The William Woods University volleyball team hosts an American Midwest Conference doubleheader on Saturday against William Baptist College in the annual “Dig Pink” match. First serve is set for 11:30 a.m. The match is also part of the Fall Family Weekend at William Woods, and there will be a short recognition before the match.
M
atchup
The Owls come into the match with a 16-14 overall record and in fourth place in the AMC with a 9-4 mark. Williams Baptist is 14-8 overall on the year and is 3-7 in the AMC, tied for seventh with Stephens College.
Last Time Out
On Thursday night William Woods picked up a 3-1 (25-12, 25-20, 25-18) non-conference victory at home over Avila University. The Owls were paced by a pair of double-doubles from senior
Sarah Wehmeyer (40 assists, 10 digs) and freshman
Emily Becker (11 kills, 10 digs).
Let The Good Times Roll
Since starting the season 4-12 WWU has won 12 of its last 14 games. During the stretch, the Owls won nine consecutive games from Sept. 22 through Sept. 29.
History Will Be Made
With her fourth set played on Saturday, senior
Emily Nolte will become the all-time leader in sets played at William Woods University. Nolte currently stands at 495 sets played and will pass the mark of 498 set by
Lauren Fleming last season.
2,000 Club
With her 10th dig during Thursday night's match against Avila University, senior libero
Amanda Henley became only the second player in program history to join the 2,000 dig club. Henley finished with 27 digs for the match giving her a career total of 2,017. She joins Abby Funderburk as the only other member of this exclusive club. Funderburk is the school's all-time leader in digs with 2,202.
Closing In
Freshman
Emily Becker needs only 22 more kills to crack the top 10 single-season kills list. Becker currently stands at 339 kills and with her 3.38 kills/set pace, she should enter the top 10 on Saturday.
Moving Up The Career List
With 996 assists this season, senior
Sarah Wehmeyer has moved up to third on the all-time career assist list with 2,338.
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
Thursday's match marked the sixth time on the year that senior
Sarah Wehmeyer and freshman
Emily Becker picked up double-doubles in the same match. The previous times were against Baker University (Sept. 6), Ottawa University (Sept.8), Clarke University (Sept.14) and twice against Lindenwood University-Belleville (Aug. 30, Sept. 26).
National Rankings
As a team, William Woods ranks in the top 20 of the NAIA in five different categories. The Owls rank second in total digs (1,876), 14th in digs/set (18.04), 17th in total assists (1,096), 18th in both service aces (170) and in total kills (1,210).
The Owls have three players ranked in the top 45 of the NAIA across seven different categories. Senior libero
Amanda Henley ranks fifth in total digs with 535, 15th in digs/set with 5.40 and 45th in service aces with 37. Senior setter
Sarah Wehmeyer ranks eighth in total assists with 966. Freshman
Emily Becker rounds out the trio ranking 20th in total kills (338), 32nd in total blocks (88) and 37th in service aces (38).
AMC Leaders
The Owls are the top team in the AMC in total digs (1,876) and digs/set (18.04). Senior libero
Amanda Henley leads the AMC in total digs (535) and digs/set (5.40).
A Look At Williams Baptist College
The Eagles are 14-8 overall on the year. With a 3-7 conference record the Eagles are in a seventh place tie with Stephens College in the AMC. WBC has lost five straight conference matches going into Saturday's AMC matchup.
The Williams Baptist offense is led by Harley Strayhorn. She has collected 164 kills on the year and averages 2.1 kills/set. Strayhorn also leads the team in hitting percentage with a .409 mark.
As a team, WBC ranks second in the conference in blocks/set at 2.0 and fifth in hitting percentage with a .196 percentage.
Previous Matchup
William Woods defeated Williams Baptist 3-2 (25-15, 21-25, 19-25, 30-28, 15-9) in the opening round of the 2011 AMC Tournament. (Nov. 8, 2011)
