Statesmen Drop Heart Opener to Bobcats

Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s volleyball team came up short in its first league battle of the year as it fell 3-0 to Peru State in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Friday.

WPU (9-6, 0-1 Heart), which fell by scores of 25-27, 19-25, 14-25, was outhit .132-.040.

In a back-and-forth opening set, both sides had set points, but PSC (9-3, 1-0 Heart) was able to hold off the hosts for a 1-0 edge.

The navy and gold owned early leads in the second round, but an 8-3 run allowed the Bobcats to pull away to go up 2-0.

After William Penn and Peru State split the first 12 points, the rest of the third set was all in favor of the visitors as they closed the night in a sweep.

Emilie Bojorquez-McFadden (Sr., Surprise, Ariz., Biology) and Emma Skoglund (Fr., Branson, Mo.) led the way for WPU with five kills each, while Courtney McWilliams (So., Rockton, Ill., Nursing) had 17 assists. McWilliams secured a double-double with 10 digs as well, while Maddy Gustafson (Jr., Marion, Iowa, Psychology and Human Services) matched her with 10 digs.

Abigail Mitchell (Sr., Oxford, Ala., Nursing) served up three aces.

The Statesmen lost the blocking category 6-2.

Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Saturday to host Graceland in Heart play at 1 p.m.