BELLEVUE, Neb. - The William Woods University Volleyball team dropped its final two matches at the Bellevue Tournament. Falling to Baker University in three straight sets ( 25-17, 25-13, 25-12) and No. 24 ranked Jamestown University in four (25-22, 20-25, 16-25, 16-25).
William Woods 0 Baker University 3
In the first set, the William Woods found themselves down 12-6 after an attack error and an kill from Baker's Danielle French. WWU would try to get some momentum after a 5-0 run, and a kill from Emily Becker, to make it 18-13, still in the Wildcats favor.
William Woods couldn't quit find its rhythm offensively, as Baker went on to secure the 25-17 win in set one and take a 1-0 match advantage. The Owls collected 11 kills in the first match but also had nine attack errors, while Baker recorded 13 kills.
The second set started off as a match that looked like it was going to go back and forth but then Baker took a 12-6 lead over the Owls, after a Haliegh Offield kill and then maintained its spark to go on a 5-0 run, pushing its lead up to 17-8.
The Owls would try to cut the Wildcats lead down to 17-11, after a two consecutive attack errors from Baker and an ace from Cierra Merz, but Baker would then close the match on an 8-2 run, taking set two 25-13.
Finding themselves down 2-0 in the match, the Owls went into the third set hoping to collect a win and keep this match going. However, the Wildcats, started the match almost perfect, jumping to an early 15-5 lead, after three straight William Woods attack errors.
The Owls had a hard time finding the momentum offensively, as Baker would cruise to a 25-12 set and match victory.. Becker led the Owls with just eight kills on the match, while Torey Wiley and Stephanie Davis added five each.
William Woods 1 Jamestown University 3
In the first set, the Owls knew they needed to come out with some urgency, as Emily Becker took the first lead of the set 7-6, with a kill from Brittney Engeltbrecht. Then the Knights would respond by tying the set up 13-13, after a kill from Haley Glasoe,
The Owls would find a spark of energy and force Jamestown to take a time out, as Rachel Frabotta capped off a 5-0 run with a kill, giving WWU a 21-17 lead. Then a kill from senior Merz, would secure the 25-22 win for the Owls, to take a 1-0 advantage in the match.
In the second match, the Knights came out with vengeance, jumping out to a 15-9 lead, after a kill from Madison Wendall. WWU would get an offensive spark from with back-to-back kills from Becker and Lauren Rodewald but Jamestown extended its advantage out to 22-17, after a kill from Alaina Brown and went on to take the second set 25-20, to tie the match up 1-1.
The Owls recorded 12 kills and an attack percentage of .167 in the second set, while Jamestown posted just 10 kills.
The third set was again the Knights jumping out to a 15-8 lead, after a WWU service error. The Owls were able to narrow the advantage down to seven, at 17-10, after a Merz kill, but the No. 24 ranked Knights closed out the set on a 8-4 run and went on for the 25-16 third set win.
In the fourth set, it was the Owls this time around taking the early lead, as back-to-back kills from Stephanie Davis, gave the team a 5-3 advantage. The two teams's would continue to go point-for-point and meet up at 13-all, after WWU was able to tie it, with a kill from Rachel Frabotta.
Jamestown gained some breathing room at 20-14, after two consecutive WWU attack errors, and then went on a 5-2 run to secure the 25-16 set and match win over the Owls.
WWU improved statistically, collecting 13 kills in the final set, as Becker paced the team with 15, while Rodewald chipped in 14. Brittney Engelbrecht tallied 41 assists, meanwhile four Owls posted double-digits in digs, with Hinshaw leading the way with 16.
The Owls end the Bellevue Tournament 0-4 but will use this to fire them up, while the team opens up its American Midwest Conference play on Tuesday, as Hannibal-LaGrange University pays a visit to Anderson Arena . The first serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
Fans check back on wwuowls.com for a full preview of this AMC showdown next week.
