ELGIN, Ill. - Highlighted by three career-high and three season-high noteworthy performances, along with two straight
Erin Treis double-doubles, Wililam Woods University (12-10) went 2-1 in the Judson Invitational Saturday at Lindner Fitness Center. The Owls beat Justice College (1-7) 3-0 (25-9, 25-19, 25-13) and host Judson University (8-8) 3-1 (25-19, 25-11, 24-26, 25-22) before falling 3-2 (25-22, 31-29, 20-25, 17-25, 15-13) to Rochester Christian (7-12).
"It was a great weekend for us, of course we wanted to walk out being 3-0, but we fought for everything and worked hard for one another," William Woods volleyball coach
Kandace Cook said. "Playing three games in one day is no joke; it's hard."
Coming off of two losses, Woods wanted to ensure those were behind it, and it did that with a dominating display against the Lions. Proving that, WWU led in every key statistic: kills (33-17), hitting percentage (.311- -.014), aces (10-2), blocks (4-2), assists (31-15) and digs (33-27).
Owls middle hitter
Pamela Durazo had a nearly flawless career-high .917 hitting percentage while putting down a match-high 11 kills and a team-high two blocks. It wasn't just Durazo with a memorable Saturday morning, with
Lauren Adams serving a season-high four aces. WWU's supporting standout was Treis, who had a match-high 18 assists, and defensive was
Madelyn Ashton, who had a team-high six digs.
The Owls opened with their widest set victory margin of the day in the first set, hitting .474 with 11 kills and two errors. Justice posted four errors and three kills with a -.062 hitting percentage in set one.
Although The Woods stayed in front throughout set two, it was the tightest of the contest, which showed how impressive the Owls were. Durazo registered four kills and an ace to lead WWU's attack, as it took a set-high six-point lead four times, including at set point when
Vitoria Campos Mello notched a kill provided by Treis - her seventh assist of the set.
After Justice jumped out to a 2-0 advantage, William Woods scored six unanswered points and stayed on top for the rest of the third set. Adams paced the Owls' attack, tallying four aces - all of her game-high - two kills and a block, while Treis had six assists, the last on
Mya Clapp's kill for match-set point.
Following its invitational-opening sweep, William Woods excelled as a team for a second straight match, this one coming against host Judson, an NAIA opposition, unlike its first opponent. The Owls had better numbers than the Eagles in kills (57-51), hitting percentage (.331-.190), aces (6-2), blocks (6-5), assists (54-46) and digs (64-55).
"Playing Judson was a great game; we came out strong and took control," Cook said. "Last year, we went to five with them and didn't end up on top, but not this season. We found our momentum and our energy, but they found their way back, pushing us to a fourth set, and then we handled ourselves very well. We stayed aggressive and disciplined to do our jobs so that the work as a team could be easier."
Guiding Woods to a four-set victory was Treis with a double-double (25 assists and 11 digs),
Andressa M. Borges with her most kills as an Owl (13) while hitting .520 and
Juliana Neves with a career-high 24 assists.
In the first set, the Owls led by as much as eight points four times, the first instance at 17-9. Durazo had three kills and a block, and Treis tallied eight assists during set one, the final on a Campos Mello kill to take the set.
Playing a clean second set with no errors, WWU notched a set-high 16 kills with a .593 hitting percentage, compared to Judson's 10 kills, five errors and .135 hitting percentage. The Owls went ahead by eight points for the first time quicker than in set one, at 14-6, and they led by as much as 14 points twice. Brazilian Owls Borges (five kills and a block) and Neves (nine assists) went on a tear in the set, culminating in Neves getting the assist on Borges' set-point kill.
Battling it out in a back-and-forth third set, neither team led by more than two points, and that happened twice: The Eagles went up by two for the first time at 7-5 and second at set point (26-24). Recording its lone set hitting percentage above .152 in the contest at .343, Judson had 17 kills and five errors to Woods' 13 kills, four errors and a .237 hitting percentage.
Despite hitting just .200 in the fourth set, the Owls won the set and match, with Judson recording a set-high seven errors while hitting .143. Tied at 16, WWU went on a set-deciding 6-0 run, with Adams registering two kills, an assist and a block, Treis four assists,
Luciana Paiva Pereira two kills - finished with a co-team-high 13 kills - and Borges a kill. The Owls held a 22-16 advantage following the run, and after that, Judson made two straight errors to hand WWU the set and game.
Capping a grueling three-match Saturday - its most in a day this season - William Woods competed in its first five-setter since Aug. 21. Outside of aces (6-9) and blocks (7-9), the Owls led in most statistics even though they lost to Rochester: Kills (66-60), hitting percentage (.262-.196), assists (60-57) and digs (73-70).
"Rochester came out strong against us," Cook said. "They were coming off of another game and were able to watch us play not once but twice today. They are a very good team together and got the best of us at the start.
"We had to come together to find the energy to fight back and push for the opportunity to reverse sweep. While we didn't quite lock in for the sweep against Rochester, we took them as far as we could with what we had left to give after a long day."
Several Owls did more than just give all they had left: Paiva Pereira broke her career-high in kills with 18, Treis posted her 12th double-double this season (25 assists and 10 digs), Ashton - WWU's digs leader in all three of its matchups at the invite - went down for her most digs (15) Saturday and
Audra Gray served a season-high two aces.
Right from set one, the Owls and Warriors were neck and neck. Although WWU lost the first set, it led by as much as four points five times. Rochester went on a 4-1 run to end set one, with Hailee Mancogna posting three of her game-high 14 kills in that time.
The Warriors were effective and erratic when they won the second set 31-29 over the Owls, recording 17 kills, eight errors and 51 total attacks - all set highs for Rochester. WWU didn't gain the advantage until it went up 11-10, the fourth point in its 6-0 run, where Paiva Pereira and Treis had three kills and three assists, respectively. Later on in set two, the Owls went on a second 6-0 run to tie it at 24, knotting it again at 25, and they went in front two times in the extended tiebreaker fight before one of Kourtney Mack's 14 kills gave the Warriors the set.
Turning it around, Woods recorded the first of two consecutive 17-kill sets as it took set three and cut its deficit to one. Prior to winning the set by five points, the Owls led by as much as four points four times, and their top players in the set were Treis (seven assists), Paiva Pereira (four kills and a block) and Durazo (four kills).
Getting 17 kills with a set-high .467 hitting percentage, WWU won the fourth set by three more points than the previous to push it to a game-deciding fifth set. Owls freshman
Marissa Solverud (five kills) tied Paiva Pereira (four kills and a block) and Campos Mello (five kills) for a team-high five points in the set.
Made frustrating since Woods had a better hitting percentage than the Warriors (.269-.222), in addition to more kills (9-7) and fewer errors (2-3), the Owls fell by two points in the fifth set. To begin the set, Rochester went on top 7-2, then a Borges kill concluded a 4-0 WWU run that made it 7-6 Warriors. That was the closest the Owls got until they went on another 4-0 stretch, as Paiva Pereira had three consecutive kills and an Adams ace ended the scoring surge to even it at 13-all. Unfortunately for WWU, Rochester won the following two points to prevail in the set and match.
William Woods (0-2 American Midwest Conference) hosts first-year AMC member Mission University (8-15, 2-0 AMC) in its AMC home opener at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Anderson Arena in Fulton.
"This team is special, I couldn't have been more proud of everything we did together as a team this weekend," Cook said. "So much more to come for a group like this."
