Statesmen Conclude Season at Heart Quarterfinals
Fayette, Mo.–The William Penn women’s volleyball team took to the road Tuesday as it met up with the Central Methodist Eagles in the quarterfinals of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament.
The Statesmen battled hard all night, but ultimately fell to the #11-ranked Eagles in five sets, 25-23, 21-25, 11-25, 25-23, 8-15.
After trading shots with their hosts through the opening minutes of the first set, the Eagles went on a 6-1 point run that saw them take a 13-8 lead. The Statesmen remained resilient, and a kill by Alyssa Young (So., Winter Springs, Fla., Biology) ignited a four-point rally to knot things up at 19. Central Methodist fired back with three in a row later on to take a 23-21 lead, and appeared to be on the verge of taking the initial set, but another four-point spree, capped off by a Cameryn Campbell (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo., Elementary Education) ace, stunned the hosts and gave the Statesmen a 1-0 advantage for the match. Young and Corrin Lepper (Jr., Jefferson City, Mo., Exercise Science) led the way with four kills each for the set.
William Penn jumped out to an early 6-3 lead to begin the subsequent set, but the Eagles came back firing on all cylinders to recapture the lead 8-6. The set remained very tightly contested with eight more ties, the last coming at 19-19, but the Statesmen were unable to overcome a late four-point rally from the Eagles and dropped the second set, 25-21.
The third set looked like it was going to follow the trend from the first two as the teams played to a 5-5 tie. Unfortunately, it was all Central Methodist from there as the hosts took 11 of the next 13 points and never looked back, eventually claiming victory 25-11.
Looking to stave off defeat, the navy and gold found themselves in an early 8-4 hole to begin the fourth set. They rallied back in a big way, however, tying the set at 10 and playing to a 15-15 tie as their season hung in the balance. Asarar Gony (Sr., Omaha, Neb., Political Science) was heavily involved in the attack, as her fourth kill of the set gave the Statesmen a 17-15 lead late. The ladies eventually earned a 24-21 lead, and with the Eagles on the brink of tying things up, Alicia Jaquez (Sr., Farmington, N.M., Biology) thundered one home for the finisher as the navy and gold sent things to a fifth and final set to determine who would earn the right to advance to the semifinals.
The final set began with an exchange of points, but a five-point rally from the Eagles put a damper on the night. Their lead was not relinquished again for the rest of the night, ultimately taking the victory in the final set 15-8.
Lepper and Young were the lead attackers on the night for William Penn, each tallying 11 kills for the night. Young was also the most-efficient attacker on either side, hitting at a robust .611 clip for the night after a mistake-free game. Gony and Jaquez each finished with nine winners.
The stalwart in the back row all year long, Campbell led the defensive effort with 19 digs. Cecily Liphardt (So., Lincoln, Neb., Psychology) contributed 14 digs, while Rebekah Eaves (Sr., Farmington, N.M., Elementary Educations) and Macy Bailey (So., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) added 10 apiece.
A trio of Statesmen setters worked in tandem with each other throughout the match. Annalise Whitcomb (Sr., Humboldt, Kan., General Accounting) worked as the primary with 14 assists, while Bailey and Bria Sandifer (Fr., Oakdale, Minn.) added 11 and 10, respectively.
“I am so proud of this team,” said Head Coach Aleesha Cleaver. “Tonight didn’t go our way, but there were so many great moments and great takeaways. We ran out of juice in that final set, and couldn’t quite get out of the hole we found ourselves in. That is something we have to get better at and something we can take away and work on for next fall.”
“It’s going to be sad to see our seniors leave, but very comforting to know we have so much talent returning.”
The Statesmen finish their 2020-2021 season with an overall record of 17-9 and 8-4 in Heart play. Their .654 overall winning percentage represents the program’s highest mark since the turn of the century, and the first time since the 2012 season that their winning percentage has been north of .600. The eight conference wins were also one more than the team recorded in the 2019 season in seven fewer games.
