FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University volleyball team got their 18th win of the season Thursday night as they defeated Stephens College 3-0 (25-21, 25-7, 25-13). The Owls now move to 18-11 and 8-1 in the AMC.
 
WWU had a .330 hitting percentage in the contest.
 
William Woods returns to action on Oct. 23rd as they travel to St. Louis, Mo. to face No.3 Missouri Baptist. The Spartans are currently sitting in first place in the American Midwest Conference.
 
Game Flow
The Owls were the first to put a point on the board when Tess Schannuth found Rayleen Rivera for a kill. Stephens quickly responded with a kill of their own when Mya Middleton found Danielle Kirk and tied the match at one.
 
WWU would regain the lead when Schannuth and Rivera connect again. But Mareena Bielinski found Rose Carter and tied the set at 2-2. Both teams battled back and forth throughout most of the first set.  After going toe to toe with the Stars, William Woods was finally able to get out to a 17-13 advantage.
 
Stephens continued to fight as Middleton found Elissa Slizoski for a kill and put the Stars within one. With the score now 22-21 WWU pushed their lead to 23-21 when Jaclyn Zahn recorded a kill. The Stars would make one more push but could not get over the hump and the Owls would take the first set 25-21.
 
William Woods started the second set getting out to a quick 6-2 lead. Remie Johnson would push the lead to 7-2 on a reception kill. Momentum began to build for WWU and they would see themselves ahead 12-3 midway through.
 
The Stars struggled getting things going as they quickly fell behind 19-5. The Owls would keep the attack going when Schannuth found Johnson for a kill and gave WWU a 20-5 lead.  Stephens had opportunities to make a run but could not connect and WWU would take the second set 25-7.
 
Ahead two games, William Woods looked to take the match early as they were able to get out to a 10-3 lead.  Stephens would finally put a stop to the Owls run when Middleton and Slizoski connected for a kill making the score 10-4.
 
The Stars continued to fight hard but could not find a way to put a dent in the Owls lead. With Owls ahead 23-10 Allie Gueck found Zahn for a kill and put WWU one point a way from winning the match.
 
Stephens was able to get within 10 of the Owls but it would not be enough as Schannuth found Zamboni-Cutter for a kill giving WWU a 25-13 victory.
 
By the Numbers
7 – Rayleen Rivera led the Owls with 7 kills on the night
8 – This win gave WWU their 8th AMC win
15 – Tess Schannuth recorded 15 assist in the contest
.330 – The Owls had a .330 hitting percentage on the night
10 – WWU recorded ten blocks in the night
10 – The Owls had 10 aces in the match against the Stars
3 – Rayleen Rivera and Brooke Reed had three aces each
7 – The Owls had seven different players with a kill