The William Woods University volleyball team hosts Hannibal-LaGrange University on Tuesday night in first round action of the American Midwest Conference Tournament. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
Matchup
William Woods comes into the AMC Tournament as the fourth seed after finishing 12-6 in league play. Hannibal-LaGrange finished the conference portion of its schedule at 10-8 to earn the tournament's fifth seed.
Last Time Out
William Woods ended the regular season with a victory over Hannibal-LaGrange last Thursday night with a 3-1 (25-18, 30-28, 23-25, 25-21).
Senior
Sarah Wehmeyer and freshman
Emily Becker each closed out the regular season with a double-double. Wehmeyer handed out 41 assists and 12 digs, while Becker collected a career-high 21 digs and landed 12 kills.
AMC Tournament Notes
William Woods will be hosting its first AMC Tournament game since 2009.
This is the second time under coach
Monica Herschelman that the Owls have qualified for the AMC Tournament.
Last season in her first year at the helm, Herschelman guided William Woods to the AMC semifinals with a thrilling 3-2 (25-15, 21-25, 30-28, 19-25, 15-9) victory at Williams Baptist.
20-Win Season
With its victory over Hannibal-LaGrange last Thursday night, William Woods secured its second 20-win season. It is the first time since 2009, when WWU won 29 games, that the Owls have reached the 20-win plateau.
AMC Wins
With 12 conference wins this season William Woods finished just one win short of the school's record 13 conference wins set in 2009.
It marks only the third time in school history (2006, 2009,2012) that a team earned double-digit wins in conference play.
An Amazing Start
Last Thursday freshman
Emily Becker wrote another chapter in her amazing first year campaign by collecting a career-high 21 digs.
During her freshman year Becker has broken into the school's top-10 single season kills with 417 and collected six double-doubles. On Sept. 30, she became only the third player in program history to be named the AMC Player of the Week. The other two Owls recipients of this award came during the 2009 season when Lacey Olin claimed the honor twice (Sept. 19 and Sept. 28, 2009) and Skye Wade received the distinction on Nov. 9, 2009.
The highlight of her freshman year came on Sept. 26 when she collected a triple-double (14 total blocks, 10 digs, and 10 kills) in her hometown of Belleville, Ill. against Lindenwood-Belleville.
An Incredible Finish
Senior libero
Amanda Henley needs 57 digs to surpass the school record of 2,202 set by Abby Funderburk in 2005. She currently stands at 2,146.
During this year Henley became only the second player in school history to collect over 2,000 digs. She passed the 2,000-dig mark on Oct. 11, as the Owls rolled over Avila University 3-0.
Leaving Her Mark
Senior
Emily Nolte will leave William Woods University as the school's all-time leader in sets played. She currently stands at 525 sets and is the only player in school history to have played over 500 sets.
National Rankings
As a team, William Woods are in the top 50 of the NAIA in five different categories. The Owls ranked seventh in total digs (2,395), 22nd in digs/set (17.87), 32nd in total blocks (250), 40th in total assists (1,398), 45th in total kills (1,536) and 50th in service aces with 199.
The Owls have three players ranked in the top 50 of the NAIA across five different categories. Senior libero
Amanda Henley ranks 13th in total digs with 673 and 21st in digs/set with 5.26. Senior setter
Sarah Wehmeyer ranks 19th in total assists with 1,235. Freshman
Emily Becker rounds out the trio ranking 35th in total kills with 417 and 41st in total blocks with 116.
AMC Leaders
The Owls finished the regular season as the top team in the AMC in total digs (2,395) and digs/set (17.9).
Senior libero
Amanda Henley leads the AMC in total digs (673) and digs/set (5.3).
A Look At Hannibal-LaGrange
Hannibal-LaGrange comes into the AMC Tournament as the fifth seed after finishing the conference portion of its schedule at 10-8. The Trojans finished the year at 17-19 overall.
HLU ranks seventh in the AMC in hitting percentage with a .150 clip. Individually they are led by Caitlin McCoy's .158 percentage. Setter Megan Henry ranks fifth in the AMC in total assists with 1,021.
Lindsey Smith finished the year third in the AMC with 421 total kills, while Brook Van Es anchors the Trojan defense with 351 digs.
