COLUMBIA, Mo – For its second straight season, the William Woods University volleyball team captured its 20
th win on the year, as the team rolled past Stephens College in three straight sets (25-21, 25-18, 25-20).
The Owls (20-10; 9-1 AMC), remain to stay diligent in American Midwest Conference (AMC) play, as the team is now just one win short of collecting its 10
th AMC win on the year.
In set one, the Owls set the tempo first, jumping out to a 7-3 lead, after back-to-back kills from
Brittney Engelbrecht and
Stephanie Davis. However, the Stars wouldn't back down and with an attack error from WWU, SC would tie the set up 10-10.
Later in the set, both teams would go point for point against each other. Then after a
Lauren Rodewald kill, the Owls would put some distance between them and the Stars, extending its lead to 21-18.
That would be as close as the Stars would get and after a string of attack errors down the stretch of the first set for SC, would lead the Owls to a 25-21 first set win.
In a back and forth start in the second set, that saw the game tied seven times between both teams was not the way the Owls wanted the set to go. The two teams would battle until the set would knot up at 14-14 with a kill from Stephen College's Cook.
Shortly after, the Owls responded by going on a 7-1 run to gain some breathing room from the Stars and make the score 21-15. WWU would go on to secure 25-18 win in the second set, capped off by a Rodewald kill, to take the 2-0 match advantage of SC.
Similar in the second set, the Stars came out strong, taking an early 7-3 lead over the Owls in the third set. Despite, finding themselves down early, senior,
Emily Becker gave the offense a boast of energy, earning a kill to tie the third set up at 14-14.
Then the front line for the Owls shifted the momentum, recording five blocks, which sparked a 7-1 run for WWU, to take the 20-15 lead. The Owls would seal the deal and go on to take the set and match 25-20 third set win.
Becker, for the second straight game, led the Owls offensively with 12 kills, while only committing one error, ending the night with an attack percentage of .440. Davis also had a strong display adding eight kills, while Rodewald and Engelbrecht chipped in seven and six kills, respectively.
Engelbrecht, also led the team with 30 assists and gather nine digs, while Becker and
Shelby Hinshaw each tallied eight digs in the win.
The Owls return back to Anderson Arena this weekend, as the team will take on non-conference foe Lawrence Tech. University Friday at 7:00p.m. and then turning around on Saturday to host a Tri-Match between Lawrence Tech. University and Evangel University.
Fans check back on wwuowls.com for a full preview of these upcoming events.
