ELGIN, Ill.—The William Woods University volleyball team will look to pick up two more wins in its second tri-match on the week, as the Owls travel to Elgin, Illinois, to square off against Clarke College at 3:30 p.m., and Judson University at 7:30 p.m., on Friday night.
The Owls (16-11; 5-2 AMC), are coming off two four set victories at the Central Methodist University tri-match on Wednesday night, as the Owls defeated Bacone College (25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 25-16) in the opener and host CMU (20-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-22) in the nightcap.
In match one against Bacone, the Owls totaled 54 kills and were led by senior
Kristen Bauer having 16, while also owning an attack percentage of .481.
Abbi McKnelly, a Jefferson City, Missouri, native, added 15 kills and eight digs, while junior
Emily Becker contributed 10 kills.
Freshman setter
Brittney Engelbrecht collected her 19
th double-double on the year, as she totaled 43 assists and 15 digs, while senior libero
Abbie O'Mara became the third Owl in program history to have at least 2,000 career-digs, as she led WWU with 23.
In the nightcap, the Owls totaled 60 kills against the Eagles, which is the third most in program history in a four set match. Becker led the Owls with a match-high 16 kills and an attack percentage of .452, while McKnelly added 15 and an attack percentage of .407.
As a team, the Owls totaled 58 assists, which is the fourth most in a four set match in program history. Engelbrecht got her 20
th double-double on the season, having 51 assists, which is the third most in a four set match and she also added 12 digs.
Baily Peterson totaled a career-high 15 digs on the night, while O'Mara led the team with a match-high 29 digs.
On the season, the Owls are led by McKnelly having 276 kills, which is sixth best in the American Midwest Conference (AMC), while teammate Becker is seventh in the AMC, totaling 257 and a team-high attack percentage of .265.
Bauer is 10
th in the AMC in kills (231), while freshman
Abby Ferguson is 20
th in the conference, after totaling 171 on the year.
Engelbrecht has totaled 977 assists, which is third best in the AMC and 12
th in the NAIA, while her 9.39 assists per game, ranks her fourth in the AMC and 39
th in the NAIA.
O'Mara, meanwhile, leads the team with 479 digs, which places the senior second in the AMC and 21
st overall in the NAIA.
As a team, the Owls rank fourth in the NAIA in total service aces (195), 12
th in digs (1,830), 18
th in kills (1,259), 21
st in service aces per game (1.88), 22
nd in assists (1,128), 23
rd in digs per game (17.6) and 32
nd in blocks (190.0).
Up first for the Owls on Friday afternoon is Clarke College (16-9; 2-1 Midwest Collegiate Conference), who have won five out of its last seven games, including collecting two consecutive wins against AIB (3-0) and Mount Mercy (3-1).
This will be the second meeting on the season between the two teams', as the last time they met was on August 29
th in Bellevue, Nebraska, where the Crusaders defeated WWU in four sets (25-23, 18-25, 22-25, 15-25).
On the season, Clarke is led by Emily Wineinger having 294 kills and an attack percentage of .262. Elle Kosciuk has added 227 kills and a team-high attack percentage of .290, while Amanda Raschke has contributed 166 on the year.
The Crusaders have three players with at least 100 assists on the year, but out in front is Corrin Larkin, who has a team-high 559 in 25 matches and is second on the team in digs, totaling 214. Carly Miller is second on the Crusaders with 279 assists, while on the defensive side of the net, Molly Bender leads the way with 376 digs.
At 7:30 p.m., the Owls will take on Judson University (16-10; 7-2 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference), who are also on a roll as of late, as the Eagles have won seven out of their last eight games.
On the season, Judson University is led by Jennifer Donnell totaling 254 kills, while Breanna Todd is just 10 behind Donnell, having 244 on the year thus far.
Setter Natalie Ricca has contributed 808 assists, and 272 digs, while Elizabeth Simonelli leads the team defensively with 462 digs.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and scores from Elgin, Illinois.
