Lady Statesmen Suffer Five-Set Heartbreaker to Viterbo
William Penn Lady Statesmen Christa Subbert (13) is seen here in action against Mount Mercy September 7, 2011
Oskaloosa–The William Penn volleyball team wanted badly to send its senior class out on a memorable note and had one of the league’s best teams against the ropes, but could not deliver the knockout punch in falling 3-2 to Viterbo in Midwest Collegiate Conference play Wednesday.
The Lady Statesmen (14-18, 2-5 MCC) lost by scores of 25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 9-15. On Senior and Parents Night, the navy and gold unfortunately continued their tough run in five-set matches, falling to 1-6 in 2011.
The home team trailed just once in the first set and then overcame a sizeable 15-10 deficit in the second (21-18 later) to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
Unfortunately, the V-Hawks (32-7, 6-1 MCC) are receiving votes in the national poll for a reason and began to find their groove.
Sets three and four were mirror images to the first two sets with the only difference being who was victorious. The visitors were also behind just once in the third set and also rallied to win the fourth set.
The fifth and decisive set was tight early with neither squad owning more than a two-point lead until Viterbo, then down 7-5, rattled off five winners in a row and never looked back.
Brittany Rohling (Sr., Thayer, Kan., Neosho CC) led the hosts in her final home regular season contest with 16 kills and a .452 hitting clip. The Lady Statesmen lost the hitting battle .212-.173.
Christa Subbert (Sr., Stanton, Stanton HS) was a workhorse, tallying 12 kills in a team-high 46 attempts.
Lacey Taylor (Jr., Cedar, Iowa Western CC) also reached double figures with ten kills, while Jeanette Cunningham (So., Mt. Orab, Ohio, Western Brown HS) notched nine winners.
Katherine Stumberg (Sr., Williamsburg, Kirkwood CC) managed 30 assists and Alanna Connors (So., Libertyville, Ill., Libertyville HS) posted 19 digs.
Rohling also paced the defensive effort with eight block assists.
Next: William Penn travels to Whiting, Ind. this weekend to compete in the Calumet-St. Joseph Tournament. On Friday, the Lady Statesmen meet Roosevelt (Ill.) at 4 p.m. and host Calumet-St. Joseph at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the squad takes on Concordia (Mich.) at 9 a.m. and Michigan-Dearborn at 11 a.m.
