Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 BELLEVUE, Neb.— The William Woods University volleyball team dropped the opener of the Bellevue University Tournament against Clarke College in four sets (25-23, 18-25, 22-25, 15-25) on Friday, but came out on fire in game two, as the Owls defeated (RV) Bellevue University in straight sets (26-24, 26-24, 25-23), making it the first win over a ranked team in program history.
William Woods 1 Clarke College 3In the first set between the two teams', it was a back-and-forth game, but it was the Crusaders (2-1) holding a marginal 13-12 lead over the Owls (2-2). WWU, however, would rattle off three consecutive points, as an
Emily Becker kill, a
Brittney Engelbrecht service ace and a
Kristen Bauer kill, put the Owls up 15-13.
Clarke College would battle back and retake the lead at 23-22, after Hannah Dentlinger earned a kill. Freshman
Abby Ferguson responded with a kill to tie the game up and then two consecutive attack errors by the Crusaders, allowed the Owls to take the first set, 25-23.
Clarke College had a one kill advantage over the Owls in the first set (14-13), but committed two more errors than WWU (8-6) and had a lower attack percentage (.194-.136).
The second set did not start out how the Owls wanted, as they trailed the Crusaders 16-9. The team started to catch fire and managed to cut the deficit down to three at 21-18, after a Becker kill and an attack error forced Clarke College to take a timeout.
Out of the timeout, however, the Crusaders finished off WWU, going on a 4-0 run and tying the match up at 1-1. The Owls were limited to eight kills and an attack percentage of .172 in the second set, while Clarke College totaled a game-high 16 kills and a .294 attack percentage.
The third set saw the Owls jump out to a 9-8 lead, after a kill by freshman
Abbi McKnelly. The Crusaders, then caught fire, going on an 8-0 run and took a 16-9 lead. WWU would, however, again battle back and trail by just three at 19-16, after a kill by Bauer.
Clarke College would gain some breathing back at 21-16, but the Owls continued to ride the momentum they gained, going on a 5-0 run, and tie the game up at 21-21, after an attack error by the Crusaders.
Despite yet another comeback for the second consecutive set, Clarke College closed out the Owls, winning the third set 25-22. The Owls had its best set of the match in the third, totaling a game-high in kills (15) and attack percentage (.217).
In the fourth set, the Crusaders took a 14-6 lead on the Owls and were able to go on to win the set and the match, 25-15. McKnelly led the Owls with a team-high 12 kills and added eight digs. Ferguson was second on the team with eight kills, while Bauer recorded seven and Becker contributed six kills. Engelbrecht totaled 37 assists, while
Abbie O'Mara led the Owls with 23 of the 89 digs.
William Woods 3 (RV) Bellevue University 0 After flip-flopping leads early on in the first set, it was the Owls holding a 15-14 lead, after a kill by Bauer. The team continued to maintain its advantage and were up 24-20 on the Bruins (0-6), until they scored three straight points, forcing a WWU timeout.
Out of the timeout, a WWU attack error tied the game up at 24-24, but the Owls weren't phased, as a kill by Engelbrecht and an attack error by Bellevue, allowed WWU to win the first set 26-24.
The Owls totaled 10 kills in the first set and an attack percentage of .129, while the Bruins totaled 11 kills, but had 11 errors, making its attack percentage 0.00.
In the second set, it was the Bruins jumping out ahead at 13-6, after an attack error by WWU. The Owls would then go on a 15-7 run and take a 21-20 advantage, after a set error by Bellevue. After another attack error by the Bruins and a kill by
Stephanie Davis, the Owls were again one point away from taking the set (24-21).
Bellevue continued to show signs of its resiliency, as they were able to go on a 3-0 run and tie the game up at 24-24, after a ball handling error by WWU. Two consecutive kills by McKnelly and Becker, however, gave the Owls 26-24 second set win.
The Owls totaled a game-high 11 kills, while the Bruins totaled a match-high 16 kills in the second set, but errors continued to be a problem for them, as they had nine errors in the set.
It was the same story in the third set, as Bellevue again jumped out to an early 8-3 lead, but the Owls went on an 11-1 run, capped off by a Bauer kill, to put WWU up 14-9.
The team would continue to hold onto its lead, until the Bruins came back and retook the lead at 19-18.
The teams' continued to go point-for-point the rest of the set, but after Bellevue tied the game at 23-23, the Owls got a kill from Davis and were helped out by an attack error from the Bruins to take the set and the match 25-23.
WWU totaled 31 kills in the nightcap, with Becker having a team-high eight kills and recording five digs. Davis, totaled five kills in the match, but registered a match-high .444 attack percentage. Freshman McKnelly and Bauer each added seven kills, while Engelbrecht added 24 assists.
"It was a full team effort tonight, as we are continuing to develop our team flow and chemistry," said head coach
Monica Herschelman. "This win gives us the confidence needed, as we go into our two matches tomorrow."
The Owls will now take on Baker University at 11 a.m. and then No. 5-ranked Northwestern College at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and scores from Nebraska.
