BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The William Woods University volleyball team dropped the first two sets of the match before the winning the next three sets to extend its winning streak to 15 as they defeated Lindenwood University – Belleville, 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-10) on Friday evening.
 
Rayleen Rivera led the Owls with 14 kills in the match and Tory Wiley followed with 12 kills. Brittney Engelbrecht dished out 33 assists in the match and Jessica Jensen collected a game-high 19 digs in the match. The Owls hit .120 in the match.  
 
WWU returns to action on Monday, October 9th when they host College of the Ozarks at Anderson Arena. The match is set to start at 7 p.m.
 
Game Flow
In set one, the Lynx came out scoring the first seven of the ten runs, 7-3. The Owls would cut the lead down to two points, 10-8. The Lynx would persevere by adding two more points before letting the Owls score again, 11-9. The Owls would fight their way back by tying the set at 11-11 after a block by Kira Krebill. The two teams would fight back and forth but the Lynx would not give up their two-point lead. The Owls would cut the lead down to one, but would not be able to pull through as they lost the first set, 25-23.

Set two would go back and forth for the first ten points, until a kill by Rayleen Rivera would put the Owls at a two-point difference, 10-8. The Lynx would run away with a seven-point lead, 17-10. The Owls would continue to fight and cut the lead down after kills by Tory Wiley and Abby Ferguson, 23-17. The Owls would score three more points by taking advantage of Lynx mishaps, but would not be able to overcome the Lynx offense, 25-20.

Set three would start out with a different tone as Brittney Engelbrecht served an ace and Rivera knocked in a kill, 3-0. The Lynx would attempt to cut the lead down, but the Owls offense would come into play after a kill by Doerhoff, 6-3. The Owls would continue to hold their lead by six, 12-6. Rivera and Krebill would add two kills to the score, 14-7. The Lynx would cut the lead down to five but the Owls would add a kill by Wiley, 18-13. The Lynx would come away with one more point before the Owls would take the third set and stay alive, 25-19.

The fourth set would start out much like the third set with the Owls scoring the first five of the six points, 5-1. The Lynx would cut the lead down to one, but the Owls would run away with a four-point lead, 8-4. The Owls would continue to keep a four-point lead, 12-8. The Lynx would find the court as they cut the lead to 17-16. The Lynx would add one more point before Engelbrecht and Rivera, would add a kill and Kala would add a service ace taking set four, 25-18.

With the game on the line, the Lynx would come right out the gate, but the Owls would come back with kills from Wiley and Doerhoff, 3-3. The Owls would run away with a three-point lead after a block by Ferguson, 8-5. The Owls would continue to hold the lead and Ferguson, Rivera, would add kills of their own eventually finding themselves at a 12-8. The Lynx would threaten the Owls lead down to three points but kills by Wiley and Doerhoff would lock in the set at 15-10 to claim the match.

By the Numbers
14 – Rayleen Rivera led the Owls with 14 kills
52 – WWU had 52 kills in the match
6 – William Woods had six aces in the match
9 – The Owls had nine blocks
19 – Jessica Jensen led the Owls with 19 digs
3 – Brooke Reed had three aces in the match
2 – The Owls had two players with double-figure kills