FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University volleyball team continues to soar, while the team captured its fourth straight win on Friday night in dominating fashion, as the Owls defeated Lawrence Tech. University in three straight sets (25-15, 25-18, 25-15).
The first set started back and forth between both teams, then the Owls (21-10; 9-1 AMC), got its rhythm in sync and went on an 11-3 run, making the score 17-9, capped off by a kill from
Abby Ferguson.
WWU maintained control the rest of the set, not giving the Blue Devils any opportunity to get back into the set. After three consecutive errors from LTU, the Owls would extend its lead to double digits (23-13), while a kill from
Lauren Rodewald and an ace from
Melanie Kala would give WWU the 25-15 first set victory.
In the second set, Lawrence Tech. University came out strong, jumping out to a 5-1 lead, after a kill from Szymoniak. However, the Owls would stay persistent and cut into the Blue Devils lead one point at a time, until they knotted the set up at 11-11, with help from a Ferguson kill.
WWU would take the momentum from there, as the team went on a 6-2 lead of their own, capped off by a kill from senior
Emily Becker. That would give the Owls some distance from LTU and making the score 17-13.
Shortly after, LTU battled back and would get would get within one of WWU (19-18), however, that would be as close as they would get, as the Owls closed out the second set on 6-0 run, taking the 2-0 match advantage with a 25-18 set two win.
The Owls didn't back down in the third set, as the team remained strong, taking an early 13-5 lead, after a kill down the right side of the court from Rodewald.
Down the stretch of the set, LTU would try to get its offense going but couldn't find the answer past the Owls front row, as they recorded five huge blocks in the set. A kill from freshman
Libby Dove would go on to secure the set and match 25-15 win over the Blue Devils.
Becker, was the spearhead for WWU, as the senior collected 10 kills, while not committing a single error on the night and hitting a season-high .526 attack percentage.
Tory Wiley and Rodewald both added six kills apiece, while Ferguson chipped in five. Brittany Engelbrecht handed out a game-high 27 assists and
Shelby Hinshaw lead the team defensively with seven digs.
The Owls turn around and host a tri-match tomorrow inside Anderson Arena, as they will meet up with Lawrence Tech. once more, before squaring off with Evangel University.
First up for WWU tomorrow, will be a re-match against LTU at 11:00 am, then the Owls will have a break as LTU and Evangel will play at 1:00 p.m. which then will bring the conclusion of the tri-match with a huge match-up between WWU and Evangel University at 3:00 p.m.
Evangel University enter tomorrow's tri-match ranked 13
th in the Nation, with a 31-3 overall record and an undefeated 9-0 record in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC). Despite sweeping Central Methodist University in three straight sets in the team's last outing, two of the Lady Crusaders losses on the year, recently came to Bellevue University and AMC foe Missouri Baptist, as both teams are ranked in the top 20 in the NAIA.
WWU and Evangel have already played each other once this season at the Mid-America Nazarene Tournament back in September. The Owls will look for redemption against the Lady Crusaders, as WWU fell in straight sets to EU. Becker, lead the team against Evangel with nine kills, while Davis added seven and Kala paced the back row with 13 digs.
Fans check back on wwuwowls.com tomorrow evening for a full recap and scores of the games at the William Woods Tri-Match.
