Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The William Woods University volleyball team snapped its three-game skid on Friday morning at the Avila University Tournament, as the Owls defeated Johnson & Wales University in four sets (27-25, 23-25, 27-25, 27-25) and Avila University in three (28-26, 25-20, 25-12).

William Woods 3 Johnson & Wales University 1
In the first set, the Wildcats (5-4) jumped out to a 15-9 advantage on the Owls (4-5), but WWU responded with some impressive play, going on a 10-2 run, capped off by kill from junior Emily Becker to tie the set up at 19-19.

The teams' would continue to answer point-for-point, but the Wildcats regained the lead at 25-24 and looked to grab the early 1-0 set lead on the Owls. Abby Ferguson, however, came up with a big kill for WWU, tying the game back up at 25-all.

After trailing throughout most of the set, WWU would make the comeback complete, as an attack error by Johnson & Wales and a kill by freshman Brittney Engelbrecht, gave the team a 27-25 set win.

The Owls totaled 14 kills in the set and despite having a team-high nine errors, they came away with the opening set win. The Wildcats, meanwhile, totaled 12 kills and had six errors.

It was more of the same early on in the second set, as the Wildcats again took what they thought would have been a comfortable 15-9 lead on WWU.

As the set went on, the Owls continued to chip away at the lead and got the deficit all the way down to one at 24-23, after an attack error by the Wildcats, but despite the effort, Johnson & Wales took the second set 25-23.

WWU lowered its error total from the first set (five) and improved its attack percentage in set two (.167), but totaled just 11 kills. The Wildcats improved off its first set as well, totaling 15 kills and earned an attack percentage of .195.

For the third consecutive set, things looked bleak for the Owls, as they trailed the Wildcats 16-6, but just like they did in the previous two games, WWU battled back, this time going on a 14-1 run, capped off by a Ferguson kill and were able to take a 20-17 lead, with plenty of momentum on its side.

The Owls maintained a two-point lead (23-21), but Johnson & Wales were able to look past its lead they lost and grab a 25-24 advantage, after a kill by Demi Coca.

WWU, however, would surge back, closing out on a 3-0 run, with Engelbrecht and senior Kristen Bauer ending the set with consecutive kills and giving the Owls a 2-1 set advantage, after a 27-25 win.

William Woods totaled a team-high in kills (15) and attack percentage (.200) in the third set, while Johnson & Wales also put up similar numbers, having 13 kills and an attack percentage of .206.

In the fourth set, it was WWU this time around taking the lead, as they went ahead 10-7 on the Wildcats. Johnson & Wales went on an impressive run of its own, however, outscoring the Owls 10-2 and were able to take a 17-12 lead.

The Wildcats were still up 23-19, as the set wore on, but no lead was safe against the Owls on Friday, as WWU was able to eventually tie the game up at 25-all, after a kill by freshman Abbi McKnelly. The team then finished off the Wildcats, getting another kill from McKnelly and Engelbrecht, to take the set and the match
27-25.

The Owls totaled 27 kills and an attack percentage of .162 in the match and were led by the duo of McKnelly and Kristen Bauer, totaling a team-high 11. Engelbrecht led the team with 38 assists, while senior libero Abbie O'Mara added a team-high 14 digs.

The Wildcats had three players reach the double-figure plateau, and were led by Lizzie Michalski with 16, while Coca and Kelley McLain contributed 15 and 11 respectively.  

William Woods 3 Avila University 0
The Owls stayed hot in its second match of the day against host Avila (1-5), as they took a 10-3 lead out of the gate on the Eagles. WWU would push its lead out to a 20-12 advantage, but the Eagles climbed back into the match, going on a 13-4 run and took its first lead of the set at 25-24.

William Woods, however, calmed themselves down after a timeout and closed out the set on a 4-1 run of its own and won the opening game in thrilling fashion, 28-26.

The Owls played very well in the first set, totaling a game-high 16 kills and had an attack percentage of .250, while the Eagles earned 11 kills, but made 10 errors.

In the second set, the Eagles took a 13-7 lead, after a service ace by Laurel Dehn. Like the Wildcats, however, found out in the previous game, putting the Owls away is no easy task and the team would again get back into the game and eventually would tie it up 20-20, after consecutive service aces by Ferguson.

WWU would finish the set off on a 5-0 run, winning 25-20 and take a two game advantage over the Eagles. The Owls totaled 13 kills in the second set, while Avila again totaled 11, but errors continued to be a problem for them, as they had nine.

The third set was all William Woods from start-to-finish, as they took a commanding 17-5 lead on Avila and they never looked back, winning the set and the match, 25-12.

Freshman McKnelly led the Owls in the kill department, having 12, while Becker was the other lone Owl to reach double-figures in kills, as the junior had 11. Engelbrecht contributed 30 assists, while O'Mara again led the team in digs, having 14.

The Owls will look to extend its winning streak on the final day of the Avila University Tournament, as they will take on Bethel College at 10 a.m., and then Benedictine University at Springfield at 2 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and scores from Kansas City, Missouri.

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