Lady Statesmen Upset Top Seed Viterbo to Reach Championship

William Penn University Athletics

La Crosse, Wis.–A lengthy bus ride and the fact its senior class had never beaten the top team in the league could have easily sunk the Penn volleyball team before it even hit the court Wednesday night, but the determined underdog overcame it all to knock off #1 seed Viterbo 3-1 in the semifinals of the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament.

#5 seed Penn (25-20) won by scores of 25-14, 25-20, 9-25, 27-25.

The Lady Statesmen will now travel to Davenport Saturday to meet #3 seed St. Ambrose in the tourney finals at 7 p.m.  Penn was swept by the Queen Bees in Oskaloosa on October 6.  St. Ambrose upset #2 seed Grand View 3-1 in the other semifinal.

The finals pairing will be a rematch of the 2008 championship in which Penn swept St. Ambrose 3-0 in Lee Lohman Arena to make its first and only NAIA Volleyball National Championships appearance.

The Lady Statesmen, who had lost to the V-Hawks 3-0 and 3-1 earlier this fall, executed from the very beginning, outhitting their hosts .274-.190.  The victory was extra special for the senior class who entered the night 0-5 all-time again Viterbo (38-5), but ended the season for the NAIA’s #27 program.

While the visitors found success everywhere, they were arguably their best in the middle, with Brittany Rohling (Jr., Thayer, Kan., Neosho CC) matching a contest high with 13 kills on a .409 attack percentage.

Morgan Bailey (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) and Paige Echimovich (Fr., O’Fallon, Mo., Fort Zumwalt West HS) also reached double digits with 12 kills apiece, while Emily Stanton (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) added eight in the win.  Penn hit .333 or better in all three of its winning sets.

Krista Pettit (Sr., Grundy Center, Grundy Center HS) assisted on 23 winners, while Katherine Stumberg (Jr., Williamsburg, Williamsburg HS) contributed 20 assists.

Caitlin Hadden (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) tallied 19 digs and Rohling posted four block assists.

Wade Steinlage