Avila Drops Road Contest at Kansas Wesleyan

SALINA, Kan. – After a competitive first set with plenty of good offense on display, (20) Kansas Wesleyan (18-7, 6-0 KCAC) locked it down in the final two sets and ultimately cruised to a straight-sets victory over Avila (4-12, 1-5 KCAC) on Friday night in Salina.

Just a couple of nights removed from a grueling five-set affair at home against Southwestern, Avila had to return to action against one of the best teams in the KCAC. And in the first set, the underdog Eagles were more than up for the challenge: Avila hit an impressive .333 in the first frame, one of Avila's highest team hit percentages this season, to give Kansas Wesleyan a real challenge.

Unfortunately, the Coyotes one-upped the Eagles in the first set, hitting a remarkable .433 as a team to literally out-slug Avila and pull out a tight first set 25-22. With Avila leading 11-9 early, KWU made the first big move of the match by putting together a 6-1 run to flip the score and move in front. Avila stayed as close as two points and saved one set point before Gianna Adriaanse delivered the winning kill to wrap up the first set 25-22.

Avila's offense was electric in the first set in a close game, but the Coyotes completely shut the Eagles down over the final two frames to win the final two sets handily. Avila hit in the negatives as a team in the second set and just under .100 in the third, and Kansas Wesleyan won the match in straight sets to remain undefeated in conference play.

Rylee Serpan continued her emergence on the KCAC scene with a match-high 14 kills on .235 hitting, and Kyla Moore added seven kills with no errors. Sans top hitter Maddie Jones, Diamond Sedlak stepped into a featured role for Avila and turned in one of the finest games of her freshman season, 11 kills on .250 hitting; Sydney Owens added eight kills, also in a more featured role.

Avila volleyball will have a full week of competition next week: the Eagles will host William Woods at Mabee Fieldhouse at 6 PM on Tuesday before resuming conference play at Ottawa on Wednesday and at Bethany on Friday. As always, you can watch all the action live and for free on the Avila Sports Network.