SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—The William Woods University volleyball team will look to extend its winning streak to five games on Tuesday night, as the Owls travel to Springfield, Missouri, for a tri-match against Peru State at 6 p.m. and host No. 19-ranked Evangel University at 8 p.m.
During its three game winning streak, the Owls (10-8; 2-0 AMC), have won nine straight sets, as they have defeated the likes of Central Methodist, Williams Baptist and Lyon College.
Leading the way on the offensive side of the net, has been freshman
Abbi McKnelly, as the Jefferson City, Missouri, native, has totaled a team-high 31 kills and earned an attack percentage of .435.
Kristen Bauer, the new all-time leader in kills at William Woods, has totaled 26, while junior
Emily Becker, who joined the 1,000 career kill club recently, is third on the team, having 20.
Junior
Cierra Merz and freshman
Abby Ferguson have also provided sparks for the Owls, as the duo has totaled 17 kills apiece.
Freshman setter
Brittney Engelbrecht has contributed 95 assists and is second on the team in digs the last three games, earning 35, while senior libero
Abbie O'Mara leads the team in the dig department, totaling 44.
On the season, the Owls rank 11
th in the NAIA in total kills (859) and McKnelly is pacing the team with 187 kills in 18 matches played, while Bauer and Becker have added 170 and 161 respectively. Ferguson, meanwhile, is the fourth Owl over 100 kills, as she has contributed 120 in her first season with WWU.
Engelbrecht, a Jefferson City, Missouri, native, is 10
th in the NAIA in total assists (658) and 39
th in assists per game (9.40), while O'Mara has moved up to 16
th in the NAIA in digs (319).
As a team, the Owls are third in the NAIA in digs (1,267) and total service aces (137), while also ranking 13
th in digs per game (18.10), 16
th in assists (768), 22
nd in service aces per game (1.96) and 28
th in blocks (129).
Up first for the Owls, is a Peru State team (9-7; 0-2 Heart of America Athletic Conference), that had won three of its last four games, before falling in its last time out to Haskell Indian Nations in four sets (25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 15-25).
On the season, Peru State is led by Rian Kirby, totaling a team-high 134 kills, while Carrie Lierz is right on her heels, having 130 in 16 matches played. Setter Courtney Jurek has 466 of the teams' 595 assists, while Mallory Hull has totaled a team-high 290 digs.
As a team, Peru State is ranked near the top in the NAIA in total blocks (seventh), as they have 165, with 62 of them coming from Jennifer Ostrowski, while Alyssa Martin has totaled 37 blocks and Kirby has added 27.
In the nightcap, the Owls will be looking for its biggest upset in program history, as they take on No. 19-ranked Evangel University (11-4; 1-1 HAAC). These two teams' met twice last year, with Evangel winning both, the first was back on September 7
th, as the Crusaders won in three (24-26, 15-25, 17-25) and the second time was on the 24
th of September, where they escaped with a five set (25-16, 26-24, 20-25, 15-25, 10-15) win over WWU.
This year, the Crusaders have won five out of its last six games, including coming off a three set sweep (25-21, 25-19, 25-21) over College of the Ozarks.
On the season, Evangel has totaled 604 kills and are led by Micah Cribbs-Guiot, having 131 kills and an attack percentage of .181. Morgan Kenisnger is second on the squad in kills (112), but ranks first in blocks (63), while teammate Haley Watson has added 107 kills.
The duo of Chole Hadley and Haley Watson have combined for 448 of the teams' 508 assists, while Morgan Smith leads the Crusaders with 201 digs.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and scores from Springfield, Missouri. Â
