FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University volleyball team came away with a sweep of visiting Missouri Valley College on Tuesday night. WWU won 25-23, 25-19, 25-12 for its second straight victory of the season.
 
During the third set of the match, senior Melanie Kala recorded her 1,000 career dig as an Owl. As a team, the Owls hit .075 on the night. Tess Schannuth led the Owls with 24 assists and Jessica Jensen had 20 digs in the match. Rayleen Rivera led the Owls with eight aces.
 
The Owls return to action on Friday, Morning when they participate in the GoSarpy.com Labor Day Classic hosted by Bellevue University. Owls face Indiana University at South Bend at 9 a.m. Friday and No. 2 Dordt College at 5 p.m. Friday.
 
Game Flow
The Owls got off to a fast start against the Vikings as they scored five of the first six points of the match. During that stretch, the Owls Rivera had three of her eight service aces. The Owls lead did not last long as the Vikings came back and scored six straight points taking a 12-10 lead. Missouri Valley stretched the lead to 20-14 and the Owls continued to chip away. It was not looking good for the Owls, as they trailed 23-18, however, Jessica Jensen went on a service run and the Owls took advantage of Missouri Valley attack errors and WWU came back and took set one, 25-23.
 
WWU wasted little time pulling away from the Vikings in the second set. William Woods pulled away early as Rivera had another ace putting WWU ahead, 8-1. Missouri Valley slowly started chipping away at the lead and after an Owls attack error, the lead was down to three, 10-7. Later in the set, the Owls led by four, 16-12, followed by scoring the next four points on two more aces by Rivera. The Vikings could not get closer than six and the Owls came away with a second set victory of 25-19.
 
Like the second set, the Owls jumped on the Vikings early as they led 7-2 after a Jaclyn Zahn kill. Leading 7-4, the Owls went on a 7-0 run growing its lead to 14-4, after a kill by Zahn. William Woods continued to extend its lead and a Viking attack error put the Owls ahead 19-7. WWU did not let the Vikings back in the set and came away with a 25-12 victory in the third set to earn the sweep of Missouri Valley.
 
By the Numbers
1000 – Melanie Kala recorded her 1,000 career dig in the victory over the Vikings
20 – Jessica Jensen recorded 20 digs in the match to lead the Owls
24 – Tess Schannuth led the Owls with 24 assists in the match, a career-high for the freshman
8 – The Owls had eight blocks against the Vikings
13 – William Woods recorded 13 aces in the match
.075 – WWU hit .075 in the win against the Vikings
8 – Rayleen Rivera led the Owls with eight aces in the match