WICHITA, Kan. — The Friends University Falcons wrapped up the 2026 season with a 3-0 setback to the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes today (Nov. 7) inside the Garvey Center.
The Falcons started strong in the first set when
Grace McClintock served a four-point burst with three aces around a
Gabbie Taylor kill to turn a 9-9 gridlcock into a 13-9 lead. The Falcons later built the lead to 16-11, but the Coyotes' Campbell Bohling hit consecutive kills to start a run of five straight points to tie it at 16-16. KWU continued the surge and closed out the opening set 25-21.
Friends fell into an early deficit in the second set as Kansas Wesleyan scored seven straight points to go from a 1-1 tie into an 8-1 lead. The Falcons managed to climb within 19-14, but the Coyotes regained command and two straight kills by Bohling finished the set 25-17.
In the third set, the Falcons used a mid-set push to move from a 6-5 deficit to a 12-7 lead, with Taylor serving back-to-back aces and
Sofia Mekelburg adding a kill during the stretch. The Coyotes though used an 8-3 spurt to go in front 15-14. WIth the set even at 18-18, consecutive attack errors put KWU ahead for good and Ryan Pennington put in three kills to help the Coyotes finish off the set and match 25-21.
Taylor led the Falcons with eight kills and added two service aces and nine digs.
Iris Lozano collected 18 digs and McClintock recorded five service aces, three kills and four digs. Mekelburg finished with 12 assists, five kills, seven digs and one block assist in the 2026 season finale for Friends.
Bohling finished with a team-high 14 kills and added eight digs for the Coyotes. Tristyn Hedman collected 22 digs, while Pennington posted 10 kills on 15 attacks without an error. Giovanna Ishii recorded 18 assists to lead KWU.
