William Penn Swept on the Road in Des Moines

Des Moines–The William Penn women’s volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision on the road to Grand View in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Tuesday.

The Statesmen (14-11, 4-6 Heart) lost by scores of 23-25, 19-25, 16-25, while being outhit .364-.170 by Grand View (18-1, 8-0 Heart).

Similar to Friday’s matchup, the Statesmen kept the opening set close. William Penn opened with a 3-0 run, but that proved to be their largest lead. Grand View never strung together a major run, yet continued to answer every push. With the set tied at 22, the Vikings closed on a 3-1 spurt to claim the opener and take a 1-0 match lead.

The second set also proved competitive early, with the teams locked at 4-4. Grand View broke the stalemate with seven unanswered to go up 11-4, and the Vikings never looked back, securing the set to take a 2-0 match lead.

Things looked promising for the Statesmen in the third as they jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but a 7-1 Viking run forced a WPU timeout at 8-4. Grand View kept the momentum out of the break with a 13-5 stretch to make it 21-9, and the Statesmen had no answers, dropping the set 25-16 as the Vikings completed the sweep.

Maju Vieira (Jr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) was the highlight performer for William Penn, notching a double-double behind 10 kills and 21 digs.

Abigail Mitchell (Jr., Oxford, Ala.,Nursing) shared the team-high in kills with 10, as Hailee Pesek (So., New Hampton, Iowa, Nursing) and Khiani Jackson (Sr., St. Joseph, Mo., Psychology) added six apiece.

Mitchell followed Vieira in the digs column with six, while Kaya Caprini (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology and Human Services) chipped in five.

Emalee Young (Jr., O’Fallon, Mo., Nursing) directed the attack with 19 assists in the match.

Up Next: William Penn returns home Friday to play Benedictine in Heart action at 7 p.m.