WPU Rallies to Force Fifth Set, Denied Reverse Sweep of Clarke
Dubuque–The William Penn women’s volleyball team did not go down without a fight, but was unable to pick up the reverse sweep of Clarke, falling 3-2 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Tuesday.
The Statesmen (11-10, 2-5 Heart) fell by scores of 18-25, 13-25, 25-22, 25-21, 12-15. Outhit .206-.116, the visitors owned a 6-4 edge in aces.
William Penn gave up seven of the first eight points Tuesday, but battled back to within two at 15-13. Unfortunately, that was as close as the navy and gold would get in falling behind 1-0.
The second set was a reversal of the first as WPU shared the opening 16 points before allowing CU (6-11, 2-5 Heart) to pull away for a 2-0 advantage.
Despite losing the first point of the third, the Statesmen never trailed again as they began to turn the tide.
After managing 15 kills in the third, WPU recorded an evening-best .286 hitting mark in the fourth. Hailee Pesek (Sr., New Hampton, Iowa, Nursing) led the way in the set with two kills and two aces as William Penn pushed the match to a decisive fifth round. Pesek ended the contest with team highs in kills (13) and aces (3).
Agnieszka Gastala (So., Bielsko-Biala, Poland, Business Management) and Abigail Mitchell (Sr., Oxford, Ala., Nursing) both tallied two kills as the navy and gold built an 8-3 advantage in the fifth. Unfortunately, the Pride stormed back with seven unanswered points.
The Statesmen had one final gasp left, knotting the set at 12-12, but Clarke closed with the final three points of the night to take the victory.
In the end, WPU could not overcome its attacking deficit, as well as Clarke’s 10-1 edge in blocks.
Gastala joined Pesek in double figures with 11 kills, while Mitchell tallied nine kills, narrowly missing a double-double with 11 digs. Emma Skoglund (Fr., Branson, Mo.) added eight winners, and Emilie Bojorquez-McFadden (Sr., Surprise, Ariz., Biology) finished with six.
Leah Meyer (Fr., Houston, Texas, Business Management) ‘quarterbacked’ the offense with 33 assists in a non-starting role, while Maddy Gustafson (Jr., Marion, Iowa, Psychology and Human Services) had a team-high 27 digs. Like Mitchell, Meyer just fell short of a double-double as she produced nine digs.
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Friday to host MidAmerica Nazarene in Heart play at 7 p.m.
