Owls volleyball celebrates Labor Day weekend with three wins

The Owls finished their Labor Day weekend off right with a couple of wins.

William Woods volleyball had four games at William Penn University and won three out of four to move to 7-3 on the season. On Sunday, the Owls defeated Waldorf in straight sets (25-11, 27-25, 25-21) and then dispatched of Mount Marty (23-25, 25-15, 25-16, 25-15) in four.

Waldorf wasn't able to get settled in the first set as William Woods went on a 13-2 run, propelled by Warriors attack errors and a couple of Owls aces. American Midwest Conference Player of the Week Hannah Kuehl ended the set on a kill.

The Warriors provided some more resistance in the second set after a couple of kills and an ace gave them an early 3-0 lead. William Woods would take back the lead at 14-12, but Waldorf mounted a 5-0 run, which eventually set up a tie at 25 after a kill by Alli Gueck. A Waldorf attack error and another Kuehl kill won the set for the Owls.

Waldorf wouldn't go away in the third set - tying it on five separate occasions at 10, 12, 15, 19 and 20 - but a 5-2 William Woods run gave the Owls the sweep. Some more Warrior attack errors and kills by Lauren Adams and Kuehl to finish the set sealed the victory.

Kuehl led the team with 11 kills, including all three set-winning points, and nine blocks. William Woods' other AMC Player of the Week Tori Rosemann led the Owls with 18 digs.

William Woods had a rougher start in the Mount Marty match as the Owls fell behind 10-2 to start the first set. A couple of aces by Gueck and Lauren Hiestand helped close the gap at 12-8 and then William Woods had a last ditch comeback, with some Lancer attack errors and Kuehl kill to bring it to 24-23. Mount Marty was able to get that last kill to win the frame.

The second set started the opposite way as William Woods began with a 16-6 run, capped by a Rosemann ace. The Owls were then able to double up the Lancers at 24-12 with a Riley Alton kill before tying the match.

William Woods was able to rattle off three 3-0 runs and then a 4-0 run in the third set to make it 22-13. Kills by Kassidy Phillips and Adams gave the Owls the 2-1 sets lead.

The fourth set saw William Woods with small advantages early before a 5-0 Owls run, with two kills by Kuehl and a kill by Phillips, made it 17-10. Riley Alton's kill secured the match and a sweep of the day's two matches for William Woods.

Kuehl and Alton shared the team lead in kills with 13. Rosemann upped her dig total with a team-leading 24, and Gueck assisted on the most kills in both contests with 31 against Waldorf and 43 against Mount Marty.

William Woods play next in its third weekend tournament starting this Friday. At the Baker University Invitational in Baldwin City, Kansas, the Owls will play Missouri Valley College at 11 a.m. for the second time this season after sweeping them in the first match to open the season and University of Saint Mary at 3 p.m. They will play Graceland again at 11 a.m. on day two along with Haskell Indian Nations University at 5 p.m.