All-Around Effort Leads WPU to Victory Over C-SC
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa—The William Penn women’s volleyball returned home after seven consecutive games on the road to take on Heart foe Culver-Stockton Tuesday night.
The Statesmen (13-5, 2-2 Heart) beat the Wildcats (6-8, 0-5 Heart) in four sets (25-12, 17-25, 25-11, 25-17) to claim their eighth win in the last nine games.
The home team took momentum early and set the tone for the match taking the first set 25-12 highlighted by a 10-0 run.
“I thought we controlled the tempo from the beginning,” Head Coach Aleesha Cleaver said. “We constantly were getting them out of system which caused them many hitting errors.”
The navy and gold faltered a little bit in the second set falling 25-17 but responded with their strongest set of the night in the third, with a 25-11 victory led by a robust .393 attack percentage.
In the fourth, WPU was able to close the match with a 25-17 win.
The Statesmen outhit the Mustangs by a wide margin .263-.060. The attack came from all around as William Penn had six hitters with at least six kills. Jordan Carter (Sr., Sigourney, Iowa, Elementary Education) had a team-high 13 while hitting at a .462 percentage. Alicia Jaquez (So., Farmington, N.M., Biology) finished the night putting down nine kills with Nashali Cruz (So., Bayamon, P.R., Biology) and Corrin Lepper (Fr., Jefferson City, Mo., Exercise Science) right behind her tallying eight and seven kills, respectively. Danielle Pendzinski (Jr., Winnebago, Ill., Elementary Education) and Alexis Weatherspoon (Sr., Kansas City, Mo., Physical Education) rounded out the group with six kills apiece.
The two-setter combo was lethal again for WPU. Elena Lucero (Fr., Yuba City, Calif., Political Science) led the way posting 23 assists and Haley Smith (Sr., Adrian, Mich., Elementary Education) contributed with 18 of her own.
Coach Cleaver had high praise for the duo after the match, stating, “I thought our setters did a great job spreading the offense tonight and we were able to get several hitters going, but that was only because our passers did such a good job of getting the ball where it needed to be.”
Ashley Miller (Sr., Kalona, Iowa, Exercise Science) had another tremendous game despite battling an injury. The senior posted her second-highest output of the season with 32 digs in the contest. She came into the match ranked seventh in the NAIA in total digs with 335 but after tonight now has 367 on the year.
Along the net the navy and gold finished with nine total team blocks. Carter, Lepper and Pendzinski all had a solo block to their credit.
Next up: William Penn will remain at home as they take on Peru State next Tuesday, September 25. The match is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. in the Penn Gymnasium.
