Statesmen 1-1 at Grinnell Tourney
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Grinnell–The William Penn volleyball team split two matches at the Grinnell Tournament Friday.
The Statesmen (9-13) opened the night with a 3-1 loss to Buena Vista (23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 23-25) before dropping host Grinnell 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23).
The navy and gold outhit the Beavers .194-.187, but could not complete the season sweep after winning 3-1 in Oskaloosa last week.
Kristal Campos (Jr., Lancaster, Calif., Sociology) paced WPU with 15 kills, while Kylie Giger (So., Elkhart, Ind., Exercise Science) also reached double figures with ten and a team-best .389 hitting clip.
Jeanette Cunningham (Sr., Mt. Orab, Ohio, Elementary Education) and Alanna Connors (Sr., Libertyville, Ill., Biology) just missed double digits with nine winners apiece.
Dayna Sammons (Jr., Menomonee Falls, Wis., Software Engineering) assisted on 15 points, while Leyra Jusino (So., Bayamon, P.R., General Biology) did so on 13 occasions.
Giger and Sarah Stepp (So., Oakville, Mo., Undecided) both served up two aces, while defensively, Danielle Breeher (So., St. Louis, Mo., Undecided) managed eight digs and Giger blocked four attempts (one solo, three assists).
The Statesmen outhit their second opponent as well with a .172-.128 edge. Campos (15), Giger (ten), and Cunningham (nine) all matched their kill tallies from the BVU match, while DeAuntra Pryor (So., East Chicago, Ill., Elementary Education) added seven kills.
Jusino finished with 37 assists and two aces. Her 15 digs were second only to the 16 by Stepp. Campos, with four, was one of five players with multiple block assists.
“Our hard work is starting to pay off,” Head Coach Jennifer Carlson said. “Even with the result of the Buena Vista match, the girls are playing together, playing hard, and executing.”
“We have this thing with the third set,” Carlson added. “It has been a curse for us and it happened again in the Grinnell match. I am just happy with the way our ladies battled back to close it out in the fourth.”
Next: William Penn travels to Clinton Tuesday to face Ashford in a non-conference match at 7 p.m.
