BELLEVUE, Neb. – The William Woods volleyball team will embark on a four-game, two-day venture as they take part in the Bellevue University Labor Day Classic starting on Friday afternoon.
The Owls will be playing a quartet of opponents that went a combined 80-60 from a year ago. Ottawa University highlights this weekend's challengers for WWU as the Braves went 30-9 and made an appearance in the NAIA Volleyball National Tournament last year.
William Woods will be playing in two games on Friday and Saturday, with the match starting at 3 p.m. against Concordia University (Neb.). The Owls will conclude the day with a match against Baker University at 7 p.m. An early match with Ottawa University will await WWU at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning, and they will conclude the Classic at 3 p.m. with a game against John Brown University.
After being defeating by Culver-Stockton 3-1 (23-25, 21-25, 29-27, 25-15) in the season opener, the Owls will go into the Labor Day Classic seeking their first victory of the 2013 year. Emily Becker collected her first double-double of the year on Tuesday in Canton, Mo., with 19 kills and 12 digs. Kristen Bauer joined Becker in the double-digit kill category with 11.
The first opponent for William Woods this weekend will be the Concordia University Bulldogs. CU went a perfect 4-0 at the Montreat College Volley in the Mountains Classic last weekend to start the season. The 4-0 start is the longest undefeated stretch to start a season since 2005.
Claire White leads the way for the Bulldogs with here 53 kills. She recorded a season-high 19 kills against Mount Vernon Nazarene in a five-set victory. White is second on the team in digs at 53, 28 of those digs also game against Mount Vernon Nazarene, giving her the team's lone double-double performance.
After that match, William Woods will take on Baker University. The Wildcats are 2-2 on the year after splitting a quartet of games at the Northwestern College Tournament last weekend. BU has two players on the roster that have amassed the 30-kill plateau, as Danielle French's 33 kills lead the way. Shannon McCarty is just behind French with 32 kills on the year.
Of the 19 wins that Baker collected last year, one was against William Woods with a 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 11-25, 17-25) victory on Sept. 6 in Baldwin City, Kan. Becker collected a double-double against the Wildcats last year with 17 digs and 11 kills.
William Woods will take on Ottawa University on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. The Lady Braves have yet to play a game this season and are coming off a 30-9 season. OU was recently named third in the KCAC Preseason Poll. Nicole Gingery returns her team-leading 350 kills from a year ago and was selected to the Preseason All-KACA team. Joining Gingery on the preseason team is outside hitter Allie Arnold. Arnold collected 279 kills last season.
The Owls lost a tough five-set match to the Lady Braves a year ago in the Baker University Tournament. Melanie Block collected 8.5 blocks in the game and Emma Aschenbrenner added five stuffs in the match.
WWU will close out the Labor Day Classic against John Brown University at 3 p.m. on Saturday. JBU is 2-1 on the year with wins over Benedictine College and Lyon College. Audrey Dearien leads the team with 37 kills and 33 digs. Dearien has record back-to-back double-double's going into the tournament.
Check back with wwuowls.com all weekend for results and previews.
