POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The William Woods University volleyball team dropped a nail biter on Tuesday night against College of the Ozarks in a thrilling five set match (27-25, 26-28, 25-22, 14-25, 15-12).
 
The Owls (11-9; 1-0 AMC), knew going into tonight's match-up with the 2-0 series advantage over College of the Ozarks (11-11) that taking a 3-0season sweep would not be an easy task.
 
In the first set, WWU came out of the gate strong, as the team started the match off with four straight kills and after back-to-back kills from senior Rachel Frabotta, the Owls took a early 4-0 lead.
 
Then after going point for point later in the set, COFO tied the game up at 14-14, after a kill from Shepherd and with a service ace from Curnes the Lady Bobcats took its first lead over WWU (15-14).
 
The two teams' would battle down the stretch of the set, meeting up again at 21-21, this time after a Stephanie Davis kill. The Owls would have the first chance for set point but an attack error left the door open for the Lady Bobcats, who tied it back up at 24-24 and with a 25-24 lead looking to steal the first set from the Owls, senior Emily Becker had an answer with a huge kill to get the Owls right back into the game at 25-25.  WWU would go on to take the first set 27-25 after an attack error from COFO and a Frabotta ace.
 
The Owls recorded a game-high 19 kills in the first match with an attack percentage of .167, while COFO tallied 13 kills.
 
The second set started tight right from the beginning, going back and forth, as COFO went on a 8-0 run to tie the set up at 9-9, after a kill from Shepherd. However, the Owls would respond and put the pressure on the Lady Bobcats, as Frabotta drilled a kill down the right side of the court to knot it back up at 16-16.
 
The teams' would meet up again, as neither of them wanted to give up but despite, an attack error from the Lady Bobcats giving the Owls the 25-24 lead and one point away from taking set two, COFO capitalized on two costly WWU errors and a kill from Reaves, which would close the second set with the Lady Bobcats on top 28-26, tying the match up 1-1.
 
In the third set, just like the previous two sets, both teams battled back and forth, but Brittney Engelbrecht would get some momentum going for the Owls, as the sophomore dumped the ball over to tie it up 14-14 and start a 4-0 run for WWU. COFO would get back within one of the Owls after an attack error (21-20), but WWU would keep its composure and end the set on a 4-2 rally, taking the third set 25-22.
 
The Owls amassed 16 kills in the third set, with just eight errors, while COFO totaled 12 kills and an attack percentage of .116.
After having a 2-1match advantage for the Owls, in set four it was all COFO, the Lady Bobcats jumped out to a 16-11 lead, after a kill from Curnes and then extended its lead with a 5-1 run, making the score 21-12 in COFO favor. That would be as close as the Owls would get, as the Lady Bobcats secured the fourth set with a Glessner kill, tying the match up 2-2 with the 25-14 set four win.
 
WWU couldn't find its offensive rhythm in the fourth set, as the team collected just nine kills but committed eight errors, meanwhile COFO posted 15 kills with just one error.
 
In the final set, COFO jumped out to a 5-2 lead but Abby Ferguson, making her season debut after battling an injury recorded a kill to try to give the Owls a boast of energy, cutting the Lady Bobcats lead down to one.
 
Despite the valiant effort, the Owls couldn't find an answer for the Lady Bobcats and COFO went on the capture the 15-12 set five and match victory over WWU, ending the season series 2-1 against the Owls.
 
William Woods totaled 67 kills on the night, as Emily Becker paced the way with another double-double performance, 20 kills and 24 digs.  Stephanie Davis chipped in 12 kills, while Ferguson, in her first time wearing an Owl jersey this year recorded 10 kills. Engelbrecht, the AMC Setter of the Week, remained red hot, also collecting a double-double by tallying a game-high 48 assists and adding 20 digs, while freshman Melanie Kala recorded a career-high 45 digs.
 
The Owls return to action on Friday, as the team gets back to its AMC part of the schedule, remaining on the road and paying a visit to Lyon College for a 7:00 p.m. first serve.
 
Fans check back on wwuowls.com later this week for a full preview of this match-up.

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