Big Third Set Propels William Penn to Victory
Oskaloosa, Iowa—William Penn hosted Graceland in Heart of America Athletic Conference action on Tuesday, the first home event for the Statesmen during a busy homecoming week.
WPU (11-16, 6-8 Heart) took the first meeting between the two squads 3-0 down in Lamoni back on September 24. Graceland (8-20, 3-10 Heart) did not fare much better in this one as a stingy Statesmen defense stymied them en route to a 3-1 win.
The navy and gold took set one 25-20 in a set where both teams had the offense going with William Penn holding the slight advantage .263-.250. The Statesmen led the match 21-17 but the Yellowjackets had a late surge in them as they cut the deficit to 21-20 before the home team closed the set with four consecutive points to take a 1-0 lead.
Graceland was able to get out to a 7-1 lead early in the second set which was enough cushion for them as they took the set 25-20 despite a late run by William Penn getting as close to 17-19 but were unable to capitalize.
The Statesmen returned for the third set and put together arguably the best set of their season with a 25-9 throttling of the visitors. The ladies up front hit a robust .400 in the set, helping lead them to their largest margin of victory in a set this season.
With a 2-1 lead, WPU kept its foot on the gas pedal. Graceland kept it close and was able to get the deficit down to one at 15-14 but William Penn went on a huge 10-2 run to close out the match.
Overall, the Statesmen outhit the Yellowjackets .222-.109 led by a strong effort from Corrin Lepper (So., Jefferson City, Mo., Exercise Science) with 11 kills at a .333 clip. Alicia Jaquez (Jr., Farmington, N.M., Biology) and Libby Zorn (Jr., Billings, Mont., History) also compiled great outings each finishing with nine kills.
The setting duo of Annalise Whitcomb (Jr., Humboldt, Kan., Accounting) and Macy Bailey (Fr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) both reached double-digit assist totals with 22 and 17 respectively.
The defense was coming from all over the court as nine different players logged a dig. Cameryn Campbell (Jr., Jefferson City, Mo., Education) paced her squad with 25 digs while Casi Gacusana (Sr., Kea’au, Hawaii, Biology) complemented her with 11 digs.
“Corrin really had a big night at the net and Cam really was our core in the back row.” Head Coach Aleesha Cleaver said, “We talked after the second set about how we need to control our own destiny and not rely on the opposing team to make errors, I though they went out and executed that. They took total control of the set and never looked back, it was some fun volleyball to watch.”
Next Up: William Penn will get back out of the road as they will travel to Olathe, Kan. to take on MidAmerica Nazarene on Thursday, October 17, starting at 6 pm.
