Jaquez’s Career Night Leads Statesmen Comeback
Peru, Neb.– The William Penn women’s volleyball team hit the road on Tuesday as they took on the Peru State Bobcats.
Looking to snap a two-game losing streak, the Statesmen overcame early adversity to defeat the Bobcats in five sets by scores of 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-12. The win moves WPU to 12-4 overall and 7-2 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play, while the Bobcats fall to 1-9 overall and 0-8 in Heart play.
The ladies swiped the first four points of the opening set, but the Bobcats rallied to tie the game up at 14 near the midway point. After being forced to take their second timeout of the set trailing by a score of 21-18, the navy and gold stormed back to tie the score at 22, but ultimately dropped the opening set. Although they outhit the Bobcats .194-.162, eight Statesmen attacking errors contributed to the loss. Alicia Jaquez (Sr., Farmington, N.M., Biology) led the team with five kills, while Peyton Foster (Jr., Graham, Wash., Business Management) compiled ten digs.
After playing to a 5-5 tie in the second, the Statesmen forced Peru State’s first timeout of the match after taking a 9-7 advantage. The two teams continued to play each other close, and the score wound up tied at 20, but Peru State took a late advantage and won the second set by an identical score of 25-23. The Statesmen held the Bobcats to a .149 hitting percentage in the set, but only managed an .054 hitting percentage themselves, totaling 10 attacking errors compared to 13 kills for the set.
Determined to hold off the sweep, the Statesmen came hard out of the gates in the third and forced a Bobcat timeout with the score at 9-4, their largest lead of the match. The timeout only served to delay the onslaught, as the navy and gold took a commanding 16-8 lead. However, four consecutive Bobcat points forced another William Penn timeout as the Statesmen hoped to kill the mounting momentum from the opposition. Another Statesmen timeout saw their lead shrink even further to 19-17, but they righted the ship and took victory. The Statesmen saw a stark increase in their attacking percentage, hitting .217 for the frame.
After the Statesmen jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the fourth go-round, the Bobcats brought it back to tie the set at 10. This time, however, the visitors took a heavy lead at 19-14 and never looked back to force a fifth set. After struggling with attacking errors in the first few sets, William Penn limited its errors to only four for the set. Makaila Winward (Fr., St. Louis Park, Minn., Psychology) had a string of three consecutive services aces as well.
The fifth and final set did not open the way the Statesmen hoped it would, with the Bobcats recording the first four points. Things were looking bleak with the score in Peru State’s favor at 10-7, but the Statesmen had one more rally up their sleeve and took the final set and the match. The ladies finished with a total hitting percentage of .186, outhitting the Bobcats and their mark of .130.
Jaquez and Kianna Childers (Sr., Copperas Cove, Texas, Psychology) led the attack on Tuesday night. Jaquez finished with a career-high 19 kills, while Childers complemented her efforts with 17 of her own.
Cameryn Campbell (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo., Elementary Education) led the back row with 37 digs, while Foster continued to be more involved on the defensive front. She set a new season high in digs with 24.
Winward served as the primary setter once again, assisting in 45 of the team’s 65 kills in the contest. She also tallied four service aces, bringing her team-leading total to 39 on the season.
“It definitely was not our prettiest match, but I was happy to see us pull it out,” said Head Coach Aleesha Cleaver. “We never gave up and fought until the end.”
What’s Next: The ladies travel to Des Moines on Friday for a rematch with the Grand View Vikings. In their previous matchup, the Statesmen were defeated in four sets.
