LIBERTY, Mo. - The William Jewell volleyball team opened their season on Thursday evening at home in the first round of the Kansas City Classic with a 3-1 win over Kentucky Wesleyan. The Cardinals rallied to take set one 26-24 and dominated set two 25-16 before dropping the third 25-25 and squeezing out a 25-22 victory in set four. The win marks the first in the head coaching career of Samantha Williams. 

Bella LaPorta picked up right where she left off in 2022, posting a career high 26 kills to tie the single match NCAA era record and did so on a .422 clip. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 | Jewell 26, Kentucky Wesleyan 24

• The opener was back-and-forth the whole way with neither team able to grab more than a three point lead in the early going. An error by the Cardinals put KWC up 11-8 but Jewell came right back to take a 15-14 lead after kills from LaPorta and Katy Garrison.
• A 7-2 run pushed Jewell to their largest lead of the set, 20-16, but the Panthers responded with their own 8-2 run to take a 24-22 lead. 
• The Cardinals fought off three set points to take the opener 26-24 after a kill from Samantha Thompson. 

Set 2 | Jewell 25, Kentucky Wesleyan 16

• Set two was all Cardinals as they jumped out to an early 7-1 lead behind two kills from Anna Godfredsen. 
• Kentucky Wesleyan rallied back to 13-7 but Jewell used another big run to push their lead to the largest of the day at nine, 20-11. 
• Back-to-back kills by LaPorta finished off the set, 25-16. 

Set 3 | Kentucky Wesleyan 25, Jewell 23

• Set three was another tight affair. Trailing 12-10 midway through, the Cardinals went on a 6-0 run behind two kills by LaPorta and two aces from Hannah Cope to go on top 16-12. 
• KWC rallied once again to tie take a 23-21 lead and finished off the set 25-23. 

Set 4 | Jewell 25, Kentucky Wesleyan 22

• Tied at 13 in set four, the Cardinals used a 6-2 run, including five kills from LaPorta, to go in front 19-15. 
• Kentucky Wesleyan rallied to tie things up at 22 but another LaPorta point combined with back-to-back errors from KWC ended the set 25-22 and the match 3-1. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• In addition to LaPorta's 26 kills, Alex Dvorak added nine while hitting .316. As a team, the Cardials posted a .288 attack percentage while holding the Panthers to .129.
• Garrison posted a game high seven blocks with Godfredsen chipping in four. 
• LaPorta added a team best 14 digs with Alexis Nunn picking up 13 in her first career start at libero. 
• Samantha Thompson handed out 32 assists. 

UP NEXT
Jewell continues the Kansas City Classic on Friday afternoon with matchups against Sioux Falls at 2 p.m. and Emporia State at 6 p.m.