Statesmen Drop First Conference Match
Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s volleyball team continued its stretch of home games on Tuesday in a clash of undefeated teams as the Grand View Vikings came to town.
The Statesmen and Vikings entered Tuesday’s contest as the only teams yet to lose in the Heart of America Athletic Conference North Division, but the Vikings emerged victorious 3-1 by scores of 25-21, 10-25, 12-25, 22-25. The loss snaps a streak of eight wins in a row by WPU.
The loss moves the program’s overall record to 11-3 and their Heart mark to 6-1.
A fast 5-0 run to begin the match for the Vikings put a damper on things as the Statesmen were forced to play catchup. After pulling closer at 7-4, the Statesmen seemed to be on the verge of dropping another point, but a couple of incredible diving saves to keep the ball alive eventually led to a heavy block at the net by Asarar Gony (Sr., Omaha, Neb., Political Science) and Kianna Childers (Sr., Copperas Cove, Texas, Psychology) that sent the home fans into hysterics. The squad continued to rally, evening the score at 17 and eventually claiming the edge, one they would not relinquish. A contrast from their previous matches, the Statesmen were not at their best in the first set as they hit only .136, but were able to force the Vikings into almost as many attacking errors as kills as the visitors hit only .044.
Four Statesmen all recorded two kills to lead the opening set, including Childers, Peyton Foster (Jr., Graham, Wash., Business Management), Alicia Jaquez (Sr., Farmington, N.M., Biology), and Alyssa Young (So., Winter Springs, Fla., Biology). Foster also put in heavy work in the back row, recording eight digs.
The Vikings tried to leave no room for a comeback in the second set as they quickly hopped out to a 7-1 lead. The ladies brought it back to within five points, but unfortunately that was as close as they would come as Grand View evened the match at 1-1.
The navy and gold regained some of their fire from the first set with a 5-2 advantage to start the third set. The visitors would roar back, however, with a 7-1 run, forcing a Statesmen timeout at 9-6 in favor of GVU. Unfortunately, the timeout did not prove fruitful as the Statesmen deficit doubled, forcing their second timeout of the set at 16-10. A rally never happened as Grand View took the third set as well. By that juncture, the navy and gold were hitting just .073 as a team, while the Vikings had increased their clip to .182.
Looking to stave off the loss, Makaila Winward (Fr., St. Louis Park, Minn., Psychology) opened the fourth set with an ace, her second of the match. At the halfway point of the set, the Statesmen had played themselves into a 13-13 tie. However, three swift points from Grand View forced a William Penn timeout. WPU hung tight, but never strung together a long run and took its final timeout trailing 22-18. A furious late push brought the score to within one at 23-22 as a fifth and final set seemed possible, but the Vikings snuffed out the comeback and took the final two points to win the fourth set and the match.
Childers led the Statesmen attack with 10 kills, and Young finished second with six. The Statesmen hit a season-low .075 as a team, while the Vikings finished with a .208 mark for the night.
Cameryn Campbell (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo., Elementary Education) led the defensive effort with 18 digs, while Foster and Winward trailed closely behind her, totaling 16 and 14, respectively.
Winward handled primary setting duties, earning assists on 20 of the team’s 34 kills on the night. She also added three service aces on the night, adding to her team-leading total of 34 for the season.
“It was really good to see us get tested tonight,” said Head Coach Aleesha Cleaver. “I thought there were times when we really battled with them, but we weren’t consistent in that. We have to continuously show up point after point to compete with top programs like that.”
What’s Next: The Statesmen will look to rebound on Saturday as they take on the Mount Mercy Mustangs in the PAC at 6 p.m. The match will also serve as Senior Night.
