LA CROSSE, Wis. – The William Woods University volleyball team split on the final day of the Holiday Inn Express Tournament hosted by Viterbo University. The Owls dropped its first match of the day 3-0 (24-26, 15-25, 23-25) to Trinity Christian College. WWU bounced back and defeated Waldorf University, 3-1 (26-24, 17-25, 25-18, 25-16).
 
The Owls return to action on Tuesday, September 11th when they travel to Hannibal, Mo. to face Hannibal-LaGrange University. This will be the American Midwest Conference opener for the Owls. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
 
WWU vs. Trinity Christian
Game Flow
The Owls and Trolls were locked in a tight set the entire first set as neither team could take a lead. The Trolls came away 26-24. Trinity Christian combined to hit .227 in the set and only had five attack errors. WWU stayed close but would only hit .186 for the set and committed six attack errors dropping the first set 26-24.
 
Trinity Christian raced away from the Owls in the second set of the match as they hit .419 in the set and had 15 kills, two errors on 31 attacks. WWU committed seven errors and had nine kills and hit .059 for the set. The Trolls took set two, 25-15.
 
Like the first set the Owls and Trolls were locked in a close battle for the set. Late in the set, the Owls had a 23-19 lead over the Trolls. However, Trinity Christian scored the finally six points, taking the set 25-23. The Trolls hit .209 in the match while the Owls hit .111. WWU committed six attacker errors to the Trolls five.
 
By the Numbers
8 – Kate Doerhoff and Rayleen Rivera led the Owls with eight kills
.123 – The Owls hit .123 as a team against the Trolls
8 – WWU had eight blocks in the match
23 – Remie Johnson led the Owls with 23 assists
19 – Brooke Reed tallied 19 digs in the match
19 – WWU had 19 attack errors in the match
.462 – Kate Doerhoff collected a hitting percentage of .462 in the match
 
WWU vs. Waldorf
Game Flow
Neither team could take control of the first set. A kill by Tory Wiley tied the set at 8-8. The Warriors scored the next two points and the Owls answered back by scoring the next three points, all on Waldorf attack errors. WWU found itself down 19-16, but rallied back scoring four in a row, with two Wiley kills. The set would continue to go back and forth and with it tied at 24-24, WWU scored the final two points on a Remie Johnson kill and a Warrior attack error.
 
The Owls and Warriors traded leads early in the second set and with Waldorf ahead, 5-3, WWU scored four straight points, taking a 7-4 lead. During the run, the Owls had kills by Kira Krebill and Rayleen Rivera. Waldorf slowly began to pull away from the Owls as they stretched its lead to 14-10. The Owls found themselves down as many as nine before falling in the second set, 25-17.
In the third set the Owls and Warriors match was tied at 7-7 and a Rivera kill put the Owls ahead, 8-7. The Warriors tied the match again at 8-8 but the Owls followed with a run to pull away from Waldorf. WWU scored five straight taking a 13-8 lead. Waldorf trimmed the lead down to two, but WWU responded and scored eight points in a row taking a 23-11 lead. The Owls took the second set, 25-18, after a Zahn kill.
 
Leading 2-1 in the match, the Owls wasted little time pulling away from the Warriors. After Waldorf scored the first point, WWU scored the next seven points taking a 7-1 lead. Zahn had a kill to cap off the run. Waldorf trimmed the lead down to four, 11-7, before the Owls answered back with another run taking a 15-8 lead. WWU continued to control the set and with a lead of 23-15, WWU's Rivera had a kill putting the Owls to a 24-15 lead. After a Warrior point, Zahn clinched the win for the Owls with another kill. WWU took set four, 25-16, and the match 3-1.
 
By the Numbers
.274 – The Owls hit .274 in the match to defeat Waldorf
8 – WWU had eight blocks in the win
14 – Kate Doerhoff led the Owls with 14 kills
35 – Tess Schannuth dished out a career-high 35 assists in the win over Waldorf
5 – Jaclyn Zahn led the Owls with five blocks
2 – Tori Rosemann and Remie Johnson had two aces each in the match
16 – The Owls recorded 16 kills in the first and fourth sets
.361 – Kate Doerhoff led the Owls with a .361 hitting percentage