CLINTON, Iowa.-- The William Woods University volleyball team will look to pick up two big wins to start the Ashford University Tournament, as the Owls take on St. Ambrose University on Friday at 11 a.m. and then will face No. 5-ranked Northwestern College at 1:30 p.m.
The Owls (6-6), saw its four game winning streak snapped at the hands of MidAmerica Nazarene on Tuesday night, as after having a 2-1 set lead on the Pioneers, MNU battled back, won the final two sets and escaped WWU with a five-set (21-25, 25-21, 25-23, 14-25, 12-15) win.
Senior
Kristen Bauer led the Owls on the night, posting a game and season-high 16 kills, while junior
Emily Becker surpassed the 1,000 career kill mark (1,004) in her third season with WWU, as the Belleville, Illinois, native totaled 12.
Freshman setter
Brittney Engelbrecht recorded her ninth double-double on the year, having 41 assists and 16 digs, while senior libero
Abbie O'Mara led the team defensively, earning a game-high 20 digs.
On the season, freshman
Abbi McKnelly has totaled a team-high 110 kills, which is seventh best in the American Midwest Conference (AMC), while Bauer and Becker, have earned 108 and 104 kills respectively, also placing the duo in the top 10 in the AMC.
Engelbrecht, a Jefferson City, Missouri, native comes in at No. 1 with 428 assists in the AMC, while also ranking in the top 20 (18
th), in the NAIA. The freshman has totaled 135 digs, which is seventh best in the AMC, while teammate O'Mara leads the Owls with 167 digs, putting her third overall in the conference. Â Â
Not only are the Owls leading the AMC in the dig category, they have also totaled 109 blocks, which is 11
th best in the NAIA and first in the AMC. Becker leads the team in blocks, having 42, while
Stephanie Davis and freshman
Abby Ferguson have earned 38 each.
Awaiting the Owls on Friday morning will be a St. Ambrose University (8-4) team that is on a six game winning streak, as they have defeated the likes of Point Park (3-0), Robert Morris (3-0), Defiance (3-0), Webster (3-1), Anderson (3-0) and Rose-Hulman (3-0).
On the season, the Bees have totaled 509 kills and are led by Emily Hermiston, having 129 kills. Maddie McElroy is right on Hermiston's heels, totaling 128 kills, but does lead the team in attack percentage (.364).
Setter Kate Nowak has 401 assists on the year, ranking her 25
th in the NAIA, while libero Karrah Toby has 202 digs on the defensive side of the net, which is 35
th best in the nation.
At 1:30 p.m., the Owls will look for redemption against No. 5-ranked Northwestern College (11-1), who are riding a 10-game winning streak.
The last time these two teams' met was back on August 30
th at the Bellevue University Tournament and the Eagles swept the Owls in three (16-25, 5-25, 23-25) sets.
On the season, Northwestern is led by Kaitlin Floerchinger's 182 kills, which is 11
th best in the NAIA and also has an attack percentage of .302.
Karlie Schut has 119 kills in 12 matches on the year, while Haley Chambers is third, contributing 111. Setter Brooke Fessler has 488 assists on the season, which is sixth best in the NAIA, while her 11.62 assist per game, ranks her fourth overall.
Defensively, Northwestern has totaled 620 digs, led by the duo of Alexis Bart and Kaitlin Floerchinger, earning 182 and 136 digs respectively.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com on Friday night for a full recap and scores from Clinton, Iowa.
