Statesmen Sweep Baker to Open Kansas Trip
Baldwin City, Kan.–Rolling out to big leads in each set Friday, the William Penn women’s volleyball cruised past Baker 3-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play.
The Statesmen (16-9, 9-6 Heart) won by scores of 25-15, 25-23, 25-12 to equal their longest winning streak of the season at five. WPU, which started the fall at 5-0, hit .135 while completely shutting down the Wildcats to the tune of -.165 (18 kills, 25 errors, 107 total attempts).
The visitors went to work right away by scoring the match’s first six points. After permitting Baker (8-18, 6-9 Heart) to get on the board, William Penn tallied three in a row and never looked back. The squad attacked at just .097, but kept the hosts from developing any offense as Baker managed only four kills against eight errors.
Alyvia Johnson (Fr., Owatonna, Minn., Elementary Education) posted two early kills and added three more in the opening set. She went on to finish with a team-high 13 winners on a .242 hitting clip.
WPU, which never trailed during the night, pulled out to a 7-1 advantage in the second set, but could not put the Wildcats away until late. Up 23-19, the visitors allowed four unanswered for the only tie of the entire bout. Fortunately, a Baker attacking error and a kill by Johnson put the set to rest.
After the close call, the Statesmen did not chance fate and clicked on all cylinders to wrap up the sweeping, attacking at a .242 rate, while limiting BU to another red number (-.143) that included only three kills with eight errors.
Johnson was the only player on the court in double figures, but Morgan Sanders (Fr., Lee’s Summit, Mo., Biology) and Symone Jopp (Jr., Mayer, Minn., Business Management) were also extremely productive. Sanders finished with seven kills and a .312 hitting clip, while Jopp notched six winners with a squad-high .400 mark.
Macy Bailey (Jr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) started at setter and tallied 19 assists, while Annalise Whitcomb (Sr., Humboldt, Kan., General Accounting) contributed 13 off the bench. Bailey and Cameryn Campbell (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo., Elementary Education) paced the serving efforts with a pair of aces each.
Defensively, Rebekah Eaves (Sr., Farmington, N.M., Elementary Education) posted 17 digs and Caidince Cleveland (Fr., Bettendorf, Iowa, General Accounting) was in double figures as well with 13. Johnson narrowly missed a double-double with nine digs.
Johnson and Corrin Lepper (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo., Exercise Science) both ended the night with one solo block and two block assists.
“I am proud of our efforts tonight and our ability to battle on the road,” Head Coach Aleesha Cleaver said. “I saw some really good things from a lot of players. For us, our back row set the tone, passing balls to the target which allowed us to get multiple players going on offense. Defensively, we were really scrappy and got good touches. We need to continue this effort into tomorrow.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Atchison, Kan. Saturday to face Benedictine in Heart action at 11 a.m.
