Statesmen Bounce Back with Road Win

Canton, Mo.–The William Penn women’s volleyball team trekked south on Friday to take on the Culver-Stockton Wildcats in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.

The Statesmen bounced back in their second conference tilt, taking down the Wildcats in four sets of 25-14, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21. The victory evened up their Heart record at 1-1.

William Penn got off to a hot start with Alicia Jaquez (Sr., Farmington, N.M., Biology) and Alyvia Johnson (Fr., Owatonna, Minn., Elementary Education) each posting early kills to help the team out to a 4-0 start. The navy and gold proceeded to rip off long runs for the duration of the set, rattling off a string of four in a row, then six in a row, and then another six in a row to take 16 of 19 points en route to a 25-14 opening victory.

The Statesmen looked to produce another quick win in the second set, but were unable to pull away early on like they did in the first set. They held multiple three-point leads during the first half of the set, but could not extend any further than that as Culver-Stockton battled its way to a lead, forcing William Penn to play catch up. The two teams played to a 17-17 tie, but then the hosts broke away, leading to a 25-20 win to even the match at 1-1.

The third set was another closely-contested one that found the score tied deep into the set at 15-15. Johnson and Alyssa Young (Jr., Winter Springs, Fla., Biology) helped capture the momentum as they each earned a kill before combining to deny a Wildcat attack to earn three of four points for the Statesmen. Momentum stayed with the visitors as the navy and gold turned the tables on Culver-Stockton, winning the third set 25-20.

The hosts were determined to force the contest to a fifth set, storming out to an early 7-2 lead. That didn’t phase the Statesmen, however, and before long WPU had clawed all the way back to take a 16-12 lead. William Penn employed a balanced attack to finish the game as four different Statesmen earned kills to close out the match with a 25-21 victory.

Three Statesmen managed double-digit kills in the contest. Johnson led the team with 12, while Jaquez and Young each finished with 10. Young also led the team in hitting percentage with an incredibly efficient mark of .474.

Annalise Whitcomb (Sr., Humboldt, Kan., General Accounting) worked as the primary setter, while Macy Bailey (Jr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) worked in evenly as well. Whitcomb led with 22 assists with Bailey following close behind with 20.

Cameryn Campbell (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo., Elementary Education) led the defensive effort with 22 digs from the back row. Cecily Liphardt (Jr., Lincoln, Neb., Psychology and Business Management) joined her in double digits with 10.

What’s Next: The Statesmen travel to Des Moines on Tuesday for a rivalry matchup with #24 Grand View. The contest is slated to begin at 7 PM.

Posted by on Sep 19 2021. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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