PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. - Kassidy Phillips knocked home 30 kills on Friday night, including a career-high 18 against USF, as the Owls moved to 5-0 for the first time since 2000. William Woods held off a charge by the University of St. Francis for a 3-2 (25-18, 25-20, 24-26, 27-29, 15-11) win, then downed hosts Trinity Christian 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-20) in the nightcap.

The Cougars struck first in the match, but the lead was short-lived as WWU rallied back to tie the game at 8-8. The Owls capitalized on a pair of bad sets by Jo Delsing and never trailed en route to a 25-18 win.

Lauren Adams sparked a 5-1 run in the middle of the second set, wrapping a kill and a service ace around a pair of kills by Phillips to edge Woods out to a 13-9 lead. USF closed the gap at the end of the set with a three-point spurt, but a service error took the Owls to set point and a Valeria Olivera kill ended things at 25-20.

USF prevailed in a back-and-forth third set then opened a four-point lead in the fourth. WWU battled back and again took the Cougars to extra points but wasn't able to close out the match.

The fifth set was a different story, though, as WWU jumped out to a quick 6-3 lead. After the Phillips ace for the sixth point, USF called a timeout and managed to squeak back to 6-6. An Olivera kill ignited a 7-2 run for WWU, with the Cougars unable to stop the tide.

In the second match, William Woods shook off a first point service error and never trailed after that, with a service ace by Emmalea Cook sending the Owls out 25-17 winners.

Trinity Christian came dangerously close to tying the match, but another service error - one of nine for the Trolls - gave William Woods new life. After a Phillips kill staved off the immediate threat, Logan Finneran's serve put the Trolls out of sorts on two straight points, giving the Owls a 26-24 win.

In the final set, Woods took advantage of four straight errors by the Trolls to post a 5-3 lead in the first set and reeled off four more points highlighted by a block from Phillips and Rhakala Blackmon followed by a Blackmon kill to extend the lead to 9-4.

The Owls stretched to a 10-point lead at set point and held off a six-point run from the Trolls to take the first set 25-20.

William Woods closes out its five-match road swing on Saturday, taking on Olivet Nazarene at 11 a.m. and Aquinas College at 1 p.m.


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