Box Score
FULTON, Mo. -- The William Woods women's volleyball team earned its first victory of the season, as they defeated Lindenwood University-Belleville 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-18) in its 2013 home opener.
After a tough outing in the Bellevue University Labor Day Classic, the Owls returned home in front of a large crowd and played with confidence in the first set, totaling 13 kills, to just six errors for an attack percentage of .212. The team was led by Sara Stevenson and Lauren Rodewald, with the duo combining for eight kills and Stevenson chipped in nine assists and an attack percentage of .600 for the set.
It was a back and forth game throughout the first set, but the Owls broke the set open closing out with a 13-5 run, after being tied 12-12, that included seven kills contributed by Emma Aschenbrenner, Rodewald, Kristen Bauer, Emily Becker and Stevenson.
The Lady Lynx struggled in the first set, totaling seven kills, seven errors and an attack percentage of .000. Kenlea Herndon led Lindenwood-Belleville with three of the seven kills.
In the second set, the Owls jumped out quickly on the Lady Lynx, taking a commanding 15-5 lead. William Woods was able to go on for the 25-14 win, with the team totaling six kills. Becker led the Owls in set two, having three kills and an attack percentage of .429.
The third set started out with the Owls jumping on the Lady Lynx taking an 8-4 lead, however, Lindenwood-Belleville, battled back and tied the score up at 11-11. Then, for the first time since the score was 2-1 in the first set, the Lady Lynx took a 12-11 lead, as Kenlea Herndon chipped in one of her two kills in the set for the one point lead.
Lindenwood-Belleville had their largest lead in set three at 15-12, but the Owls went on a 5-1 run capped off by a Stephanie Davis kill, to give the Owls at 17-16 advantage. The team never relinquished their lead the rest of the game, as the Owls went on for the 25-18 set and match win, capped off by a Kristen Bauer kill.
In the final set, the Owls totaled 11 kills with Becker, Davis and Bauer each contributing three kills. Stevenson added 11 assists and the team totaled 19 digs with Becker leading with the way with six.
In the game, sophomore Emily Becker led the way with nine kills, 13 digs and an attack percentage of 0.304. Bauer, Rodewald and Stevenson added five kills apiece, while Davis totaled four. Abbie O'Mara also added 13 digs, while Stevenson led the team with 24 assists.
The Owls had a kill advantage of 30-18 in the match, had 10 less errors (12-22), 12 more assists (30-18) and eight more digs (49-41).
The team is back in action on Friday in Springfield, Mo., in the Evangel University Tournament. The Owls are scheduled to face Tabor College at 5:00 p.m.
Check back with wwuowls.com for a full preview and recap of this weekend's events.
