WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons came up on the short end of a 3-2 loss to the Bethany College Swedes and then a 3-1 setback to the Haskell Indian Nations University Fightin' Indians on Senior Day (Oct. 28) inside the Garvey Center. The three seniors recognized for the Falcons were McKenzi Shurley, Nicole Robinson and Sadie Harris.
The Falcons got off to a hot start in the first match of the day against Bethany, scoring the first five points and then leading 10-5.
The Swedes rallied back with six of the next seven points to square the match at 11-11, only to have the Falcons come right back with four consecutive points.
Leading 24-17, the Falcons had to fight off five straight points from the Swedes before finally closing out the set 25-22.
After the Swedes controlled the second set 25-16, the Falcons came back strong in the third by surging ahead 18-11 and jumped back ahead in the match after a kill by the senior Robinson finished off the third frame 25-20.
The Falcons then appeared poised to close out the win in the fourth with leads of 23-18 and 24-21, but five consecutive attack errors that included four block assists by the Swedes forced a decisive fifth set.
The fifth set was tightly contested through the first half and featured seven ties until the Swedes gained separation with a 6-1 spurt on the way to a 15-9 win.
Grace McClintock had a team-high 11 kills for the Falcons and Zoey Tauanu'u had 23 assists along with 11 digs. Emmah Sultz had 16 assists, while Antonia Perier recorded a match-high 34 digs. Greely Munroe also had 16 digs for Friends.
Zola Moore (15 kills) and Autry Satica (14 kills) paced the Swedes' offense, with Leamaris Fuentes Torres (26 assists) and Katie Voss (22 assists) being the top facilitators. 31 digs from Michelle Acevedo Ortiz and 21 digs from Cameron Boyd led the Bethany defensive effort.
Much like the first match, the Falcons started in solid fashion against Haskell, enjoying leads of 12-7 and then 19-11 before a block by Emily Robbins closed out the opening set 25-16.
But it was all Haskell from there, with the Fightin' Indians winning the next three sets by scores of 25-18, 25-14 and 25-20.
Samantha Johnson led the Falcons with 15 kills, with Tauanu'u (19 assists) and Sultz (12 assists) setting the table for the offense. Perier had 22 digs and Munroe added 16 digs vs. Haskell.
Mikeya Sheppard and Tressa Jim each had 18 kills for the Fightin' Indians, while Kailey Becenti had a match-high 43 assists and Nakooma Pelt produced 36 assists.
The Falcons will next wrap up the 2023 season in one week (Nov. 4) at Tabor College. The match is set for 3 pm in Hillsboro, Kan.
