Box Score The Kentucky Wesleyan volleyball team lost a close-fought match to Cedarville in five sets (25-22, 12-25, 25-22, 19-25, 13-15) on Saturday afternoon at Jones Gymnasium. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 7-16 (1-5 G-MAC) on the year, and lose their past five match winning streak.
In the first set it was back and forth the entire way, but the Panthers prevailed by winning the last two points of the set to claim it 25-22.
The second set was a completely different story. Cedarville came out firing, and Kentucky Wesleyan did not have an answer for the Yellow Jackets attack. Cedarville built a 12-8 and went on a 13-4 run to end the set at 25-12.
Kentucky Wesleyan would not go away and came back strong in the third set. The Panthers regained their composure and led early in the set 6-2. They then built a commanding 13-4 lead with solid play up at the net. Cedarville made a comeback and cut the Panthers margin to four at 23-19. Kentucky Wesleyan finished the set strong and took the set 25-22 and built a 2-1 advantage.
Cedarville would not let Kentucky Wesleyan pull away, as they came out of the gates and built an early lead. The Panthers cut into the margin at 18-14, but the Yellow Jackets comfortably won the set by a score of 25-19 to even in the match at two sets a piece.
In the fifth and final set, both Kentucky Wesleyan and Cedarville traded the lead multiple times. After a timeout by the Panthers at 12-12, Cedarville held on in the final points of the set to go on and win the set 15-13 and win the match three sets to two.
Kentucky Wesleyan was led by
Sarah Swenson, who registered 39 assists and 14 digs.
Nicole Venema logged 21 digs, and
Nikki Jenkins completed the match with a team-high 16 kills. She also tallied nine digs. Kentucky Wesleyan finished the match with 50 kills, 47 assists, and 67 digs.
Cedarville posted several impressive stats. The Yellow Jackets were led by Rachel Krikke and Abby Shelton who notched 15 and 13 kills throughout the match. Kristin Cardwell had 38 assists, 13 digs, and 7 kills. Angela Becker and Abby Woodard also finished in double-digits in the digs category, with 13 and 11. The Yellow Jackets recorded 52 kills, 48 assists, and 61 digs. They also added nine key blocks.
The Panthers will play their next match on the road against Trevecca on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Their next home match will be Friday against Salem International at 7 p.m.
