WBU Volleyball Downs Champion College

The Williams Baptist University women's volleyball captured its first win of the season with a 25-14, 25-13, 25-15 over Champion Christian College Saturday afternoon at the Southerland-Mabee Center. 

The Eagles (1-7) used a balanced attack to put away the Tigers. Hope Raymond led the way with eight kills and four service aces, Darcy Broglin added six kills and three blocks. Dayshia Espinosa finished with five kills, while Laykin Harkcom added 17 assists and eight digs. Alonna Thomas also finished in double-figures with 13 digs in the afternoon. 

Williams took control early in the first set and quickly built an 11-8 advantage after a block by Harkcom and Broglin at the net. A service ace by Faith Raymond pushed the lead to 15-9 and another ace from Hope Raymond later in the set pushed the advantage to 19-11 and prompted a timeout from Champion.

The Eagles continued to put the pressure on the Tigers and put the set away with back-to-back kills from Broglin to take the early lead in the match.

WBU carried the momentum in the second set and quickly jumped out to a 5-1 lead with Harkcom on the serve. The advantage grew to 13-4 after an ace from Sophie Allred and then 20-9. Champion struggled with its attack and hit .043 in 23 attempts, while committing five errors and registered just six kills. 

Champion appeared to gain momentum in the third set and took an early lead at 5-2, but WBU quickly erased the deficit and worked to build a 12-10 lead after an ace by Faith Raymond. The advantage grew to 20-13 on a kill by Krista Jones and the senior helped put the match away on serve by collecting an ace and helping Champion in back-to-back attack errors while on service to put the match away. 

Williams returns to the court Tuesday, Sept. 19 for a home matchup with Rust College at 6 p.m. at the Southerland-Mabee Center.

WBU is a private, Christian university in Walnut Ridge.