WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. - William Woods University (23-11, 7-3 American Midwest Conference) swept its second straight opponent, 15th on the year, winning 25-14, 25-18, 25-14 over Williams Baptist University (10-18, 5-6) Friday at Southerland-Mabee Center.
In the rout, the Owls tallied 48 kills with a .337 hitting percentage, five aces, seven blocks, 43 assists and 46 digs, while the Eagles had 14 kills with a -.024 hitting percentage, three aces, five blocks, 13 assists and 38 digs.
"It was a good night," William Woods volleyball coach
Kandace Cook said. "We were able to see one of our juniors get back to hitting after recovering from an injury from last spring, and it was nice to see her do her job well!"
Luciana Paiva Pereira (match-high 12 kills with a .435 hitting percentage) and
Andressa M. Borges (10 kills and a match-high five blocks) led William Woods' attack.
Erin Treis guided the Owls in the support department by notching a match-high 22 assists and adding eight digs.
WWU dominated the first set, putting down 18 kills while hitting .467 compared to WBU's four kills while hitting .000. The Owls never trailed in the first set, and they stayed on top when Borges went up for a block to make it 5-4 Woods. It remained close until the Owls went on a 5-0 run to increase their lead to 16-8;
Audra Gray had two assists and an ace during that stretch.
Vitoria Campos Mello's fourth and final kill of the set handed WWU an 11-point first-set victory.
While they weren't as efficient, the Owls still controlled play in set two with 14 kills and a .146 hitting percentage to the Eagles' seven kills and -.024 hitting percentage. WBU held the tempo early, going up by as much as three points (9-6), but WWU eventually took the lead for good on Borges' kill provided by Gray that gave the visitors a 14-13 advantage. It stayed tight, with The Woods getting its first significant lead when Paiva Pereira's kill, assisted by Treis, capped a 4-0 run and put the Owls up 21-16. WWU's most prominent lead (seven points) came at set-point on
Mackenzie Wilson's ace.
Playing its most outstanding set to secure the sweep, William Woods posted 16 kills, two errors and a .538 hitting percentage, and Williams Baptist had three kills, four errors and a -.067 hitting percentage in the third set. Unlike their previous set, the Owls got it going early and went ahead 7-2 on Borges' kill off a Gray assist. William Woods cruised to match-set-point once it started a 7-0 run that included three assists from Gray and two kills by Borges and ended with the Owls on top 24-13. The two that sparked the run combined for match-set-point, with Borges putting down her fourth kill of the set from Gray's eighth assist of the set.
"After not having a game for a week or so, we had a little slow start and needed to get back into the swing of competition outside of our own team," Cook said. "We were able to settle in and enjoy the culture of WBU that fueled us to finish in three straight sets!"
William Woods wraps up its regular season against first-year AMC member Crowley's Ridge College (9-14, 5-5 AMC) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Carter Activities Center in Paragould, Ark. It'll be the first-ever meeting between the Owls and Pioneers.
