WPU Falls 3-2 to Yellowjackets
Lamoni–The William Penn women’s volleyball team has had to go the distance quite a bit this fall, but unfortunately its recent fortunes in those five-set matches have not been good, including Friday’s 3-2 Heart of America Athletic Conference loss to Graceland.
Despite outhitting their hosts .157-.152, the Statesmen (15-15, 9-7 Heart) fell by scores of 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 24-26, 10-15. The five-setter was WPU’s ninth of the season and third in a row; the Statesmen are now 5-4 in those matches.
The visitors struggled to get out of the gate as they trailed throughout the entirety of the first set, but they bounced back to even the match. With the second set tied at 21-21, William Penn took advantage of three GU hitting errors before Jade Melton (Sr., Hallsville, Mo., Psychology) finished it out with a kill.
WPU was in danger of falling behind again, but down 20-17 in the third round, the visiting crew closed strong to go on top 2-1. Alyssa Young (Sr., Winter Springs, Fla., Exercise Science), who finished with a team-best 18 kills, did a great deal of damage in the third with seven offensive winners.
The fourth set was a tight, back-and-forth affair, but the Statesmen had a chance to end the evening. Unfortunately, the Yellowjackets (9-16, 5-11 Heart) fought off a match point and then scored twice more unanswered to force a fifth set.
The squads split the first 10 points of the fifth set before Graceland scored three in a row. WPU continued to fight and pulled even at 9-9 and 10-10, but the hosts sprinted to the finish line with the final five points.
Alyvia Johnson (Jr., Owatonna, Minn., Business Management), who joined Young in double figures with 12 kills, also headlined the defensive effort with 29 digs. Andressa Borges (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sports Management) just missed double digits with nine kills, while Patricia De Souza (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Fine Arts) (7) and Melton (5) also contributed to the offense.
Mia Brady (So., Pontiac, Ill., Exercise Science) matched Johnson with a double-double of her own, recording 25 assists and 10 digs, while Kaya Caprini (So., Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology) notched 18 digs as well. Chyanne Bradford (So., Rowlett, Texas, Secondary Education) closed out the contest with 17 assists.
William Penn owned a 15-9 edge in blocks, including six by Young and De Souza and five each from Melton and Borges.
Next Up: William Penn travels to Peru, Neb. Saturday to face Peru State in Heart play at 2 p.m.
