FULTON, Mo.— The William Woods University volleyball team hosted its final regular season matches on Saturday afternoon and the Owls fell to No. 19-ranked Evangel University in straight sets (24-26, 28-30, 26-28) to start the day, but responded with a three set (25-23, 25-16, 25-15) victory over Friends University in the finale of the tri-match.
Evangel University 3 William Woods University 0Things started out very well for the Owls (20-14; 6-3 AMC), as they jumped out to a 7-3 lead, after consecutive service aces from junior
Emily Becker.
Later, a kill from freshman
Abby Ferguson, extended the teams' lead out to 13-8, but the Crusaders (20-10; 5-2 Heart of America Athletic Conference), rattled off a 5-0 run and were able to tie it up at 13-all, after a kill from Micah Cribbs-Guiot. The two teams' would go point-for-point, but WWU was able to regain a 20-19 lead, as Ferguson collected another kill.
Evangel, however, would recapture the lead at 22-20, getting help from consecutive attack errors from the Owls. The Owls would battle back, as a kill from
Abbi McKnelly and an attack error from Evangel, would tie the score up at 22-all.
William Woods was one point away from taking the set, as they held a 24-23 lead, but the Crusaders got a kill from Jackie Fugate and finished off the Owls, as EU took the final two points and won the set 26-24.
The Crusaders totaled 16 kills and an attack percentage of .176 in the first set, while WWU had 11 kills, but had eight errors, which lowered its attack percentage to .067.
In the second set, Evangel this time around took a 13-10 lead, after Evangel came up with a block from Brandy Glessner and Morgan Kensinger. The Owls would then go on a 3-0 run, as McKnelly had three consecutive kills, which tied the set up at 13-13.
The two teams' would meet up at 19-19, but then WWU went on a 3-0 run, as a kill from Ferguson and two service aces from
Abbie O'Mara, gave the Owls a 22-19 lead and forced Evangel to take a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Crusaders got back into the match, but still trailed William Woods 24-23. EU was able to stay alive in the set, as they tied it up at 24-24, after an attack error from WWU.
The teams' would again go point-for-point, but it was Evangel this time being one point away from taking the set, as they held a 28-27 lead. The Crusaders, couldn't put away the Owls, as they had an attack error, which tied it back up at 28-28.
Haley Watson, however, was able to close out the set for EU, as she earned two straight kills, giving the Crusaders a 30-28 set win and two game lead.
EU totaled a team-high 19 kills in the second set, while WWU had 16, for an attack percentage of .145.
In the third set, Evangel again grabbed a 13-8 lead, as Allie Dunton earned one of the teams' three service aces on the day. WWU was still down 16-13, but
Lauren Rodewald collected three consecutive kills, which tied the set up at 16-16 and put the momentum back on the Owls side.
The Owls would continue to fend off the Crusaders and were up 24-22, after McKnelly had come up with one of the teams' nine service aces, however, EU went on a 3-0 run, after Jorie Garrett this time, earned three straight kills.
Stephanie Davis kept the set going for WWU, as she collected a kill, but EU took the lead right back at 26-25, after Watson earned a kill. Another kill by Rodewald, however, tied it up at 26-26, but that would be the final tie of the match, as Evangel took the final two points, winning the set and the match 28-26.
WWU totaled 47 kills in the match and were led by McKnelly, having a team-high 14, for an attack percentage of .281. Becker added nine kills, while Davis and Rodewald contributed seven and six kills respectively.
Freshman
Brittney Engelbrecht totaled 36 assists, while defensively, the Owls totaled 81 digs and were led by O'Mara, earning a match-high 27.
Baily Peterson collected 13 digs, while McKennna Hisel added 10.
William Woods 3 Friends University 0Prior to the match starting against the Falcons (22-13; 13-1 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference), the Owls honored its four seniors,
Kristen Bauer,
Melanie Bonk,
Abbie O'Mara and
Baily Peterson for their accomplishments on and off the court for WWU.
Friends University entered the match against the Owls with an impressive win under its belt, as they upset No. 19-ranked Evangel in the second game of the day, winning in five sets (25-20, 14-25, 13-25, 25-23, 15-13).
In the first set, it was all Falcons early on, as they took what they thought, was a comfortable 16-9 lead, after a service ace Bailey Burnett.
WWU would go on a 7-2 run, as Bauer earned a kill and put the Owls back into the game, as they now trailed just 18-16. Friends would hold its marginal lead, as they were up 22-19, but William Woods closed out the set on a 6-1 run, capped off by a kill from McKnelly, giving the team a 25-23 opening set win.
The Owls totaled a match-high 19 kills in the first set and owned a .333 attack percentage, while the Falcons had 12 kills and an attack percentage of .143.
In the second set, the Owls started out on fire, collecting the first six points, as Becker totaled three kills during the stretch, while Bauer and Engelbrecht added
one.
WWU would push its advantage all the way out to 21-13, after Ferguson earned herself a kill and the Owls would cruise from there, winning the second set, 25-16.
The team continued its strong play, as they totaled 18 kills, for an attack percentage of .244, while Friends University had its struggles, as they had five kills, for an attack percentage of .050.
In the third set, the team took a 13-5 lead, after McKnelly capped it off with back-to-back kills. WWU would extend its lead out to 21-10, after a service ace from Engelbrecht and despite a late rally from the Falcons, the Owls held on for the 25-15 set and match win.
WWU earned 53 kills in the match and were led by Becker, having 17, an attack percentage of .419 and added 12 digs. McKnelly was second on the team in kills (15), but led the Owls with a .452 attack percentage.
Engelbrecht totaled 38 assists and 10 digs, while for the second consecutive match, O'Mara led the Owls with 18 digs. Hisel, meanwhile, added 15 digs on the defensive side of the net.
The Owls will have a tough test its next time out, as they pay a visit to No. 2-ranked Park University on November 1
st. First-serve is set for 1 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com next week for a full preview of the match-up.
