FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods University volleyball team suffered a tough loss on Thursday night inside Anderson Arena, as the Owls fell to Lindenwood University-Belleville in five sets (19-25, 25-19, 23-25, 28-26, 11-15).
In the first set, it was the Lady Lynx (10-7; 3-2 AMC), taking a 12-6 lead, after an attack error by William Woods (13-10; 4-1 AMC). The team, however, would continue to battle throughout the rest of the set and were able to tie it up at 19-19, after an attack error by Lindenwood-Belleville.
The Lady Lynx were able to regain the lead at 20-19, after a service ace by Victoria Johnson and from there, they would take the final five points and win the first set, 25-19.
Lindenwood-Belleville totaled 12 kills and an attack percentage of .172 in the first set, while the Owls were limited to eight kills and an attack percentage of .065.
In the second set, the Owls took a 10-5 lead, after getting consecutive kills from junior
Emily Becker, which forced the Lindenwood-Belleville coaching staff to take a timeout. Out of the minute and 15 second break, however, the Lady Lynx rattled off a 7-0 run, taking a 12-10 lead, after a service ace from Taylor Boyer.
WWU would have an answer though, as they went on a 10-3 run of their own and took a 20-15 lead, after a kill from setter
Brittney Engelbrecht. The Owls would then go on to win the second set, 25-19 and tie the match up at 1-1.
William Woods improved statistically from the first set, as they totaled 11 kills and an attack percentage of .167, while Lindenwood-Belleville took a step backwards, having seven kills and eight errors, for an attack percentage of -.030.
In the third set, both teams' went point-for-point early on, but it was WWU taking a 14-13 lead, after a kill from freshman
Abby Ferguson. Then, a kill by Becker, pushed the teams' lead out to 17-14, but the Lady Lynx would come back and tie the set up at 21-21.
The teams' would then be tied again at 23-23, after WWU got a kill from senior
Kristen Bauer, but the Lady Lynx won the final two points, getting kills from Taylor Albrercht and Chelsi Hummert, to take the third set 25-23 and have 2-1 game lead.
LU-Belleville totaled eight kills, nine errors and had an attack percentage of .024 in the third game, while WWU had an attack percentage of .000, after having nine kills and nine errors.
In the fourth set, WWU would jump out a 14-9 advantage, after
Abby Ferguson earned herself a kill. LU-Belleville, would get back into the set, as they would take a 16-15 lead, after getting a kill from Johnson.
The Owls would go on a 5-1 run and take a 20-17 lead, after getting some help with back-to-back attack errors by the Lady Lynx. LU-Belleville, however, would again battle back to take a 24-23 lead, but that was short-lived, as Bauer tied it up at 24-all, after coming up with a kill.
The two teams' would meet up at 25-25, but WWU would take a 26-25 lead, after
Stephanie Davis and
Abby Ferguson came up with a big block. The Lady Lynx would tie the set up at 26-26, but the Owls would finish them off and force a fifth and final set, after a kill by
Abbi McKnelly and an attack error, gave the team a 28-26 win. Â The Owls totaled a match-high 13 kills in the fourth set, while LU-Belleville had 12.
In the fifth set, both teams' did not give way early on, but LU-Belleville was able to grab a 9-7 advantage. The Lady Lynx would extend its lead out to 14-8 and despite a late 3-0 rally from WWU, LU-Belleville won the set and the match 15-11, after Stephanie Cathcart ended it with a kill.
The Owls totaled 44 kills in the match and were led by Becker, as the Belleville, Illinois, native, earned a season-high 17 kills and added 11 digs. Engelbrecht added another double-double to her resume', having 29 assists and 14 digs, while
McKenna Hisel added 10 and senior
Abbie O'Mara led the team with a match-high 26 digs.
LU-Belleville, meanwhile was led by Chelsi Hummert having 12 kills, while Kenlea Herndon contributed 10. Hummert and Kacey Wahligh combined for 38 assists, while Taylor Boyer totaled a team-high 20 digs.
The Owls will return to the court on October 7
th, when the team welcomes Stephens College to Anderson Arena. First-serve is set for 7 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com on Monday afternoon for a full preview of Tuesday's matchup.
