Men’s Volleyball Opens Heart Play on Tuesday at Kansas Wesleyan

The Braves won their home opener last Tuesday night, 3-0, over Simpson College in the Mabee Center. Ottawa finished the match with 38 kills, a .515 attacking percentage, 36 assists, four service aces, 29 digs, and seven team blocks. Macort Pickup and Leo Betin had 11 kills apiece. Pickup hit .846 and had five digs. Marton Zarka had 21 assists and Quentin Le Dortz finished with 13 assists. Nazmi Bayoglu tallied 11 digs. Petar Lazic led OU with four blocks.

Macort Pickup’s .846 attacking percentage against Simpson put him in the OU record book. He is ranked third in single match attacking percentage.

This season the Braves are averaging 12.7 kills per set, 11.9 assists per set, 2.2 blocks per set, 1.3 service aces per set, and 9.8 digs per set. OU has a .344 attacking percentage.

OU is ranked seventh in the NAIA in kills per set (12.7), 49th in errors (78), 37th in total attacks (511), second in attacking percentage (.3440, 19th in assists (239), fourth in assists per set (11.9), 40th in service aces (26), 34th in service errors (71), 43rd in service aces per set (1.3), 44th in receptions (303), 39th in reception errors (28), 27th in digs (196), 13th in digs per set (9.8), 37th in solo blocks (8), 22nd in block assists (73), 26th in total blocks (45), 24th in blocks per set (2.2), 13th in blocking errors (9), 23rd in points (324.5), and 14th in points per set (16.2).

Macort Pickup leads OU in kills per set (3.4), Marton Zarka is OU’s leader in assists per set (10.5), Nazmi Bayoglu leads the team in digs per set (2.2), Akeil Williams is OU’s leader in blocks per set (1.2).

Tuesday is the ninth match between Ottawa University and Kansas Wesleyan University. OU leads the series, 5-3, and is on a two match losing streak to the Coyotes. KWU won the series last season, 2-1. Ottawa won the first meeting on Feb. 24, 2024 in Wilson Field House 3-0. Kansas Wesleyan then took a 3-2 win on March 29 in Salina and then defeated OU 3-1 in the GPAC Tournament on April 13. The Braves are 1-3 against the Coyotes in Mabee Arena. Ottawa’s win against KWU in Salina was on Jan. 18, 2022. The Coyotes won the game 3-0. That match was also the first ever meeting between the two teams.

Tuesday will be the first match for both teams in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Ottawa and Kansas Wesleyan were previously part of the GPAC.

Kansas Wesleyan University has a record of 2-3 and is on a two match winning streak. Tuesday will be the home opener for the Coyotes.

This season KWU is averaging 9.2 kills per set, 8.8 assists per set, 2.1 blocks per set, 1.9 service aces per set, and 8.2 digs per set. They have a .204 attacking percentage.

The Coyotes are ranked 48th in the NAIA in kills (158), 47th in kills per set (9.2), 44th in total attacks (446), 32nd in attacking percentage (.204), 47th in assists (151), 46th in assists per set (8.8), 28th in service aces (33), 38th in service errors (65), 13th in service aces per set (1.9), 42nd in receptions (307), 25th in reception errors (35), 45th in digs (141), 39th in digs per set (8.2), 28th in solo blocks (12), 36th in block assists (49), 33rd in total blocks (37), 28th in blocks per set (2.1), 21st in blocking errors (7), fourth in ball handling errors (2), 47th in points (227.5), and 45th in points per set (13.4).

Caiden Rodriguez leads the team in kills per set (2.2), Ethan Rickets is KWU’s leader in assists (7.5), Justin Burras is the Coyotes’ leader in digs per set (1.5), and Ryan Wagner is the team’s leader in blocks (1.33) per set.