FULTON, Mo. - The William Woods University volleyball team is now 2-0 on its home court this season, as the Owls defeated College of the Ozarks in four sets (17-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-22) on Tuesday night.
The first set, started rocky for the Owls (8-6; 1-0 AMC), as the Lady Bobcats (3-10) held a marginal lead at 10-6, after William Woods committed three straight attacking errors.
WWU, however, would narrow the Lady Bobcats lead down to three (14-11), after getting back-to-back kills from
Stephanie Davis and
Rachel Frabotta. College of the Ozarks were able to fend off the fighting Owls, as they closed out the first set on an 11-6 run and went on to take the 25-17 win.
William Woods totaled nine kills in the first set, but had nine errors as well. The Lady Bobcats, meanwhile had eight kills and an attack percentage of .192.
The second set, WWU responded by jumping out to an early 10-4 lead, forcing the Lady Bobcats to call a timeout, after a huge ace from freshman
Tory Wiley. College of the Ozarks, tried to get some momentum going but the Owls, never looked back and after two consecutive kills from senior
Lauren Rodewald, the team would extend its lead to 18-12. WWU then closed the second set and tied the match up 1-1, getting help from a Lady Bobcat attack error and Rodewald closing it out with a kill, giving the team a 25-17 set win.
Statistically, the second set was much better for the Owls, as the team totaled 11 kills and only committing two errors, for a match-high .321 attack percentage. Curnes
In the third set, it was a back and forth start, as both teams' went point for point. The Owls were able to gain space from the College of the Ozarks, after
Brittney Engelbrecht connected with Rodewald, as the senior put the volleyball down the right side for a kill, giving WWU a 16-10 advantage. Down the stretch of the set, William Woods opened the door for the Lady Bobcats, after three consecutive errors, cutting their lead down to four (24-20) but after a Danielle Curnes dig sent the ball over to the Owls side of the court, Davis ended the set with a huge kill, giving WWU the 25-21 win and the 2-1 match advantage over the College of the Ozarks.
The fourth set started just as close as the third set did, although an ace from Engelbrecht pushed the Owls to a 15-8 lead. Then College of the Ozarks put together a 7-3 run of their own, to cut WWU lead down to four (20-16).
The Owls were able to regroup and stay composed to collect the final five points of the set, getting help from
Emily Becker and Davis to capture a 25-22, set and match win.
WWU recorded 54 kills in the match and were led by Rodewald, as the senior totaled a season-high 17 kills, with a career-high .500 attack percentage. Becker added 13 kills and led the team with 24 digs, tallying another double-double for the Belleville, Illinois native, while Davis chipped in 12 kills. Engelbrecht amassed a game-high 43 assist and also grabbed 11 digs.
William Woods will now hit the road for a nine game stunt, starting with Culver-Stockton College on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Then the team will partake in the Mid-America Nazarene Tournament later this month, a re-match with the Lady Bobcats and taking on three American Midwest Conference foes, before returning to Anderson Arena on October 7th to host Harris-Stowe State University at 7:00 p.m.
Fans stay updated on
wwuwowls.com for all the upcoming action this season.
