WPU Pushes Streak to Seven with Sweeps at H-LG Triangular
Hannibal, Mo.–In its final preparations for league play, the Statesmen women’s volleyball team took down a pair of foes at a triangular hosted by Hannibal-LaGrange Tuesday.
William Penn (10-5), which has now won seven matches in a row, opened the evening with a 3-0 sweep of Haskell Indian Nations (25-13, 28-26, 25-25) and then disposed of host Hannibal-LaGrange with another 3-0 sweep (25-20, 25-22, 28-26).
WPU 3, Haskell Indian Nations 0
The Statesmen hit .240 as a team versus the Indians with Jade Melton (Hallsville, Mo., Psychology) leading the charge with seven kills. Alyvia Johnson (Sr., Owatonna, Minn., Business Management) added five more.
The duo of Lydia Huston (Jr., Kansas City, Mo., Biology) (15 assists) and Cate Hahn (Sr., St. Charles, Mo., Biology) (9 assists) combined to pace the setters. Hahn also matched Nicole McManus (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) with two blocks each.
Patricia De Souza (Sr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sports Management) recorded a pair of aces and Jazlynn Jimenez (Sr., Fort Mohave, Ariz., Sociology) recorded eight digs.
WPU 3, Hannibal-LaGrange
The navy and gold managed to outhit the Trojans .300-.181, but had a tough time putting them away.
H-LG pulled out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set, but two 5-0 runs helped the visitors snatch a 1-0 lead.
The sides went back and forth in the second round with WPU trailing 20-18, but the crew battled back again. A rally was once again necessary in the third and final set with Hannibal-LaGrange holding a trio of set points before the visitors wrapped up the perfect night with three unanswered points.
Johnson, with 16 kills, and Katlyn Jeter (Sr., Solon, Iowa, Business Management), with 13, did most of the damage, while De Souza (6) and Khiani Jackson (Jr., St. Joseph, Mo., Psychology) (5) also played sizeable roles.
Huston managed 30 assists, while Melton served three aces. The trio of Johnson, Melton, and Huston all tallied six digs, and Jeter accounted for two solo blocks.
Next Up: William Penn travels to Peru, Neb. Saturday for another triangular. The Statesmen start with host Peru State in their Heart of America Athletic Conference-opening matchup at 12 p.m. WPU then finishes the afternoon with a 2 p.m. non-conference meeting with Bethel (Kan.).
