COLUMBIA, Mo. – The William Woods University volleyball team had its season-high six game win streak come to end in the hands of the No. 8
th ranked Columbia College on Tuesday night, as the Owls fell in three straight sets to the Cougars (25-23, 25-18, 25-15).
As the win streak came to an end so did the Owls (17-10; 7-1 AMC) perfect record in the American Midwest Conference (AMC), as the Cougars handed WWU its first AMC loss of the year, however, WWU still remains in third place in the standings, which is right ahead of CC.
The Owls knew coming into this match-up it would be a tough battle and they would have to come out strong right from the beginning, which they did just that. After an attack error from Columbia College, WWU would tie the first set up early 4-4.
Shortly after, the Cougars would go on a 4-0 run, to push its advantage up to 8-4, but the Owls wouldn't back down and went toe to toe with CC for the rest of the set. Then after a kill from
Rachel Frabotta, WWU would get within three of CC (20-23) and give the offense the needed spark. The Owls would collect the nest three points and after a
Lauren Rodewald kill and a timely service ace from freshman Tori Wiley, WWU knotted the set up at 23-23.
Despite William Woods' persistence and battle, the Cougars grabbed the first set, 25-23 and went on to take the 1-0 match advantage.
The Owls collected 15 kills with an attack percentage of .303 in the first set, proving that the team was determined to capture the big road upset.
In the second set, the Owls came out with a vengeance, jumping out to an early 7-3 lead, after back-to-back kills coming from
Emily Becker and Wiley.
Although, the Cougars responded with a 5-0 run of their own to take the 8-7 lead but the Owls maintained its composure and from the help of a
Brittney Engelbrecht's dump over the net for a kill, WWU regained the lead at 11-8.
CC battled back and verified why they are ranked 10
th in the nation, the team tied the set up at 14-14 and that would be as close as WWU would get, as the Cougars closed the second set with a 11-4 run and putting them up 2-0 in the match with the 25-18 second set victory.
The third set didn't have the start the Owls were hoping, as CC went on an early 7-0 run, to give them a 12-4 lead and take the offensive momentum in the set.
WWU tried to get their offensive rhythm going, after Becker earned a kill, cutting the Cougars lead down to 14-8, but the Cougars kept the momentum in their favor and WWU couldn't find an answer. CC went on to secure the 25-15 match and set win.
The Cougars recorded a match-high 18 kills and an impressive .556 attack percentage in the third set, while the Owls tallied seven kills .
Becker, paced the way for the Owls with 12 kills on the night, as
Stephanie Davis and Engelbrecht each chipped in six kills a piece, while Rodewald contribute five kills. Engelbrecht added 23 assists to her stat sheet, while
Caitlyn Schmelzer led the team defensively with seven digs.
The Owls will look to bounce back to its winning ways on Thursday, as the team gets right back to action with another AMC match-up against St. Louis College of Pharmacy. The first serve is set for 7:00 p.m. from St. Louis, Missouri.
Fans check back on wwuowls.com tomorrow for a full preview of this game.
