Statesmen Get Hot Early But Fall Short to Mustangs

Cedar Rapids, Iowa—Statesmen women’s volleyball was on the road Friday for the first day of a back-to-back as they took on Mount Mercy in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.

Unfortunately, William Penn (8-12, 3-8 Heart) was upended by Mount Mercy (14-7, 4-4 Heart) in four hard fought sets.

The navy and gold came out swinging as they took the first set by a score of 25-23. They jumped out to an early 5-1 lead before Mount Mercy eventually took the lead before opening up a 23-20 advantage. However, with their backs up against the wall, the ladies came from behind to score five straight points to take the set.

WPU could not keep the momentum going from set one and went on to drop the final three sets by the score of 26-24, 25-18, and 28-26 to give the home squad the win.

The Statesmen were outhit .175-.074 but got some nice performances from Libby Zorn (Jr., Billings, Mont., History) and Corrin Lepper (So., Jefferson City, Mo., Exercise Science) finished with 15 and 10 kills respectively. Six ladies finished with an assist in the game, led by Macy Bailey (Fr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) who recorded 20 assists and Sydney Roush (Jr., Osceola, Wis., Biology) who finished with 11 helpers.

Defensively, Cameryn Campbell (Jr., Jefferson City, Mo., Education) led her squad with 31 digs, while Cecily Liphardt (Fr., Lincoln Neb., Psychology) and Bailey combined for 28.

Next Up: Quick turnaround for William Penn as they will play Culver-Stockton on Saturday in Canton, Mo. with the game scheduled for 2 pm.