FULTON, Mo. - William Woods University (11-10, 1-2 American Midwest Conference) won its first AMC game of the season, beating first-year AMC member Mission University (8-16, 2-1) 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-15, 25-15) Tuesday at Anderson Arena.

Outside of digs (63 for the Patriots, 53 for the Owls), William Woods dominated in all statistical departments: Kills (52-39), hitting percentage (.301-.096), aces (12-4), blocks (11-2) and assists (49-38).

"Definitely a good one. I wish we had done it in three sets, but we had to settle into what we were doing," William Woods volleyball coach Kandace Cook said. "We're not all healthy right now, but I think getting us a win under our belt for the AMC, we're coming for that conference championship no matter what, and it just starts from right now that we're moving forward. We've worked through some bumps, and we're gonna get our kids back to healthy, and then we're gonna keep going."

With solid performances throughout the lineup, two of the Owls' most noteworthy were their two with double-doubles: Audra Gray notched a team-high 15 assists and 12 digs for her second double-double in 2024, and Erin Treis tallied 13 assists and 11 digs for her 13th this season. Offensively, Pamela Durazo recorded a team-high 17 points, 13 kills, a .545 hitting percentage and five blocks, and Victoria Campos Mello (11) and Luciana Paiva Pereira (10) also had double-digit kills; Mya Clapp had a match-high five aces.

Not only did Woods receive outstanding performances from its expected players, but it also did from Federica Borsero, who filled in for first-team All-AMC selection Lauren Adams. Borsero hit .300 with three kills, four blocks, two assists and one dig.

"Fede has always been a great player for us," Cook said. "I think last year she had a little bit more playing time. She was able to go in a little bit more, so knowing that we have two middles out with injuries right now with rolled ankles, she knew she had to come in and do her job. I think she even showed up differently to practice yesterday, knowing that she had to become a bigger piece, and I think she did that. She stepped up, she did her job blocking. She got kills when she needed to. I think that we still rely on her; she's a senior, and she fits in well with a lot of our pieces. Everybody believes in her to do her job. I think she really believed in herself to step up and do the job tonight."  

In the first set, the Owls took an early 3-0 lead with Clapp aces starting and ending the run. After the Patriots cut their deficit to 4-2, WWU went in front by as much as five points five times, the first at 8-3 on a Clapp kill assisted by Ryleigh Sander and the last at 12-8 on a Mission attack error. 

Following that, Mission went on a 7-2 run to go ahead for the first time at 15-14 on a Taylor Garrison ace. It stayed close the remainder of the set, with Mission eventually pulling through on a Ryleigh Fowler kill and Owls attack error to break the 23-all tie and win set one.

During the first set, the Owls hit .147 with nine kills compared to the Patriots' .273 hitting percentage with 16 kills. Woods turned it around in set two, registering a .353 hitting percentage - posted a .333 hitting percentage or higher the final three sets - and 14 kills, while Mission had a -.033 hitting percentage with seven kills.

"We had to get comfortable in doing what we were doing and knowing that our lineup may look slightly different, but we all needed to step up and do something a little bit more than what we usually do," Cook said. "We didn't have Ren (Lauren Adams) on the court, and I think that we usually rely on her to get us going right away, and somebody else has to step up and do that. I think a lot of those pieces said, 'We can do this.' And we have her here. She's supporting us here, but now we got to support her on the court, since she can't be on the court. And I really think that all of our pieces came together to do that."

WWU didn't let the Patriots go on top in set two with its 4-0 run. It began with a Durazo kill off a Madelyn Ashton assist and ended with a Sander ace, giving the hosts a 10-point cushion at 20-10. Clapp's kills handed the Owls two more double-digit advantages at 21-11 and 22-12. The Rock Bridge alumna tied Campos Mello for a set-high four kills.

Although Woods held Mission to a .000 hitting percentage in set three, it allowed the Patriots to score the first three points. Rebounding from that, the Owls went on a 4-0 run to send them ahead 6-4 - Durazo tallied three of those points, with two blocks and a kill. Durazo also played a part in WWU holding its first double-digit lead of the set at 16-6, assisting the second of back-to-back Marissa Solverud kills. The Fort Zumwalt West graduate had quite the third set, putting down five of her seven kills - the last for set point off a Sander assist - and going up for all three of her blocks.

Since Mission knew it had to win the fourth set to have a chance at winning, the Patriots did their best to keep it close early in the set. However, WWU broke an 8-all tie and remained in front when it scored four points unanswered, with Paiva Pereira tallying the first two on a block and kill. The second-team All-AMC Owl earned WWU's match-set point with her fifth kill of the set, provided by Treis.

William Woods will look to keep its winning ways going, as it aims to move to .500 in the AMC when it hosts Central Baptist College (2-5, 2-0 AMC) at 4 p.m. Thursday.

"That's what we are hoping for (a sweep), that we can come in and use a little bit more of our reserve on our bench here and do a little bit more with playing time to see some different faces out there and how they fit into the puzzle that is what we hope to do and hope to see on Thursday," Cook said. "So that we can just do a little bit more and potentially save some of our starters for the weekend so that they're not as tired. But yeah, it's another long week. We're hoping to do our jobs and have a great weekend." Read Full Article