BELLEVUE, Neb.- Despite posting 124 kills on the day, The William Woods University volleyball team dropped its first two matches at the Bellevue University Tournament on Friday. The Owls fell In three sets (18-25, 18-25, 28-30) to Bellevue University in its opening game of the tournament and then dropped a five-set thriller to Mayville State (25-20, 24-26, 25-20, 23-25, 20-22).
William Woods 0 Bellevue 3The first set, the Bruins jumped out to an early 12-6 lead after an attack error from William Woods, and then would put some distance in between themselves and the Owls, as they went on a 7-2 run, to take a 19-8 advantage.
WWU would get a boost of energy by putting pressure on the Bruins, grabbing three huge points, after two aces from
Cierra Merz and a kill from
Lauren Rodewald, getting the Owls within four points from the Bruins (18-22). Bellevue, however kept its composure and went on the collect the 25-18 set win over WWU.
Knowing they needed a better start in the second set, the Owls did just take, taking an 8-4 lead, after a kill from Merz. But that didn't phase the Bruins, as they fought back and tied the set up 12-12 with a Wald kill. Bellevue would use that momentum and go on to take the 2-0 set advantage with an identical 25-18 win.
The third set started off in a tight battle between both teams, going point-for-point, before WWU took a 12-8 after a
Stephanie Davis kill. It looked as if the Owls were going to grab a set from the Bruins after extending its lead 22-17, but Bellevue had a say to that, as the Bruins went on a 5-0 run to tie the set 25-25 after a kill from Walker. William Woods had the first chance of match point after an
Emily Becker kill but couldn't find the answer, as Bellevue's Rachel Wald secured the set and match with a 30-28 win.
The Owls totaled 34 kills in the first match, as Becker led the way with 13 kills and an attack percentage of .455, while Rodewald contributed seven kills.
Brittney Engelbrecht handed out 28 assists while
Shelby Hinshaw finished with a team-high 11 digs.
William Woods 2 Mayville State 3In the first set, the Comets took a quick 3-0 lead over the Owls, but WWU had an answer, as Davis collected the first of her career-high 28 kills from Engelbrecht to tie the set up 4-4. Mayville State would then open the door WWU after three consecutive attack errors, giving the Owls a 12-6 lead. The Comets would get as close as four points to William Woods, but the Owls maintained the spark and took set one 25-20.
The second set had a similar start to set one, then once Davis subbed on the court and connected with Englebrecht to push the Owls lead up to 9-5. The comets then capitalized on the Owls attack errors, to tie the game up 9-9, however, Davis maintained red hot and found a way to record back-to-back kills to try to give the team a boost energy. After another tie game at 15-15, the Owls went on a 8-3 run and put some distance between themselves and the comets, making the score 23-9 after yet another Davis kill. Despite, the lead down the stretch, the Comets but pressure on the Owls, who committed four costly errors at the end, which after a Gretchen Freed kill, the Comets stole the set, 26-24 to tie the match 1-1.
In the third set, the Owls came out on a mission and jumped out to a 15-7 lead after back-to-back kills from Davis. The Comets would try to make another comeback, going on an 8-2 run but WWU would go on the secure the 25-20 lead.
The fourth set both teams' would continue to battle and go point-for-point, as a kill from Becker would tie the set up 10-10 for the Owls. The Comets, although, took a 20-17 lead after a service ace, the Owls would earn six more points but couldn't keep the set going, as Mayville State tied the match up with a 25-23 win, taking the match into the fifth set.
In the fifth and final set, it was all WWU offensively, as freshman Tori Wiley capped off a 3-0 run for the Owls with a kill. Mayville State would then find a way to battle back and tie the set up 13-13 and after that neither team was giving up nor finding a way to seal the deal. The Owls has an opportunity to put away the match, but a Mayville State kills and an attack error by WWU would give the Comets a 22-20 set and match win over William Woods.
The Owls had three players amass double-digit kills, which saw the team capture a season-high 90 kills. Davis recorded an impressive career-high 28 kills with an attack percentage of .471, meanwhile, Becker added 21 kills and Wiley also posted a career-high 13 kills. Engelbrecht set a new season-high 69 assists, while Hinshaw collected a game-high 30 digs.
The Owls will look to turn things around tomorrow and end the Bellevue Tournament with a .500 percentage, as the team squares up with Baker University at 9:00 a.m. before trying to upset the No. 23 ranked Jamestown University at 3:00 p.m.
Fans check back on wwuowls.com tomorrow for full recap and scores on the last day of the Bellevue Tournament.Â
