Lady Statesmen Survive Scare for Five-Game Win in Home Opener
William Penn Women’s Volleyball home opener 2012
Oskaloosa–The William Penn volleyball team bent to its limit, but never broke in a five-game victory over Loras in non-conference action Wednesday.
The Lady Statesmen (6-4), playing in their home opener, won by scores of 25-23, 25-20, 16-25, 16-25, 15-11. They overcame being outhit .238-.153 with several factors, including picking up five more aces, 11-6.
William Penn scored the first three points of the night, but eventually fell behind by as many as two points at 17-15 before storming back. Tied at 22, the home squad won three of the final four points for the win.
The Duhawks (3-2) took a 4-1 advantage in game two, but the navy and gold stuck around and finally took the lead for good at 14-13. Loras drew even three times after that, but could not slow down the host, who scored five of the last seven points.
William Penn failed to close out the visitors in the third and fourth games, though, only to rebound for its best game with a .292 hitting mark in game five. The Lady Statesmen sprinted out to a 7-3 edge, while the Duhawks crept back to within one at 11-10. Fortunately, back-to-back-to-back kills by Katie Rielly (Sr., Oskaloosa, Des Moines Area CC) ended the night.
Rielly, who was playing against little sister Shawn, paced her team with 18 kills. Lacey Taylor (Sr., Cedar, Iowa Western CC) was right behind her with 16 winners and a team-best .314 attack clip.
Jeanette Cunningham (Jr., Mt. Orab, Ohio, Western Brown HS), with nine kills, and Alanna Connors (Jr., Libertyville, Ill., Libertyville HS), with eight, were productive on the offensive end as well.
Dayna Sammons (So., Menomonee Falls, Wis., Menomonee Falls HS) assisted on 43 of William Penn’s 54 kills, and also topped the Lady Statesmen in aces (4), digs (22), and blocks (3–2 solos, 1 assist). Taylor’s 13 digs and Rielly’s 11 digs gave both double-doubles.
“We were happy with our starts for the most part,” Head Coach Jeremy Wise said. “That was something we wanted to get better at and we made some progress on that. I would have liked for us to have brought some more intensity, but it was pretty hot in the gym and everyone was a little drained. We made some big changes at the end of the fourth game that helped us come out on top in the fifth.”
“I am very happy that we have outside hitters that are seniors as they led us at the end,” Wise added. “It was nice to win our home opener and I hope winning this five-setter will help us the rest of the year when things get tough.”
Next: William Penn travels to Mount Pleasant Saturday to play in a triangular hosted by Iowa Wesleyan. The Lady Statesmen first meet Iowa Wesleyan at 11 a.m. before facing MacMurray (Ill.) at 1 p.m.
