LA CROSSE, Wis. – The William Woods University volleyball team dropped a pair of contests on the first day of the Viterbo Holiday Inn Express Tournament hosted by Viterbo University. The Owls were defeated by St. Xavier, 3-2 (25-19, 20-25, 25-19, 25-27, 14-16) and by host No. 5 Viterbo, 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 17-25, 24-26).
 
The Owls return to action on Saturday, Sept. 8 when they conclude the Viterbo Holiday Inn Express Tournament. WWU will face Trinity Christian College at 9 a.m. and Waldorf at 1 p.m.
 
WWU vs. Saint Xavier
Game Flow
William Woods got the early advantage on an attack error from St. Xavier's Rory Manion. A kill from Helena Atton quickly tied the match 1-1. The Owls looked to take the lead, but a block from Jessica Belseth and Atton pushed the Cougars ahead giving them the lead 2-1. WWU responded with a block of their own coming from Kate Doerhoff and Jaclyn Zahn tying the set at 2. Both teams struggled to gain the lead. With the score now 7-7, a ball handling error on Cassidy Wyman finally pushed the Owls up one and sparked a 5-2 run making the score 12-9.
 
St. Xavier tried making adjustments but could not find a way to regain momentum and take the lead. A block from Kira Krebill and Rayleen Rivera gave the Owls a 21-14 lead. The Cougars scored five more times in the set before finally falling 25-19.
 
With William Woods up one set, the Cougars knew they needed to win the second set. A kill from Manion gave St. Xavier the 1-0 lead they were looking for. WWU scored once before the Cougars went on a 5-1 run. Down three, Remie Johnson found Tory Wiley for a kill making the score 8-2 and was the first of four straight kills for the Owls. Immediately after Johnson found Wiley, Jessica Jensen found Wiley again for a kill and closed to Cougar lead to one. Zahn recorded the next kill for the Owls, while Johnson found Wiley for the second time giving William Woods a 9-8 lead.
 
Now trailing, St. Xavier needed a spark. Cassidy Wyman found Belseth for a kill giving the Cougars a 16-15 lead. Both teams battled towards the end of the set, but St. Xavier refused to disappear and won the set 25-20.
 
The Cougars momentum carried over into the third set as they were able to get ahead 1-0. Jenson found Doerhoff for a kill that tied the set 1-1. The teams went point for point early on but kill from Wiley sparked a 4-0 run giving the Owls a 11-7 advantage. St. Xavier seemed as if they had given up, but a service ace from Manion gave life to the Cougars and sparked a 3-0 run that closed in on a 21-17 Owls lead. They would make one more attempt at a comeback, but eventually fell short to WWU, 25-19.
 
St. Xavier's Wyman found Sara Welbaum to put the first points on the board in the fourth set. Wiley would quickly respond for the Owls with a kill of her own tying the game 1-1. Early on, neither team could find a way to take the lead. It was not until the Owls lead 12-10 that a team could have somewhat of a cushion.
 
William Woods would control the match right up until the final points. With the set tied 24-24, Johnson found Rivera for a kill giving WWU the 25-24 advantage. The Cougars caught a break when Rivera has a service attempt that brought the score to 25 all. Back-to-back errors would cost the Owls and St. Xavier took the set, 27-25
 
In the fifth and final set, the Cougars again were the first to put points on the board. William Woods responded with a block coming from Wiley and Zahn making the score 1-1. After the Cougars slowly grew the lead to three, the Owls raced back and tied the match at 9-9. After the Cougars took a 10-9 lead, the Owls scored three straight points on a Rivera kill, a Cougar attack error and an ace from Brooke Reed. However, the Cougars would answer back taking the next three points. With the score 13-12, in favor of the Cougars, WWU took advantage of two Cougars errors taking a 14-13 lead. WWU could not put the Cougars away as they scored the final three points taking a 16-14 and defeating the Owls in five sets.
 
By the Numbers
.253 – William Woods at a .253 hitting percentage in the contest
162 – WWU had 162 total attacks
61 – The Owls had 61 kills on the night
17 – Tory Wiley lead the Owls with 17 kills
4 – Brook Reed had 4 aces for the Owls
30 – Remie Johnson lead the game with 30 assists
19 – Jessica Jensen recorded 19 digs in the game
6 – Jaclyn Zahn had a team-high six blocks
10 – As a team the Owls had 10 blocks in the match
 
WWU vs. Viterbo
Game Flow
The Owls and V-Hawks were locked in a back and forth battle for the first set of the match. With the score tied at 7-7 after a Remie Johnson kill, Viterbo, who is No. 5 in the NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Poll, ran off the next six points taking a 13-7 lead. William Woods did not give up and came back and trailed 16-15. Viterbo followed by scoring the next three points before the Owls answered with four straight points, capped by a Kayton Coffee ace tying the match at 19-19. The Owls then found themselves down 21-19 but WWU answered back a Johnson kill put the Owls ahead, 23-21. WWU held the lead the rest of the set and took set one, 25-23, after a V-Hawk attack error.
 
Viterbo got off to a quick start in the second set as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead. WWU slowly came back and after a Coffee kill WWU and Viterbo were tied at 5-5. After the Owls tied the match at 5-5 neither team could build a lead of more than two. Viterbo led 15-13 before the Owls scored the next four points taking a 17-15 lead four straight Viterbo attack errors. The V-Hawks would not go away as they tied the match at 21-21. Another attack error by Viterbo put the Owls back in the lead 22-21. Viterbo scored the next three points before the Owls answered back with three of their own. Kate Doerhoff recorded two kills and WWU led 25-24. However, Viterbo closed the second set with the final three points taking set two, 27-25.
 
Like the second set, the third set the V-Hawks slowly started pulling away but the Owls answered back and tied the match at 9-9 after a block by Doerhoff and Kira Krebill. After that the V-Hawks scored six straight taking a 15-9 lead. The Owls could not claw their way back into the set and dropped set three, 25-17.
 
Trailing in the match, 2-1, the Owls needed to take the fourth set to stay alive in the match. The Owls did not start the set the way they would have liked as they found themselves down early, 7-2. WWU did not give up and after a kill by Rivera and another V-Hawk attack error the Owls trailed 12-11. The V-Hawks stretched the lead back to four, 16-12, before the Owls stormed back. WWU scored six straight points. Rivera collected three aces during the run and WWU led 18-16. The Owls grew the lead to 22-18 after a Johnson aces. Viterbo trimmed the lead down to one, 22-21, but the Owls scored the next two points taking a 24-21 lead. Needing only one point to force a fifth set, the Owls would not score the point as Viterbo scored five straight taking the fourth set, 26-24, and the match 3-1 over the Owls.
 
By the Numbers
.082 – The Owls hit .082 against the V-Hawks
6 – WWU had six service aces in the loss to No. 5 Viterbo
6 – William Woods recorded six blocks in the match
18 – Remie Johnson led the Owls with 18 assists
3 – Rayleen Rivera led the Owls with three aces in the match
2 – The Owls had two players in double-figures for digs
27 – WWU committed 27 attack errors in the match
9 – Jaclyn Zahn led the Owls with nine kills and a hitting percentage of .368