FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University volleyball team suffered their first loss since September 9th Tuesday night when No. 3 Columbia swept the Owls 3-0 (10-25, 21-25, 16-25). The Owls now move to 16-8 overall and 7-1 in AMC play.
 
WWU returns to action this weekend as they travel to Columbia, Mo. to play in the Columbia College Tournament. They play two games Friday night against John Brown University (Ark.) which starts at 1 p.m. and Bethel College (Ind.) which starts at 5 p.m.
 
Game Flow
William Woods got out to an early lead when Remie Johnson found Kate Doerhoff for the Owls first kill giving them a 1-0 lead. The Cougars quickly responded when Manuela Vargas found Caroline Clifford for a kill tying the game 1-1.
 
With the Owls ahead 4-2, Vargas found Kiersten Anderson for a kill making the score 4-3. Anderson's kill was the start of a 7-0 Cougar run giving them a 10-4 lead. Down by six, Johnson was able to find Tory Wiley for a kill putting them within five and stopping Columbia's momentum. With the Cougars leading 10-5, Johnson found Wiley again for back-to-back Owls kills giving Columbia a 10-6 advantage. But the Cougars would continue to push as they went on another 7-0 run and increasing their lead to 11.
 
Towards the end of the set, Columbia went on another run putting them ahead 24-9. As the Cougars looked to take the first set, Johnson found Rayleen Rivera for a kill and made the score 24-10.  But Columbia would walk away with the set when Vargas found Ariadne Borges for a set winning kill.
 
The Cougars began the second set with the same momentum they had in the first. Vargas found Anderson and Caroline for back-to-back kills giving them the early 2-0 lead.  Refusing to allow a third kill, Johnson connected with Doerhoff for a kill and put the Owls on the board.
 
With Columbia ahead 2-1, Rivera was able to record back-to-back service aces giving them their first lead of the match 3-2. Both teams were determined in the second set as neither one could gain an advantage. Midway through the set, Johnson found Dorhoff and tied the set 14-14. 
 
After going back and forth throughout the second set, the Cougars were finally able to get a slight 24-21 advantage. WWU would look to score again but could not find a way and Columbia would win the second set 25-21.
 
The Cougars carried over their aggression from the first two sets in to the third set. Vargas was able to find Borges for a kill and give them a 1-0 lead. On a few Owls errors, Columbia increased their lead to 3-0.  Finally, Johnson found Wiley once again for a kill and dropped the Cougars led to 3-1.
 
Columbia dominated majority of the third set early on. It was not until midway through that William Woods attempted to come back.  With the Owls down 15-12, Johnson was able to find Rivera for a kill and moved WWU within two.  They would continue to attack but could not find ways to get through the Cougar defense.
 
With the score now 23-15, William Woods was able to make one more attack; Tess Schannuth found Wiley for a kill which made the Cougar lead 23-16. A WWU attack error would make the 25-16 and give Columbia the third set and concluding the match.
 
By the Numbers
2 – WWU recorded two blocks in the match
3 – The Owls had three aces in the match
3 – Rayleen Rivera had three aces in the match
9 – Kate Doerhoff led the Owls with nine aces
.011 – WWU had a .011 attack percentage for the contest
17 – Remie Johnson led the Owls with 17 assists
4 – Four different Owls had a kill in the match
13 – Brooke Reed led the Owls with 13 digs