BELLEVUE, Neb. – The William Woods University volleyball team dropped a pair of games on Saturday to wrap up the 2018 GoSarpy.com Labor Day Tournament hosted by Bellevue University. The Owls were defeated 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 21-25, 17-25) by University of Providence and 3-1 (15-25, 21-25, 25-19, 16-25) by Carroll College.
 
Over the two games the Owls had an attack percentage of .079. The Owls struggled offensively as they committed 59 attack errors on the day. Tory Wiley and Rayleen Rivera had 18 kills each on the day. Tess Schannuth dished out a team-high 43 assists in the matches.
 
The Owls return to action on Tuesday, September 4th when they host Avila University at Anderson Arena. First serve is set for 6 p.m. in the non-conference match.
 
WWU vs. Providence (Mont.)
Game Flow
The Owls trailed 3-1 early in the first set against the Argos before they rallied off four straight points with two kills by Tory Wiley, a service ace from Kayton Coffee and a block by Kira Krebill and Wiley. After the Owls led 5-3, the set would go back and forth, until Providence slowly grew its lead to 17-11. The Owls chipped away and got the deficit to one, 17-16, but that would be as close as they would get in the set. Providence followed by scoring six straight taking a 23-16 lead. WWU scored one more point in the set before falling 25-17. WWU recorded nine kills and nine errors in the first set while the Argos had a hitting percentage of .235.
 
The back and forth battle continued early in the second set as after the first 20 point, the match was tied at 10-10. After a Wiley attack error gave the Argos the lead, 11-10, WWU answered back with five straight points. Coffee had back-to-back service aces during the run. WWU would continue to hold onto the lead for the remainder of the set. With the score 22-21 in favor of the Owls, WWU scored the final three points taking the second set, 25-21.
 
The third set was a back and forth battle like the others as neither team took control of the set. Both teams combined for 10 attack errors in the set, while Providence took advantage of their attacks as they hit .245 in the set and held the Owls to hit. 167. With the Owls down one, 13-12, the Argos slowly started to pull away. Providence scored two to three points at a time and stretched its lead to six, 21-15. WWU battled back and got the lead down to two, 21-19, after scoring four straight points capped by a Krebill kill. That was as close as the Owls would get as they dropped the third set 25-21.
 
The Owls offense struggled in the fourth set and the Argos offense was just starting to heat up. WWU hit .094 as a team with eight attack errors in the set while the Argos hit .273 with 13 kills on 33 attacks. The Argos raced out to a 10-0 lead in the fourth set and never looked back. The Owls would get the lead down to nine, 14-5, after a Rayleen Rivera kills. WWU could not come back in the set and dropped the set, 25-17, and the match 3-1 to Providence.
 
By the Numbers
.117 – The Owls hit .117 in the match against the Argos
11 – Tory Wiley had 11 kills for the Owls
4 – As a team, the Owls had four service aces
4 – William Woods had four players in double-figures in digs
7 – The Owls recorded seven blocks in the match
29 – WWU had 29 attack errors in the match against Providence
25 – Tess Schannuth dished out 25 assists, a career-high
7 – Seven different Owls recorded a block in the match
 
WWU vs. Carroll (Mont.)
Game Flow
William Woods looked to set a tone early in the first set. Tess Schannuth's assist to Jaclyn Zahn put the Owls on the board with a 1-0 lead. An attack error by Rayleen Rivera would give Carroll their first points of the game giving them momentum and breaking out for a 7-0 run. Carroll would hold the advantage most of the set not allowing WWU to get within ten points. The Owls would look to make a small run scoring back-to-back making the score 19-10 but would not be able to make that extra push to take the set. Carroll would go on to win the first set 25-15.
 
The Owls looked to bounce back from a bad set as Kate Doerhoff opened up the second set scoring on a kill which was assisted by Schannuth.  William Woods would go on a 4-0 run giving them a 6-3 cushion. With their back against the wall, Carroll kicked it in to overdrive going on a 3-0 run to tie the game at six a piece.  Majority of the set, both teams were point for point with neither team able to reach a comfortable lead.  Tory Wiley's kill coming late in the set would initiate five consecutive points for the Owls giving them a 17-12 advantage. With the set favoring the William Woods, Carroll retaliated by going on 6-0 run and regaining a 20-19 lead over the Owls. WWU would make one final effort with a kill coming from Rivera putting the Owls within two, but Carroll's punch was too powerful. Back-to-back kills from Carroll's Rayna Pilgeram and Jenna Strike would finalize the set 25-21.
 
Down two sets, William Woods needed to find a way to out aggress the Saints. They quickly got out to a 4-3 lead. Carroll would then go on 3-0 run taking the lead back. The Saints would hold on to the lead until a Tory Wiley kill initiated 7-0 run for the Owls. With the score 22-17 favoring the Owls, Carroll two straight kills were able to get it within three, but the determination and aggression of the Owls would carry on giving WWU a 25-19 victory. In the set, the Owls hit .194 as a team while holding the Saints to a hitting percentage of .059.
 
With three sets down and Carroll leading 2-1, the Saints looked to put an end to the match. The Saints opened the set ahead of the Owls 2-0. WWU would go on a small 2-0 run bringing the score to 2-2 tie, but it would not be enough as the Saints quickly took a 5-2 lead. The Owls would continue to fight, but it would not be enough to slow down Carroll's momentum. A kill from Wiley and an attack error from Carroll would be the final time the Owls would put points on the board. With the score 19-16, the Saints would score six straight points and go on to defeat the Owls 25-16. William Woods would fall short to the Saints in four set match.
 
By the Numbers
 9 – Rayleen Rivera lead the Owls with 9 kills
14 – William Woods had 14 blocks assisted
18 – Tess Schannuth had 18 assists for the Owls
19 – Jessica Jensen recorded 19 digs in the contest
80 – William Woods had 80 digs collectively
5 – Jaclyn Zahn led the Owls with five blocks
.042 – WWU hit .042 as a team against the Saints
30 – William Woods committed 30 attack errors in the match