FULTON, Mo.— The William Woods University volleyball has advanced to the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Semifinals, as the Owls defeated Williams Baptist College in a five set (25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 16-14) thriller inside Anderson Arena on Tuesday night.
The Owls (23-15; 8-4 AMC), totaled 63 kills in the match and were led by the duo of
Kristen Bauer and
Abbi McKnelly, totaling a match-high 17 kills each and an attack percentage of .200.
Stephanie Davis added 13 kills and a team-high attack percentage of .286, while junior
Emily Becker contributed 11 kills.
Freshman setter
Brittney Engelbrecht collected another double-double on the year, having 48 assists and 15 digs, while senior libero and newly crowned all-time leader in digs,
Abbie O'Mara, collected a match-high 30 on the night.
Williams Baptist, was led by the quartet of Kallie Ralston, Harley Strayhorn, Jameea Ward and Madison Laubach, as they totaled 14 kills each. Jordan Harvey and Taylor Barton combined for 51 assists, while Shelby Upshaw led the team defensively, having 21 digs.
In the first set, both teams' went point-for-point, but they met up at 11-11, after an attack error from William Woods. The Owls, however, were able to separate themselves from the Lady Eagles (19-15; 8-4 AMC), going on a 6-0 run, capped off by a kill from Davis, to give the team a 17-11 advantage.
Williams Baptist responded with a rally of its own, going on a 7-1 run and now trailed by just one, at 19-18, after a kill from Laubach.
The Owls would push its lead back out to three (22-19), after a kill from
Abby Ferguson and they were able to hold on and win the first set, 25-22.
WWU totaled a match-high 18 kills in the first set and had an attack percentage of .238, while the Lady Eagles totaled 12 kills and three errors.
In the second set, the Lady Eagles jumped out to a 9-3 lead, after a service ace from Mallory Wright. WBC would continue to manage its lead over the Owls, as they were up 18-12, after Laubach added another kill.
WWU got back into the game though, going on a 7-3 run and now trailed the Lady Eagles 21-19, after an attack error from WBC. The Lady Eagles, however, took the next two points and were able to go on for the 25-22 win, tying the game up at 1-1.
Williams Baptist totaled a team-high 17 kills in the second set and had an attack percentage of .375, while the Owls were limited to 11 kills and a .167 attack percentage.
In the third set, it was the Owls this time around taking a commanding lead, as they were up 10-4, after a kill from Bauer. The Lady Eagles crawled back into the game and trailed just 18-16, after Laubach came up with the kill.
That, however, would be as close as they would get, with WWU closing out the set on a 7-5 run and winning 25-21, after a kill from Bauer, to take a 2-1 game lead over WBC.
In set three, WWU totaled 12 kills and limited themselves to four errors, while WBC had 13 kills, but a team-high eight errors, for a .111 attack percentage.
In the fourth set, it looked good from the start for WWU, as they held a 15-9 lead, after Davis earned a kill. The team remained up at 17-12, but then Williams Baptist rattled off a 9-1 run, capped off by a kill from Barton, to give the team a 21-18 lead.
A kill from Becker later cut the advantage down to two, at 23-21, but the Lady Eagles gathered up the final two points, on consecutive kills from Ward, giving WBC a 25-21 lead in the process, forcing a fifth and final set.
In the fourth set, Williams Baptist had 15 kills and a .289 attack percentage, while WWU earned 14 kills, but had eight errors, which lowered its attack percentage to .125.
In the fifth set, both teams' battled early on, but it was WWU taking a 10-8 lead, after Becker came up with the big kill. The Owls held its marginal lead over WBC and were one point away from winning the match, as they were up 14-12, after a kill from Engelbrecht.
The Lady Eagles, tied the game up at 14-14, after an attack error and a kill from Laubach. The Owls, however, kept its composure and sent the crowd home happy, as a kill by Becker put WWU up 15-14 and an attack error by WBC sealed the victory for the Owls, winning the set and the match, 16-14.
With the win, the Owls will now travel to No. 1 seed and No. 2 ranked in the NAIA, Park University, on Thursday in the AMC Semifinals. First-serve is set for 7 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow afternoon for a full preview of Thursday's matchup.
