William Penn Fails to Get Season Sweep of Mustangs
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Cedar Rapids–The Statesmen volleyball team got the better of Mount Mercy at home last month, but was unable to finish the season sweep on the road Friday as it was swept 3-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.
WPU (11-23, 2-15 Heart), which lost by scores of 17-25, 20-25, 18-25, was outhit .181-.076.
The visitors witnessed MMU (12-15, 7-10 Heart) go wire-to-wire in the opening set. The navy and gold bounced back, though, with strong starts in both the second and third sets. Unfortunately, they could not maintain that play to finish out the sweep.
Nashali Cruz (Fr., Bayamon, P.R., Biology) headlined the Statesmen attack with 11 kills, while Claire Simmons (Sr., Williamsburg, Iowa, Psychology) was next with six winners. Alexis Weatherspoon (Jr., Kansas City, Mo., Physical Education) added five more points with a team-high .250 attack percentage.
Haley Smith (Jr., Adrian, Mich., Elementary Education) assisted on 22 points, while Ashley Miller (Jr., Kalona, Iowa, Exercise Science) (23 digs) and Haley Vampran (Jr., Fort Worth, Texas, Exercise Science) (17) were strong on defense. Nesreen Iskandrani (So., Lawrence, Kan., History/Government) came up with three block assists as well.
Next Up: William Penn travels to Dubuque Saturday to play in a triangular hosted by Clarke. WPU opens against Clarke in Heart action at 11 a.m. and then meets non-conference foe Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) at 2 p.m.
