COLUMBIA, Mo. – The William Woods University volleyball team got back into the win column on Thursday evening as they defeated the Stars of Stephens College, 3-1 (25-13, 25-18, 23-25, 28-26).
 
Leading the way for the Owls was Kate Doerhoff who had 16 kills. Tory Wiley followed with 13 kills in the match. Brittney Engelbrecht dished out 39 assists in the match. The Owls recorded eight aces and 11 blocks in the win.
 
The Owls return to action Friday, October 20th when they host Kansas Wesleyan University in non-conference action. The match starts at 6 p.m. at Anderson Arena.
 
Game Flow
The first set was point for point as the Stars and the Owls fought for a lead. The Stars would take the lead of two points after a service error by the Owls taking a 5-3 lead. The Stars would continue to keep the lead as they ran away with a three- point lead until the Owls would cut the lead and tie the set at 9-9 after a block from Tory Wiley and Jaclyn Zahn. The Owls would then get their break as they took the lead and didn't look back. The Owls added an eight-point run before giving up possession adding kills from Wiley, Zahn, and a service ace taking a 17-9. The Stars would score four more points in the set while the Owls finished off the first set with a kill from Megan Rogers and WWU took set one, 25-13.
 
The second set started off like the first, with both teams going point for point until the Owls took the first lead, 5-2, after a kill by Wiley. The Owls continued to swing away as Abby Ferguson and Remie Johnson added kills to bring the set score to 10-5. After kills by Kate Doerhoff, Rayleen Rivera, and Zahn the Owls found themselves with a five-point lead, 14-9. The Stars would stump the Owls late in the set when they added a five-point run, threatening the Owls lead, 21-15. The Owls would sneak past the Stars in the second set, 25-18.
 
The Stars took control over the third set as they took the early 7-4 lead. The Owls would take the lead after a kill by Doerhoff, 11-10. The Stars kept pushing back as they went point for point with the Owls until they took the lead of four points, 22-18. The Owls, fighting for the sweep would add a kill by Doerhoff, but would unfortunately fall to the Stars, 25-23.
 
The fourth set would be taken early by the Stars when they took a four-point lead, 7-3. The Owls would slowly creep up to the Stars taking advantage of Stars errors and kills by Wiley and Rivera but they would still find themselves down 11-7. The Owls would then tie the set briefly at 12-12. The Stars would not let up as they held onto the lead 19-18. After a kill by Kira Krebill, the Owls would take the lead, 21-20. The set then went point for point with neither team able to find the court. A kill by Doerhoff would take the set to 25-24. The Stars would continue to fight as they tied the set at 25-25. The Owls rallied off three back to back to back kills from Doerhoff and Wiley, taking the match 28-26.
 
By the Numbers
16 – Kate Doerhoff led the Owls with 16 kills
13 – Tory Wiley followed with 13 kills each
39 – Brittney Engelbrecht dished out 39 assists in the match
8 – WWU recorded eight aces in the match
11 – William Woods recorded 11 blocks in the contest
19 – Jessica Jensen recorded a game-high 19 digs
.264 – The Owls hit .264 in the match