PARKVILLE, Mo.—After defeating Williams Baptist College in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament Quarterfinals, the William Woods University will now square off against No. 1 seed Park University on Thursday night. First-serve is at 7 p.m.
The Owls (22-15; 8-4 AMC), defeated Williams Baptist (19-15; 8-4 AMC) in five sets (25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 16-14) on Tuesday night.
The team totaled 63 kills in the match and were led by senior
Kristen Bauer and freshman
Abbi McKnelly, as they each totaled a match-high 17 kills and an attack percentage of .200.
Stephanie Davis contributed 13 kills and a team-high attack percentage of .286, while junior
Emily Becker added 11.
Freshman
Brittney Engelbrecht posted 48 assists and 15 digs, while senior libero
Abbie O'Mara, led the Owls defensively, earning a match-high 30 digs on the night.
"It was a good team win, as our outside hitters really stepped up," said head coach
Monica Herschelman. "Kristen (Bauer) and Abbi (McKnelly) had a really good match, but our passing kind of fell apart in sets three, four and five, so it depended on those outsides to put the ball away and that was the strongest play we had all season."
She added, "So overall it was a good team win, we survived and now it's off to Park on Thursday."
On the season, WWU is led by Becker, having a team-high 375 kills and an attack percentage of .274, while also adding 49 service aces and 91 blocks.
McKnelly is right on Becker's heels, having 374 kills in 38 matches and owns a .242 attack percentage. Bauer is the third Owl with at least 300 kills, as the St. Charles, Missouri, native, has added 305 on the year, while freshman
Abby Ferguson has contributed 207 kills.
Engelbrecht has totaled 1,346 assists on the year, which is 12
th best in the NAIA, while her 9.61 assist per game places the Jefferson City, Missouri, native, 38
th overall in the nation. Defensively, Engelbrecht is second on the team with 442 digs and she trails team leader O'Mara, having 681 on the year, which is 16
th best in the NAIA.
As a team overall, in the NAIA, WWU is seventh in total service aces (248), 10
th in digs (2,461), 15
th in kills (1,728), 18
th in assists (1,564), 25
th in digs per game (17.58), 29
th in service aces per game (1.77) and 35
th in blocks (255.5).
The last time these two teams' met, the No. 2-ranked Pirates (32-0; 12-0 AMC), defeated the Owls in straight sets (25-17, 25-16, 25-18). Becker totaled a team-high 10 kills for the Owls, while Engelbrecht added 25 assists and O'Mara contributed 13 digs in the outing.
The Pirates advanced to the AMC Semifinals, after sweeping past Stephens College in three sets (25-10, 25-9, 25-13). Wendy Romero led Park with a match-high 12 kills, while Juliana Barros totaled 27 assists.
On the season, Romero leads the Pirates with 405 kills, a .365 attack percentage, 184 digs and added 57 blocks. Wanessa Siqueira has added 324 kills and an attack percentage of .340, while Raissa Herczfeld is third on the team, having 164 kills.
Barros has totaled 1,064 assists on the year, while on the defensive side of the net, Daniela Duarte has contributed a team-high 344 digs.
"I think we just need to control our side and make sure we execute our game plan," Herschelman said. "We can't let the other people on the other side of the net, get into our side. We also need to execute what we practice and play, while our playing our game as a six-man or seven-man unit."
She added, "We should go out and have fun, as we have to win to go to Nationals that is our goal. They already have a bid, so they have everything to lose and we have everything to gain."
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Parkville, Missouri.
