Statesmen Win First Set, Drop Next Three to Eagles

Fayette, Mo.–The William Penn women’s volleyball team was strong out of the gate, but could not pull off the upset as it fell 3-1 to Central Methodist in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Saturday.

WPU (11-17, 2-12 Heart), which fell by scores of 25-19, 17-25, 15-25, 15-25, was outhit .238-.141.

The visitors came out on fire, hitting .371 in the opening set, while limiting CMU (17-8, 11-3 Heart) to a .103 mark.

WPU unfortunately failed to keep pace with the Eagles after the first round in a match where it also lost the battle of blocks (8-3) and aces (12-3).

The duo of Emilie Bojorquez-McFadden (Sr., Surprise, Ariz., Biology) and Emma Skoglund (Fr., Branson, Mo., Nursing) topped the navy and gold with 12 kills each. Hailee Pesek (Sr., New Hampton, Iowa, Nursing) reached double figures as well with 10 winners, while Alix Robinson (So., Pontiac, Ill., Political Science and History) contributed nine.

Courtney McWilliams (So., Rockton, Ill., Nursing) managed 26 assists and two aces, while Maddy Gustafson (Jr., Marion, Iowa, Psychology and Human Services) ended up with 12 digs to guide the defense.

Skoglund also had a squad-best three blocks (all assists) on Saturday.

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Tuesday to host St. Ambrose in Heart play at 7 p.m.