Spires Fall to KWU In Second Round of KCAC Championship Tournament

Hutchinson, Kan.- The University Saint Mary Volleyball team took on the Kansas Wesleyan. Coyotes in the second round of the KCAC Championship Tournament on Friday, resulting in a 3-2 loss.

Keagan Shockley got things going for the Spires in set one, but the KWU offense answered the call as things remained tied at 10. Saint Mary could not string together a couple of extended runs and dropped the first set 25-17. The Spires found new life in the second, jumping out to an early 5-3 lead. Later, Saint Mary went on a 5-1 run, highlighted by kills from Rylee Kenitzer. Attack errors from the Coyotes and more kills from Shockley and Renata Dominguez gave the Spires a 25-21 set-two win.  

The third set was another closely contested one that saw seven lead changes. Saint Mary was not able to sustain the offensive output from the previous set and went down 2-1 after losing 26-24 in set three. However, the Spires fought and clawed their way back into the game, opening the fourth set with a 6-2 scoring run. Kansas Wesleyan was not able to recover from the hot start Saint Mary got off to and dropped set four after a kill from Madison Folsom, setting up a winner-take-all fifth set. The Spires still held most of the momentum, going up 6-4 to start things off. At one point, a kill from Kenitzer gave Saint Mary a four-point 12-8 lead over KWU. Kansas Wesleyan responded by outscoring Saint Mary 8-2 down the stretch and won the fifth set. Shockley, Folsom, and Kenitzer combined for 51 points on the day.

The Spires end the year with an overall record of 21-10 and going 8-5 in the KCAC, good enough for a sixth-place finish.