Lady Eagles Split Saturday Doubleheader

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark.  (9/13/25) – The Williams Baptist University volleyball split a doubleheader against Stephens and Ozarks (Ark.) inside the Southerland-Mabee Center on Saturday afternoon.

WBU took its first win of the season in the second match of the day against Ozarks (Ark.) by the final score of 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-17, 25-18).

As a team, WBU hit .239 while holding Ozarks to .066 in the contest. Williams posted 39 kills in the match as a unit and 33 assists.

Tinleigh Ruhman and Natalie Collier led Williams with 10 kills each.  Ruhman put up her 10 kills on a .364 hitting percentage, while Collier posted 10 on a .276 clip.  Desirae Walker led the team in assists with 15.

Williams took control of the first set early thanks to a 6-0 run behind the strong serve of Alecia Epherson to go up 12-4.

Ozarks struck back in the second set, taking the final five points after a bad set tied the frame at 20-20 to even up the set score at 1-1. WBU responded by taking a strong hold on the third set, highlighted by a 9-0 run behind Faith Raymond to take an 11-2 lead.  Ozarks made a five point swing to make the score 24-17, but Natalie Collier secured the point with a kill to win the set.

WBU broke away with a six point run in the third set behind Faith Raymond, but a five point run from Ozarks brought the score to 18-16.  Williams managed to take six of the final seven points to secure its first win of the season.

The Eagles dropped the first game of the twinbill against American Midwest Conference foe Stephens by the final score of 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-11).

As a team, Stephens put up a hit percentage of .293 while holding WBU to just .114.

Four Eagles tied for the team-lead in kills in the contest.  Payton Bond, Alicea Epherson, Natalie Collier, and Darcy Broglin all put up three kills.

Stephens took the first set after taking 13 of the last 14 points to go up 1-0 in sets.  In the second, the Stars jumped in front of WBU after a 5-0 run put SC up 18-14.  A kill from Broglin made it 19-17, but Stephens closed out the frame on a 6-2 run.

The Stars got out to a 6-2 lead in the third set and never looked back, taking the final frame 25-11 and taking the match in straight sets.

The split puts WBU at 1-9 overall on the season and 0-2 in American Midwest Conference play.  

WBU will be back in action on Friday, Sep. 19 on the road against Columbia.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Columbia, Mo.