Hear From Coach Nehls


FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University women's volleyball team returns to action this week as they host both Williams Baptist University and Freed-Hardeman University. WWU will face Williams Baptist Sept. 27th and Freed-Hardeman on Sept. 28th. First serve is set for 7 p.m. on Sept. 27th. This will be the first time the Owls played in Anderson Arena since they defeated College of the Ozarks 3-1 on Sept. 17, 2018.
 
About the Eagles
William Baptist enters the contest 3-14 overall and 2-2 in AMC play.  They got their first win of the season on Sept. 15th when they defeated Stephens College 3-2. Their second win came on Sept. 22nd when they walked away with a 3-1 victory over Harris-Stowe.
 
The Eagles currently have two players who hold national rankings. Audra Nailing is ranked 11th overall in the nation in kills per game with an average of four, while Shelby Henson ranks 44th overall in total digs with 300 on the season. Henson also ranks 43rd overall in digs per game averaging 4.9 a contest.
 
Last time Against William Baptist
Last season WWU walked away with a 3-0 road victory over the Eagles. Tory Wiley led in the Owls with 10 kills in the contest, while Jessica Jensen led with 24 digs on the night.  WWU ended the night with a .191 hitting percentage.
 
All-Time vs. the Eagles
The first time WWU saw Williams Baptist was on Oct. 12, 2002 when the Owls defeated the Eagles 3-0. The two would see each other again during the 2002 AMC Postseason Tournament Quarterfinals in which WWU won 3-0. Since then, they have faced each other 32 times. William Woods currently hold a 26-6 series lead.
 
About the Lady Lions
Freed-Hardeman enters the contest 7-4 overall and 2-2 in the AMC play.  They will be coming off a 3-0 victory over Harris-Stowe that took place on Sept. 21st. The win over the Hornets snapped a two-game losing streak for the Lady Lions.
 
The Lions currently rank 10th overall in the nation in services aces per game with an average of two this season.
 
Freed-Hardeman has two players who are currently ranked in the nation. Bojana Anthunovic who ranks 26th overall in hitting percentage with an average of .333 and Emma Self who is currently ranked 20th overall in services aces per game (.59). Self is also ranked 46th overall in assist per game averaging 9.03 for the season.
 
Last time Against Freed-Hardeman
The last time the two teams meet was on Sept. 29, 2017 when WWU shutout the Lions 3-0. The Owls recorded 39 kills and ended the night with a .256 hitting average.  Rayleen Rivera led William Woods with 10 kills, while Jensen led with 14 digs on the night.
 
All-time vs. the Lady Lions
The first time these two saw each other was on Oct. 12, 2013 when WWU swept Freed 3-0. Since then they have faced each other three other times. William Woods is currently winning the series with a 4-0 record.
 
About WWU
William Woods (11-7, 3-0 AMC) is currently one of four unbeatens in AMC play, enters this week's contests on a seven-match winning streak.  Their last time out, they traveled to Arkansas and defeated Lyon College 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-17) and Central Baptist College 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-17).
 
WWU currently holds two national rankings. They rank 21st overall in total blocks with 139 on the season. William Woods also ranks 31st in the nation in total blocks per game with an average of 2.14.
 
Rayleen Rivera currently ranks 3rd overall in the nation in total service aces with 41 on the season. She also ranks 17th overall in services aces per game with a 0.63 average. Jacyln Zhan is currently ranked 16th overall in the nation in total blocks with 72 on the season. Zahn also holds the 22nd spot in the nation in blocks per game with a 1.11 average.
 
William Woods Leaders
Rayleen Rivera is leading the Owls with 41 total service aces. Tory Wiley leads WWU with 179 total kills for the season. Remie Johnson is a head of the pack with a total of 318 assists. Jessica Jensen leads William Woods with 288 total digs, while Jacyln Zahn leads the Owls with 72 total blocks