HANNIBAL, Mo. – The William Woods University volleyball team won its American Midwest Conference opener, 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-13, 25-12) over Hannibal-LaGrange University on Tuesday night. This was the second straight victory for the Owls.
 
The Owls collected a hitting percentage of .243 in the match to earn the victory. WWU was led in kills by Rayleen Rivera with 10. Tess Schannuth and Remie Johnson dished out 21 assists each. WWU had 11 blocks in the match; led by Johnson and Jaclyn Zahn with six apiece.
 
WWU returns to action on Friday, Sept. 14th when they travel to Kansas City, Mo. to face Cottey College and Avila University at the Avila University Triangular. WWU will face Cottey at 6 p.m. and Avila at 8 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls found themselves trailing in the first set early as the Trojans lead stretched to 7-3 after a setting error by the Owls. Hannibal-LaGrange stretched the lead to 11-6 before the Owls Owls scored three straight points. The Trojans would lead until the Owls tied the match at 17-17 after a kill by Jaclyn Zahn. The Trojans scored the next point before WWU scored three straight points taking a 20-18 lead. WWU did not allow the Trojans to tie the set the rest of the way and came away with a 25-21 first set win after a kill by Kate Doerhoff.
 
Hannibal-LaGrange took control of the second set early as they raced out to a 5-1 lead after an ace by Ashlyn Spay. The Trojans grew the lead to 10-2 after a block of Tory Wiley's attack. The Owls would continue to battle in the set and they trimmed the lead down to four, 18-14, after an attack error by Spay. WWU could not get any closer and would drop the second set, 25-18, to the Trojans.
 
With the match tied at 1-1, the third set saw both teams hold leads early in the set. With the match tied at 6-6, WWU went on an 8-1 run growing its lead to 14-7 after a kill by Remie Johnson. William Woods continued to add to its lead and after four straight errors by the Trojans the Owls lead grew to 18-9. The Owls did not let the Trojans back in the set and came away with a 25-13 set win after two straight kills by Johnson.
 
The Owls needed only one more set to win the match against the Trojans and they did not waste any time extending its lead in the fourth set. With a 5-4 lead, WWU scored six of the next seven points taking an 11-5 lead. The Owls would continue to score three points each service rotation and after a Wiley kill, WWU led 19-10. William Woods did not let the Trojans back in the match and WWU took the fourth set 25-12, winning the match 3-1. The win for the Owls was its second straight victory.
 
By the Numbers
1 – The Owls improved to 1-0 in AMC play
11 – WWU had 11 blocks in the match against the Trojans
21 – Tess Schannuth and Remie Johnson led the Owls with 21 assists each
50 – The Owls had 50 kills in the four-set match
6 – Remie Johnson and Jaclyn Zahn had six blocks in the match
2 – Tori Rosemann and Rayleen Rivera had two aces each
65 – The Owls combined for 65 digs in the match