FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University volleyball team advanced to the American Midwest Conference Semifinals after defeating Lyon College, 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-9), on Tuesday night at Anderson Arena.
 
Abby Ferguson led the Owls with 12 kills in the match and Tory Wiley followed with nine. Brittney Engelbrecht dished out 38 assists in the win. WWU had 11 blocks in the match.
 
WWU will now face top-seed Columbia College in the AMC Semifinals. The semifinals and finals will take place at Park University in Parkville, Missouri. WWU and Columbia are set to start at 4 p.m.
 
Game Flow
In the first set, both teams went kill for kill until the Scots ran away with the first lead of the night, 5-4. The Owls fought back and added a kill by Brittney Engelbrecht to tie the set at, 6-6. The Scots ran away with another two-point lead and then began another run, adding four-points, 14-8. A block by Kira Krebill and Kate Doerhoff would cut the lead to three, 14-11. The Scots continued to hold their lead as they were three-points ahead, 20-17. A kill by Tory Wiley and Abby Ferguson would give the Owls two more points but would not be enough as the Scots went on a late run of four-points, 25-19.

The second set would go point for point once again until Kayton Coffee took the Owls on their first run of the night, 5-3. The Scots then battled back as the Owls kept a steady lead, 11-9. A service run by Jessica Jensen would add five-points, including a block by Krebill and Doerhoff and a service ace taking a 16-9 lead. The Scots would add six points before the Owls went on another short run, 20-16. Kills by Ferguson and Krebill would extend the Owls lead to 22-16. The Scots threatened late in the set, but the Owls ended the match on a block by Krebill and Doerhoff, 25-19.

The Owls would run away in the third set with a four-point lead, 5-1. A service run by Remie Johnson would extend the Owls lead to 8-2. In that run Ferguson added a kill and Johnson would serve up an ace. The Scots squeezed out a kill before the Owls would continue to add two-points at a time, 13-5. Engelbrecht then added a kill of her own to gain possession with her service. Doerhoff would add a kill and Wiley and Krebill added another block putting the Owls ahead, 18-5. The Scots battled back and never gave up as they threatened late in the set with a six-point run, cutting the lead to ten, 23-13. The Scots threatened once again, adding six more points taking the Owls lead down to 23-19. Two late kills by Ferguson would lock in the third set for the Owls, 25-21.

With the momentum from the previous set, the Owls scored the first five-points of the set, 5-0. The Scots added one point to every Owl point but another service run by Johnson would give the Owls another five-point run, set score 12-3. A kill by Rayleen Rivera would spark the Owls adding an ace, and two kills by Ferguson, 17-5. The Scots would add two, and another kill by Wiley would take the Owls to 18-7. Engelbrecht and Krebill added kills of their own and Wiley and Krebill added a block to continue the Owls run, 22-8. With three points to go, the Owls would finish the fourth set with a kill by Wiley and two back to back kills from Krebill, taking the third set, 25-9.

By the Numbers
11 – WWU had 11 blocks in the victory
5 – William Woods had five service aces in the contest
.267 – The Owls hit .267 as a team
12 – Abby Ferguson led the Owls with 12 kills
38 – Brittney Engelbrecht dished out 38 assists
14 – Brooke Reed led the Owls with 14 digs