on Saturday in Salina, Kan. at Kansas Wesleyan University for their triangular event with Hannibal-LaGrange University. The first match of the day for SC was against the Trojans from HLU, where it came down to a three-point run in the fifth set by the opposition to beat the Builders in five sets. Then, a fatigued Southwestern squad would fall in three quick sets against the hosting Coyotes.

Match number one was a fight from the start, as Hannibal-LaGrange started with a gorgeous opening set where they dominated. Southwestern allowed an attacking percentage of .324 in the first stanza, and lost the opening set by a 25-15 final.

That did not get the Builders down, though, as they responded with a 25-18 triumph in the second. The Trojan attack was nowhere close to as effective in the second stanza as they were in the opener, as they sported just a .031 percentage, while the Moundbuilders produced a .088 clip in the second set.

Set number three swung back to the Trojans, as they took a 25-20 win in the middle of five periods. It was Southwestern's best attacking set of the match to that point, but HLU was even better, swinging at .205. The Builders had a .139 percentage in the third, paving the way for them to continue to improve as the battle went on.

A coming out party occurred in the fourth set for the Moundbuilders, as an otherworldly .345 clip was achieved by the Builders in the penultimate set. With 12 kills on 29 tries and just two errors, the SC offense had finally found their groove. They also held HLU to just a .031 percentage in the set to win a blowout in the fourth by a final line of 25-12.

As the match went on to the fifth and ultimate set, momentum was on Southwestern's side, as they had just come off of a dominant set win. While they had the momentum, the Trojans did not allow it to faze them, as they put up an efficient .333 clip in the deciding set, earning 10 kills with just three errors. SC could not match the proficiency of HLU, as they had nine kills and four errors in the last set to lose 15-12. The two teams were tied 12-12, but Hannibal-LaGrange found a way to win the final three points and earn the triumph.

The Builders were reeling from dropping the first match, and they would have to head right back onto the court for their bout with the host Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes. Unfortunately, the team looked rather fatigued from the outset, as they dropped the opening set by a 25-14 tally. A .268 to .000 differential in attacking percentages in the opening set would serve as an discouraging omen for the remainder of the day.

The second set was even more difficult for SC, as a -.051 hitting clip was recorded by the Builders and KWU clocked in at .289. Kansas Wesleyan had 11 more kills than the Moundbuilders in the second set, s they held a 15-4 advantage in that category. The stanza ended in a 25-13 Coyotes win.

Unfortunately, it did not stop there, as an even more frustrating final set was yet to come. A set where 17 kills were recorded by KWU and a .424 attacking percentage was racked up, ended in a 25-8 win for the hosts and a sweep in the record books.

As attackers over the course of the day, Hannah Weber and Sydney Morris had great matches in the bout against the Trojans, as they racked up 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Morris, in particular, looked great in her first action of the 2022 campaign, as she had a hitting clip of .346 in the battle and only two errors over the course of the match.

Sierra Norlin tallied 27 assists in the tilt against HLU, picking up the vast majority of the passing statistics. She was followed by Maela Stevens, who had 11 assists in the opener.

Sophia Wicker's 24 digs in the first battle was a match-high number, as Norlin followed her with 15 pickups in the bout.

Though the record takes a bit of a hit, the Builders (4-7, 0-0 KCAC) still showed great effort in the first of the two battles on Saturday. The two tilts today ended the Builders' preseason non-conference schedule, as they will have a tough test on Wednesday, September 21 at 7 p.m. in Ottawa, Kan. against the Braves of Ottawa University for their first Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) matchup.

--buildersports.com--