LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville, Kentucky, may be famous as the home of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, but on Saturday it was The W volleyball scoring a four-round…errr, set…knockout of Spalding University in a crucial St. Lois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) match. The Owls (8-16, 5-7 SLIAC) decked the Golden Eagles (4-18, 2-8 SLIAC) by set scores of 20-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-20 to win their third-consecutive league bout.
 
The win now puts MUW in position to clinch its first-ever SLIAC post-season volleyball tournament berth next Saturday (November 1/10 a.m.) at home, when it hosts Spalding in the return of the home-and-home series at Pohl Gym. The W - which currently holds the sixth, and final, slot for the SLIAC tourney – will also play Webster University in its 2 p.m. match next Saturday. Webster is in fifth place, ½ game ahead of the Owls in the loss column.
 
In set one at Spalding, MUW hung close, trailing 22-20, before SU scored the final three points to close out the set. Set two, however, was a wake-up call, as The W scored the first three points of the set and never trailed the rest of the way to even the score at 1-1.
 
Much like set two, the third set was dominated by the Owls from start to finish with an 11-point win. The Golden Eagles led the fourth set, 4-3, before The W reeled off three-straight points to take the lead for good and ice the match victory.
 
It was local product Megan Neeb – from New Hope High school - that keyed the win with a 17-kill performance and her seventh-consecutive double-digit kills match (and 16th of the season, overall). Neeb made just five errors in 37 attempts, good for a .324 attack average, while chipping in eight digs on defense.
 
Fellow New Hope H.S. alumnae Madyson McBrayer, a junior, had the Owls' best average on offense, hitting a sterling .406 for the match. McBrayer finished with 15 kills in 32 attempts, making just two errors. She also had six digs.
 
Junior setter Kinsley Kennedy rolled up 42 assists and had three service aces. Bailee Schmitt and Avery Watts each had three aces, as well.
 
Skye Letson and Sydney Barrett had three and two solo blocks, respectively.
 
As a unit, MUW had its third-best attacking success of the season, with a .281 average for the match (50 kills, 16 errors, 121 attempts). The Owls eight solo blocks matched the most in any match in 2025, as well (also with eight solo in a five-set match versus Freed-Hardeman back on September 2).
 
"I'm proud of us for refusing to lay down after a slow start to the game," Neeb said. "And coming with a fire in us to win the next three sets."