COLUMBIA, MO. – The William Woods University Owls were back on the court today to wrap up day two of the Hampton Inn Volleyball Classic. They took on the MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) Pioneers in their first match of the day. They fell 3-1 (25-21, 16-25, 23-25, 16-25) in game one. In their final match of the weekend they dropped 3-0 (13-25, 14-25, 16-25) to the 14^th ranked Hastings College (Neb.) Broncos. The Owls move to 3-4 on the season.

Game One
With set one underway, it was back and forth right out of the gates. The teams found themselves tied at six before the Pioneers were able to create some separation taking a 14-6 lead. However, the Owls did not give in as they battled their way back in and tied the set at 16. The Owls stayed neck and neck with the Pioneers late in the set with multiple ties. The Pioneers called a timeout as they were down 22-21, but the Owls responded well coming out and securing the final points to take set one 25-21.

The second set started out close with it being tied at 10. Much like the first set the Pioneers were the ones to find separation first as they led 20-13. The Owls were not able to climb back in this one as they fell 25-16.

With the match tied 1-1, the Owls were looking to bounce back and grab the lead. Neither team could find any space throughout the set. As the battle continued, they were tied 21-21. The Owls kept fighting but fell short in the end as the Pioneers took set three 25-23 and grabbed the advantage 2-1 in the match.
Momentum was in the Pioneers favor as they were looking to close out the match. After a 4-4 tie early, the Pioneers began to pull away, but the Owls cut it back to two, 12-10, midway through. That was as close as the Owls would get as the Pioneers were controlling the game and would go on to win 25-16.
Ally Konarzewski led the team with 13 kills, while Hannah Kuehl had 12. In addition, Kayton Coffee added 12 digs and Nise Salima chipped in 10. Remie Johnson tallied 39 assists in the match.

Game 2
In the final game of the weekend they faced the 14^th ranked Broncos. The Broncos took control from the start as they led 10-2 in set one. The Owls struggled to close the gap as the set continued and they trailed 22-10. The Broncos secured the final points to take a 1-0 lead over the Owls.
In set two the Owls hung around early trailing by two, 7-5. But the Broncos settled back in and quickly created space from the Owls as they led 17-7 over midway through. The Owls could not get anything rolling as they lost set two 25-14 and were down 2-0 in the match.

The Owls were playing to keep the match alive heading into the third set. As the set began the Owls were not going down without a fight. They remained right on the Broncos backs and found the game tied at 11 and were able to push ahead to take a two-point advantage, 14-12. They could not shake the Broncos as the set was tied right back up at 15. The Broncos went up by three causing an Owl timeout. Out of the timeout the Broncos were too much for the Owls to handle as they finished out the match 25-16.
Kate Doerhoff and Nise Salima each recorded seven kills, while Kayton Coffee and Mallorie Brooks each tallied five digs. In addition, Remie Johnson had 13 assists.

The Owls will return to Anderson Arena on Tuesday, September 3^rd as they welcome Baker University (Kan.) in a non-conference matchup. The game is set to start at 7 p.m.