Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 OTTAWA, Kan. - Erin Treis registered her ninth double-double this season, team-high 24 assists and 13 digs, against the host (RV) Ottawa University (5-4), and Vitoria Campos Mello went up for a career-high nine blocks versus Dickinson State University (4-8), as William Woods (9-7) fell 3-1 (15-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-22) to the Braves before beating the Blue Hawks 3-1 (25-18, 25-16, 22-25, 25-11) in the Ottawa Tournament Saturday at Mabee Center.
 
Soaring into Saturday's action on a four-game winning streak, the Owls started strong against Ottawa and excelled offensively with 59 kills and 53 assists compared to the Braves' 52 kills and 48 assists. Still, Ottawa outplayed WWU in the final three sets and posted a higher hitting percentage (.238-.201) while having more digs (64-63), blocks (10-5) and aces (7-4).
 
"We came out firing first thing this morning; we wanted to come out and show what we could do, and we did just that in the first set," William Woods volleyball coach Kandace Cook said. "We came out with so much energy to show what we were made of. We found some rough patches in the second and third set of the day, struggling to be consistent and find our momentum. We made a run at the end of every set, and the fourth was so close to being ours. I'm a firm believer of I'd rather us be confident to swing than to be unsure of ourselves and tip. We lost in four swinging and playing a high level of game. I couldn't be more proud…so close, so, so close."
 
Despite the loss, a few Owls joined Treis in having a solid match: Campos Mello recorded a team-high 12 kills, Pamela Durazo had a co-team-high two aces and team-high two blocks and Kennedy Flanner matched her career-high with two aces. The Braves' Ariana Ariniega tallied a match-high 15 kills, Campbell Stark a match-high five blocks, Madison Brauner a match-high 28 assists and Kenzie Kuxhaus a match-high 23 digs.
 
Even though Woods hit .190 in the first set, it held Ottawa to a .000 hitting percentage. Looking like they did in their sweep of Haskell Indian Nations University Friday, the Owls didn't go down and they took control of the set during their 6-0 run that gave them a 12-4 lead. Audra Gray notched two assists and a kill in that stretch.
 
Both teams minimized their errors in set two, with Woods hitting .306 to Ottawa's .419, a complete 180 from the first set for the Braves. Ottawa never trailed during the second set; however, the Owls didn't let the Braves go up by more than six points - it happened at the set point.
 
The Braves continued to be efficient hitting the ball, tallying a .303 hitting percentage in set three compared to Woods' .088. Although the Owls had a lower hitting percentage than in set two, they took the lead three times, 1-0 on Flanner's ace, 2-1 on Lauren Adams' kill assisted by Treis and 11-10 on Campos Mello's kill provided by Treis. At the same time, Woods made eight errors, four more than the second set, which helped Ottawa go up by as much as seven points at 19-12.
 
The game-deciding fourth set was tight, with WWU posting 19 kills, five more than the Braves and Ottawa hitting .238 while the Owls hit .212. Campos Mello put down the first of her three kills, and Treis provided the first of her nine assists in the set, giving Woods its only fourth-set advantage, which was 1-0. Additionally, Adams shined with five of her 11 kills in set four, including back-to-back when WWU scored four points with no reply to tie it at 21. Staying with the Braves, Ottawa led by no more than six points at 11-5, and it went on a set-high 4-0 run two times.
 
William Woods ruled the court against Dickinson State, recording 51 kills, a .221 hitting percentage, 62 digs, 49 assists, 13 blocks and six aces to the Blue Hawks' 40 kills, .034 hitting percentage, 64 digs, 39 assists, nine blocks and three aces.
 
"We came out doing some good things against Dickinson State, then hit a slow patch in set one," Cook said. "We refocused and came out strong in set two with some slight changes in our lineup. We were excited to be up 2-0 and changed our lineup to utilize other pieces of our team that have been working very hard. In doing so, we found ourselves struggling to stay up and get in the lead. After dropping the third set, we settled into our starting lineup again and put our foot down with a 25-11 set win to finish out the weekend."
 
Throughout the Owls' lineup, there were excellent displays. Aside from Campos Mello, WWU's standouts were Juliana Neves with a career-high 22 assists, Adams with a season-high eight blocks and three aces, Luciana Paiva Pereira with a match-high 13 kills, Treis with a team-high 23 assists and Madelyn Ashton with a team-high 10 digs.
 
In the first set, the Owls went up by as much as seven points three times, the last one a 4-0 run to end the set. Paiva Pereira tallied three kills and a block, and Adams notched four kills, helping WWU take the first set.
 
Like the first set, Woods played a clean second set with three errors, but it was made better with a .370 hitting percentage - the best set hitting percentage for either team. The Blue Hawks hit -0.057 in set two, which allowed the Owls to go ahead by more significant leads than the previous set: eight points four times - first instance at 19-11, following a 3-0 run and nine points once when they earned set-point.
 
Committing a set-high 12 errors in the third set, the Owls went up by no more than a point but stayed with Dickinson State by putting down 15 kills; the Blue Hawks had 12 kills but just four errors. Dickinson State went ahead by no more than three points, which was also the most points it scored unanswered to end the set.
 
Making 10 fewer errors than the third set, William Woods cruised to match-set-point in the fourth set, registering nine kills and a .292 hitting percentage to the Blue Hawks' six kills and -0.147 hitting percentage. The Owls' decisive, longest run of set four was a 4-0 stretch in which Neves served two of their three aces in the set, and Paiva Pereira's kill capped it and gave WWU an 11-point (19-8) advantage. From there, the Owls led by at least 10 points before breezing to a 14-point set triumph.
 
"It was a good weekend, we find ourselves with a 2-1 finish and so much to build and improve on, but even more to be proud of," Cook said.
 
The Owls head home for a primetime matchup against Avila University (4-11) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Anderson Arena in Fulton. When the Owls played at the Eagles' place last season, Treis provided a career-high 40 assists as WWU won a five-set thriller (22-25, 25-21, 18-25, 31-29, 16-14).