PARAGOULD, Ark. - William Woods University (24-11, 8-3 American Midwest Conference) swept its third straight opponent - Owls' 16th sweep in 2024 - to conclude the regular season, beating first-year AMC member Crowley's Ridge College (9-15, 5-6) 25-17, 25-10, 25-13 Saturday at Carter Activities Center.
The Owls totaled 47 kills with a .343 hitting percentage, five aces, six blocks, 44 assists and 51 digs, while the Pioneers had 18 kills with a -.011 hitting percentage, one ace, four blocks, 18 assists and 34 digs.
"It feels great to end the regular season on a win," William Woods volleyball coach
Kandace Cook said after guiding the Owls to their 24th win, the amount they had in her first season last year. "We knew we needed to use these two games this weekend to prepare for quarterfinal conference play that starts at home on Tuesday! We came together and were very aggressive offensively this weekend and wanted to be big up front. We had great energy and drive for what we were doing, and it showed how much we wanted it! We are so excited to be 24-11 walking into the postseason!"
Erin Treis finished the regular season with a double-double in nearly half of WWU's matches, recording her 17th in 35 contests by registering a match-high 17 assists and adding 10 digs. There were strong offensive performances throughout the Owls' lineup. A few that shined most were
Vitoria Campos Mello with a match-high 13 points (11 kills and three blocks),
Andressa M. Borges with 10.5 points (nine kills and three blocks) and
Luciana Paiva Pereira, who put down nine kills and had a match-high .615 hitting percentage.
In the first set, the Owls still tallied 17 kills despite having their lowest set hitting percentage of the match at .275; the Pioneers had eight kills with a .051 hitting percentage. WWU took the lead for good on the first set at 5-4 on a CRC attack error. It remained close until the Owls went on a 5-0 run that included back-to-back
Lauren Adams kills and two
Erin Treis assists and ended with The Woods up 21-13. Treis notched her eighth assist of the set when Campos Mello sent her fifth kill over the net to hand the Owls set one by eight points.
William Woods improved its hitting percentage in set two, with a .310 clip, and it recorded 13 kills, while Crowley's Ridge had five kills with a -.100 hitting percentage. The Owls dominated the second set throughout, going on top the rest of the way after a Pioneers attack error put them in front 2-1. A five-point game (11-6) at the start of the run, WWU pulled through with its first double-digit lead (16-6) when it went on a 5-0 run; Campos Mello tallied two of those points, combining with Adams for a block and posting a kill provided by Treis. The Owls' most significant advantage of set two was 15 points twice, the first instance on an
Audra Gray ace that put it at 23-8 and the second on a CRC attack error that gave The Woods set point.
Saving their best set for last, the Owls posted 17 kills with a .467 hitting percentage, compared to the Pioneers' five kills with a .000 hitting percentage in the third set. CRC did all it could to avoid the sweep, but its most significant lead was two points at 3-1. And Wililam Woods was well on its way to the straight-set win after scoring six points unanswered to stay on top for good - 6-5 advantage, the first point of the run was when it occurred - and hold an 11-5 cushion at the end of the stretch.
Juliana Neves notched three assists on the final three points of the run, which were earned by a kill apiece from three Owls: Borges, Adams and
Mya Clapp. That wasn't WWU's most extended run of the set, as it tallied seven points with no reply to further its lead to 24-12; Neves continued her tremendous set with five assists in that period. The Brazilian setter's assisting didn't stop there, recording her 11th and final assist of the set - accounted for her match total - on Borges' match-set-point kill.
No. 4 seed William Woods opens postseason play, hosting No. 5 seed Mission University (14-21, 6-5 AMC) in the AMC Tournament quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Anderson Arena in Fulton. In the regular season matchup, the Owls won 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-15, 25-15) over the Patriots on Oct. 1 in Fulton.
