ST. LOUIS, Mo. - After a slow start in the first set, William Woods (22-8, 5-3 AMC) blasted past UHSP (4-25, 2-6 AMC) 3-0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-13) on Thursday night, including a span of 19 straight points across the second and third sets.
Kassidy Phillips led a hot-hitting WWU offense, dropping 18 kills on the Eutectics at a .462 pace, with
Lauren Hiestand (14),
Erin Treis (14) and
Lanie Lowry (12) all in double figures in digs.
The Owls took a moment to settle into the match, as UHSP scored the first three points and opened up a 6-1 lead to start the first set. But back-to-back Phillips kills ignited a six-point surge and WWU extended its 7-6 lead to a 25-15 set win.
In the second set, Woods capitalized on a flurry of unforced UHSP errors surrounding a block by Lowry and
Lauren Adams to take a 13-7 lead, and caught fire at the end of the set, scoring seven consecutive points - four kills by Phillips, one each by Adams,
Ella Lewis and
Luciana Paiva Pereira - to roll out 25-11 winners.
The three-minute pause between sets two and three did nothing to tame the WWU onslaught, as Woods ran off 12 straight points to open the third set, with kills by Adams bookending the run. UHSP was forced to burn its final timeout of the match, but it was enough to finally break the Owls' scoring streak.
UHSP mustered a small run to claw back to a 14-6 deficit, but Woods snuffed the comeback hopes quickly and a pair of Phillips kills ended the match with a 25-13 set win.
WWU finished with its third-best team hitting performance of the year, with 44 kills against just 12 attack errors for a .299 pace, and held UHSP underwater in two of three sets for a match hitting percentage of .017.
The Owls finish the regular season with another road contest, heading to Cottey College on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
