COLUMBIA, Mo. – After winning the first two sets of their season opener in the Hampton Inn Classic, the William Woods University volleyball team had to fight to win their first match of the season as Tabor pushed to even the score. The Owls redeemed themselves in set five as they pulled out a 3-2 win to start the season.
 
The Owls won 26-24, 25-13, 20-25, 16-25, 15-12.
 
The team is back on the floor at 10 a.m. for day two of the Columbia College Hampton Inn Classic. Saturday's games are on the campus of Central Methodist University.
 
By The Numbers
.593 – The Owls hit an impressive .593 in set two's 25-13 win with a whopping 16 kills and no errors.
.300 – The Owls had three players hit over .300 on the match (.400 – Rhakala Blackmon, .385 – Lauren Adams, .357 – Riley Alton).
31 – Logan Finneran finished with 31 assists.
17 – Tori Rosemann dug up a team-high 17 attacks.
11 – Riley Alton and Kassidy Phillips led the Owls with 11 kills apiece.
6 – Lauren Adams made six blocks (one solo, five assisted) at the net.
5 – Rhakala Blackmon made five blocks (one solo, four assisted).
 
Match Highlights
The Owls played catch up through most of set one, and back-to-back aces from Madi Bruce late in the set gave the Owls their first lead of the game, 24-23. A kill from Paige Lamm again put the Owls up by one, 25-24, and a Tabor attack error gave the Owls the set win, 26-24.
 
An early 4-0 run with two kills, a Ryleigh McBurney ace and a Rhakala Blackmon and Kassidy Phillips block gave the Owls a 7-4 lead in set two. They blasted an 11-2 run with nine kills to pull out a 21-9 lead, and a Tabor service error ended the set with a 25-13 win for the Owls.
 
The tides changed in set three as Tabor pushed an early 8-1 lead. The Owls evened the score at 11-11 and eventually took the lead, but Tabor gained momentum with a 6-1 late set run to take a four-point lead, 22-18. The Owls were unable to recover and lost their first set of the season, 25-20.
 
Another early Tabor run put the Owls at the disadvantage, 15-7. Two short WWU runs attempted to get the Owls back in it, but Tabor grabbed their own runs including a 4-0 run to end the set, 25-16.
 
With the match score evened at 2-2, the Owls came into set five with a vengeance. Riley Alton slammed down three straight kills, and one from Lamm gave the Owls a 4-1 lead before Tabor called a timeout. Logan Finneran served an ace coming out of the timeout, and Riley Alton and Adams made a block to give the Owls a 6-1 lead early. Tabor cut the game to 12-11, but a Finneran ace put the Owls at match point, 14-11. A kill from Alton ended the match with a 15-12 Owls' win.