ATCHINSON, Kan. – The William Woods University Volleyball team began its 12 games away from Anderson Arena on Thursday as they defeated Benedictine College, 3-2 (25-9, 23-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-6) on Thursday night.
 
Lead the way for the Owls was Tory Wiley who recorded 11 kills on the match and was the only Owls player with double-figure kills. Brittney Engelbrecht led the Owls with 32 assists and 19 digs in the match. As a team the Owls recorded 10 blocks in the match.
 
The Owls return to action on Friday, September 2nd when they take part in the Bellevue University Labor Day Tournament. William Woods opens up against Baker (Kan.), 11 a.m. and Culver-Stockton (Mo.) 5 p.m. tomorrow.
 
Game Flow
The Owls came out with authority in set one, scoring 15 of the first 18 points. Brittney Engelbrecht had a service streak of eight points before handing the ball over to Benedictine. That did not last long as back to back kills from Tory Wiley and Victoria Day ended Benedictine attempt to catch up. Benedictine scored a few points making the score 15-5 after a service ace from Hannah Suarez. After a kill by Stephanie Davis, the Owls found themselves at 16-5. Benedictine tried to battle back after being down 11, but could not come back and the Owls took set one, 25-9.
 
In the second set, WWU and Benedictine traded points the match was tied at 5-5 before the Ravens rallied to score the next four points and WWU trailed 9-5. After a kill by Davis, the Owls gained some momentum tying the match, 14-14. The Owls took advantage of Benedictine errors finding themselves once more at a tie set, 23-23. Unfortunately, the Owls would not score anymore, losing set two, 23-25.
 
With both teams tied at one set a piece, set three was up for the taking. The set started out back and forth, until the Owls stretched the lead to three, 6-3 after a kill from Day. The Owls continued to lead but Benedictine closed the game to one after a service error by Engelbrecht. With the set at 16-16, the Ravens took the lead after a kill by Megan Ruzicka, who recorded three kills in a row making it 19-16, Ravens. The Owls then came back with a kill by Engelbrecht finding themselves at a set score of 22-18. With another kill by Wiley, the Owls cut the lead down to four, 23-19. The Owls rimmed the lead down to two, 24-22, after an attack error but could not get any closer as the Ravens took set three, 25-22.
 
In set four, WWU found themselves down by three after a kill by Melanie Kala, 8-5. The Owls then fought back with a service run by Kameryn Bellinger, giving WWU the lead, 11-9. During the run, WWU saw three different players record kills a service ace and an attack error from the Ravens. From then on out, the Owls did not give up the lead. The Ravens trimmed the Owls lead down to two points at multiple times but could not get any closer. After two kills by Day and Ravens error, the Owls cinched set four, 25-19.
 
In set five, neither team took control until a service streak by Jessica Jensen that put the Owls in the lead 9-6. The Owls then took every chance they could to keep the lead finding themselves at a 13-6 lead. After kills by both Abby Ferguson and Kira Krebill, and an error from the Ravens, the Owls cinched set five, 15-6, winning the match, 3-2.
 
By the Numbers
11 – Tory Wiley led the Owls with 11 kills
19 – Brittney Engelbrecht recorded 19 digs in the match
10 – WWU recorded 10 blocks in the match
32 – Brittney Engelbrecht led the team with 32 assists in the match
9 – William Woods recorded nine aces in the match