William Woods splits opening volleyball matches at Missouri Valley

MARSHALL, Mo. - The WWU Lady Owls defeated the host Lady Wildcats (25-7, 25-19, 25-20) and bowed to Central Methodist University (25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 22-25, 15-7) in opening-round play Friday at the Missouri Valley College Tournament.

Junior setter Brittney Engelbrecht finished with a match-high 23 assists for William Woods University (1-2) in the victory over Missouri Valley. Senior outside hitter Victoria Day also supplied a match-high 11 kills and sophomore outside hitter Tory Wiley followed with nine.

Freshman libero Jessica Jensen registered a match-high 16 digs for the Lady Owls.

Wiley guided William Woods with 12 kills in the loss to Central Methodist. Engelbrecht logged 39 matches and shared the team lead with Jensen with 19 digs apiece.

The Lady Owls closed out tournament play against Oklahoma City University and Avila (Missouri) University on Saturday. Results were not available at press time.

William Woods opened its season at home with a 25-22, 25-21 and 25-19 loss to No. 20 Evangel (Missouri) University at Anderson Arena on Thursday night.

Engelbrecht and senior middle hitter Stephanie Davis posted match-highs of 25 assists and 13 kills, respectively. Jensen came up with a team-high 16 digs.

The Lady Owls return home for a match against No. 10 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kansas) University at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Anderson Arena.