FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University volleyball team went 1-1 on Saturday in its tri-match, as the team defeated Lawrence Tech. University in three straight sets (25-22, 26-24, 28-26), before falling in a five set thriller to No. 13
th ranked Evangel University (19-25, 25-19, 13-25, 25-22, 10-15).
William Woods 3 Lawrence Tech. 0 After just playing each other the night before, and having the Owls(22-10; 9-1 AMC), sweep the Blue Devils in three(25-15, 25-18, 25-15), WWU came into the match-up looking to take the 2-0 season series sweep over LTU.
In the first set, things didn't start off in the Owls favor, as LTU jumped out to 12-4 lead after three consecutive service aces from Frakes. The Blue Devils, then took what they thought was a comfortable 20-14 lead, capped off by a kill from Mary Armstrong.
WWU would then get a boost of energy from senior
Emily Becker, who recorded a perfectly placed ace from the service line. That would ignite a 11-2 run for the Owls to close out the first set and back to back kills from
Lauren Rodewald would seal the deal for the 25-22 win.
The second set went point for point for the most of the set, as there were 19 ties on diferent occasions throughout the match. Down the stretch of the set, the Owls found themselves down 18-20 to the Blue Devils, but that changed very quickly as a kill from Becker and three attack errors from LTU, gave WWU the 21-20 lead.
LTU had the first opportunity at set point, after an Armstrong kill (24-23), but then another attack error from the Devils tied the game up at 24-24.
Stephanie Davis would recorded back-to-back kills, to guide the Owls to the 26-24 second set win and give them the 2-0 advantage in the match.
In the third set, just like the second, it went back and forth for the majority of the set, as neither team was backing down. Similar to the second set, there were 26 times that the set was knotted up between the Owls and Blue Devils.
It was the Owls who came out on top, closing out the set on its largest run of the set 6-2, as a service ace from freshman
Mary Cleek would give WWU the set and match 28-26 win.
The Owls totaled 48 kills and earned an attack percentage of .337 against the LTU, as Rodewald paced the way with a team-high 12 kills and freshman Tori Wiley chipped in 10.
Brittney Engelbrecht lead the team in assists with 35 and also gathered a team-high nine digs.
William Woods 2 Evangel University 3 The Owls knew coming into this re-match against the Crusaders, they would have to give it all they had to knock the No. 13
th ranked team in the nation and they did just that.
The first set was a little bit of a rocky start for WWU, as the Crusaders took a early 7-1 lead after an Owls attack error. Then WWU would string together a 9-4 run to get within two (12-10) of EU, capped off by a kill from Davis.
WWU would keep chipping away at the Crusaders lead, getting within three points (19-21) of EU. However, that would be all they good do, as the Crusaders ended the first set with four consecutive points, to take set one 25-19.
In the second set, the crowd inside Anderson Arena knew they were in from a thriller, as both teams battle for each and every point. After a Becker kill, to tie the set up at 12-12, the Owls would grab some distance between them and the Crusaders, by extending its lead to 19-17.
EU wouldn't stay quite, as they fought back, until the set was tied once more at 19-19, but the Owls were able to stay composed and go on the take the second set 25-19, to equalize the match 1-1.
The Crusaders came out in the third set with a vengeance, as the team jumped out to a 16-10 lead, after Kersinger collected a kill. The Owls couldn't get much going offensively, as EU held them to just seven kills, while the Crusaders controlled the rest of the set, to go on to take the 25-11 win.
In the fourth set, the Owls came out hot, and would fend off the fighting Crusaders, WWU would gain some breathing distance between them and EU, after a huge kill from senior
Cierra Merz, putting the Owls up 17-13.
The team continued its strong play and push its advantage out to 21-16, after Davis earned herself a kill and the Owls would cruise from there, winning the fourth set 25-22 and sending the match into the final frame.
In the fifth and final set, the Crusaders took a 9-4 lead, after a set error called on WWU, forcing the Owls to take a timeout to regroup. Out of the timeout, the Owls would respond and cut Evangels lead down to four (7-12).
Despite its valiant effort, the Crusaders went on to edge the Owls with a set and match 15-10 win, after a Kersinger kill.
Both teams played hard, as they each totaled 53 kills in the match, Becker led the way for the Owls with 19 kills, as Davis added 13 , while Engelbrecht handed out a game-high 46 assists and Hinshaw totaled an impressive 21 digs.
The Owls will have a tough test in its next outing, as the team hosts' the No. 2 ranked Missouri Baptist University. The first serve is set for 7:00 p.m. inside Anderson Arena.
Fans check back on wwuowls.com for a preview of this AMC showdown.
