The William Woods University volleyball team returns home this weekend for four matches. The Owls hosts the 2012 Mid-Mo Triangular presented by Red Weir. The Owls will kick off the event at 4 p.m. against Central Methodist University. The middle match is set for 6 p.m. with CMU facing Westminster College, and the nightcap will feature the two Fulton colleges facing off at 8 p.m. The Owls will step back into American Midwest Conference play with a Saturday afternoon doubleheader against Benedictine University at Springfield.
Homecoming
William Woods picked up its fifth straight victory on Wednesday night at Lindenwood University-Belleville by a 3-1 (25-14, 25-21, 24-26, 25-9) margin. It was a homecoming of sorts for freshman outside hitter
Emily Becker. The Belleville native did not disappoint in front of her hometown, as she collected her sixth career double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Becker was just a block shy of her first career triple-double. Senior
Sarah Wehmeyer also tallied a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs.
Road Warriors
The Owls just wrapped up a five-game road trip, bringing home a perfect record. The Owls swept American Midwest Conference foes Lyon College and Harris-Stowe State University in a pair of doubleheaders and defeated Lindenwood University-Belleville on Wednesday night to complete the flawless road trip.
Busy Week
Including this weekend's matches, WWU will play nine matches in seven days. The eventful week started last Saturday with a doubleheader at Lyon College, the Owls then faced another AMC doubleheader on Monday at Harris-Stowe. On Wednesday they traveled to Illinois to face Lindenwood University-Belleville. WWU finished the demanding week this weekend with the Mid-Mo Triangular on Friday and an AMC twin bill against Benedictine University at Springfield on Saturday.
Streaking
The Owls are riding a season-high five game winning streak, and head coach
Monica Herschelman credits confidence and trust as the foundation of better play.
“Our confidence has really been up since our game against Columbia Colllege,” said Herschelman. “It gave us the confidence that we can play teams with that ability. The seniors are starting to trust the freshman, and vice versa and it's resulted in better play overall for our team.”
Moving On Up
Senior libero
Amanda Henley has moved up to 12th in the NAIA in digs/set with 5.5. The Jefferson City native also ranks 20th in the nation in total digs with 341.
Double Trouble
Senior
Sarah Wehmeyer and Freshman
Emily Becker each collected a pair of double-doubles this week. Wehmeyer picked up her first last Saturday during the first match at Lyon College with 33 assists and 12 digs, and then posted 35 assists and 10 digs against Lindenwood University-Belleville. Becker also collected her first double-double at Lyon College with 11 digs and 10 kills in the second match. On Wednesday she barely missed a triple-double with 10 digs, 10 kills, and nine blocks at Lindenwood University-Belleville.
Three Is A Crowd
A trio of Owls ranks in the top five in the AMC in three categories. Senior
Amanda Henley leads the AMC in digs/set with 5.5, freshman
Emily Becker ranks fourth in the AMC in kills/set with 3.5, while senior
Sarah Wehmeyer is fifth in the league in assists/set with 9.0.
A Look At Central Methodist University
The Eagles come into Friday's triangular with a 4-10 overall record. One of their four victories came against AMC opponent Stephens College. The Eagles defeated the Stars 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-12, 25-9).
Central Methodist has a hitting percentage of .108 as a team and is led by senior Makenzie Shephard with a .144 mark. Shephard also leads the Eagles in kills with 80 kills. Freshman middle blocker Julia Weber is ranked 33rd in the NAIA in blocks per set with 1.1. She has a total of 51 blocks including 21 solo.
The Owls played Central Methodist last season at the 2011 Mid-Mo Triangular at Westminster College and defeated the Eagles 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 29-27).
A Look At Westminster College
The Blue Jays are 1-8 on the year with their lone victory coming against Iowa Wesleyan in a 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-11, 25-16) match. Despite the early struggles, Westminster has played exceptional defense, averaging 25.91 digs per set.
“This game is for the bragging rights of Fulton. We have won four of the last five matches against Westminster and we would like to keep that tradition alive,” said Herschelman.
Westminster hits .133 as a team and are led by freshman Lexi Collier with a .263 hitting percentage, which ranks her in the top five in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Collier also ranks in the top five in the SLIAC in kills/set with 2.65.
William Woods traveled across town last season to play the Blue Jays in the 2011 Mid-Mo Triangular. The Owls defeated Westminster 3-1 (18-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-17).
A Look At Benedictine University at Springfield
The Bulldogs come into Anderson Arena with a 1-6 AMC record and 4-12 overall mark. BenU-Springfield has won two of its last three after suffering a seven game losing streak.
Statistically, the Bulldogs are the top blocking team in the conference with 3.4 blocks per set and 183.5 total blocks. They field the league's top two blockers in Bryanna Stevens (74 total blocks) and Rachel Cunningham (73 total blocks).
They are also ranked in the top two in the AMC in blocks/set with Stevens averaging 1.5 blocks and Cunningham is just behind with 1.4 blocks/set.
Being the top blocking team in the AMC, BenU-Springfield also ranks second in the league in assists/set with 12.8 and fourth in hitting percentage with a .210 mark.
Coaches Corner
“We have a high expectation this week. We really want to continue our winning streak by going 4-0 this weekend. Winning the Mid-Mo Triangular would be great not only for our team's confidence, but also gives our team bragging rights as the top volleyball program in the area. A chance of picking up a couple more conference wins before heading to Missouri Baptist would raise our confidence so much more heading into that important conference game.”
