FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods University volleyball team won its third straight game and moved to 2-0 in American Midwest Conference (AMC) play, as the Owls defeated Lyon College in three sets (25-18, 25-9, 25-21).
Prior to the match starting, the Owls honored junior
Emily Becker, as against MidAmerica Nazarene on September 11
th, the Belleville, Illinois, native, joined the 1,000 career kill club.
In the first set, the Owls (10-8; 2-0 AMC) jumped out to a 10-4 lead, after a kill by
Abby Ferguson, which forced Lyon (2-10; 0-2 AMC) to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, however, the Scots went on a 6-1 run and cut WWU's lead down to one (11-10), after a kill by Jordan Fleitman.
The Owls were able to gain some breathing room, as a service ace by freshman
Abbi McKnelly, put the team up 18-14 and they were able to go on and take the first set, 25-18.
Both teams' had nearly had the same statistics in the first set, as they each had 10 kills and five errors, but the Owls had one more attack than Lyon (35-34), which gave the team an attack percentage of .143, while the Scots held a .147 attack percentage.
In the second set, it was all William Woods, as they took a 15-5 lead and never looked back, going on for the impressive 25-9 win and take a 2-0 game lead on Lyon.
The Owls totaled a match-high 11 kills as a team in the second set, while only having one error and an attack percentage of .625. Lyon, meanwhile, was limited to six kills, had five errors and an attack percentage of .045.
In the third set, the Owls took a 16-10 lead after another service ace from McKnelly, and from there the team continued to play well, as they extended its lead out to 21-11, after a service ace from Becker.
Then, Lyon went on a 10-2 run and were now down just 23-21, as a service ace by Olivia Iriana forced WWU to take a timeout. The Owls, however, were able to regroup after the timeout and collect the final two points of the set, getting help from a Scot service error and McKnelly closing it out with a kill, giving WWU a 25-21 set and match win.
On the offensive side of the net, the Owls totaled 30 kills and were led by senior
Kristen Bauer having a match-high nine and an attack percentage of .263. Ferguson was second on the team with eight, while earning an attack percentage of .412. McKnelly, a Jefferson City, Missouri, native, added five kills and a .500 attack percentage.
Brittney Engelbrecht earned 23 assists and six digs, while senior libero
Abbie O'Mara totaled a match-high 14 digs. Coming into the match, the Owls were ranked fourth in the NAIA in service aces and today, the team totaled a season-high 14.
The Owls will look to extend its three-game winning streak, as they travel to Springfield, Missouri, on Tuesday September 23
rd in a tri-match, where the team will face Peru State College at 6 p.m. and host Evangel University at 8 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com on Monday afternoon for a full preview of Tuesday's action. Â
