Statesmen Knock off Vikings in Capital City for First Time Since 2007
Des Moines–Alyvia Johnson (So., Owatonna, Minn., Business Management) and Andressa Borges (So., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sports Management) both had career nights as the William Penn women’s volleyball team won a road matchup with Grand View for the first time in 15 years Tuesday.
WPU (10-9, 6-3 Heart) won the Heart of America Athletic Conference battle 3-2, including scores of 25-19, 18-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-10. The victory is the program’s first in Des Moines in 13 tries and is the first since 2007. The Statesmen, which concluded a five-match road trip Tuesday, snapped a 19-match overall losing streak to GVU last year in Oskaloosa.
Despite outhitting Grand View .201-.179 and holding a 13-4 edge in total blocks during the night, the visitors gave up the first five points of the bout. WPU answered right back, however, with five points of its own (two kills by Johnson) as part of a 10-1 run. The Vikings rallied to knot the score at 12-12, but the Statesmen took advantage of a trio of Viking hitting errors and rode them to a 1-0 edge.
The second round was a tight one, featuring 11 ties with the last coming at 17-17. GVU (6-12, 4-6 Heart) scored two of the next three points and then reeled off six in a row to tie the match.
Trailing just three times in the third set, the Statesmen turned an 11-10 deficit into a 14-11 lead with help from winners by Borges and Alyssa Young (Sr., Winter Springs, Fla., Biology). The visiting crew cruised from there for a 2-1 advantage.
Unfortunately, Grand View never trailed in the fourth round to force a fifth and deciding set. Four unanswered points took the fifth from a 2-2 tie to a 6-2 heavy edge and the navy and gold kept GVU in the rearview the rest of the way. Fittingly, the final two kills came from Borges and Johnson.
Johnson topped all players with 20 kills, including six in the first and seven in the third. Borges also executed at a high level with 17 kills (season high for the newcomer) on a .316 attack percentage.
Katlyn Jeter (So., Solon, Iowa, Business Management) joined the double-digit club with 10 winners, while Young added five kills.
Macy Bailey (Sr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) assisted on 30 points, while Chyanne Bradford (Fr., Rowlett, Texas, Education) tallied 17 helpers off the bench.
Defensively, Cecily Liphardt (Sr., Lincoln, Neb., Psychology and Business Management) matched a career high with 29 digs, while Caidince Cleveland (So., Bettendorf, Iowa, General Accounting) added 13 more. Johnson finished off a double-double with 10 digs.
Borges was not only dominant on offense, but was a problem at the defensive net with six solo blocks.
“This was a fun match!” Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said. “It was great to pull out a win on the road because it is always tough to win away from home in this conference. We showed discipline and perseverance all night. We had big performances from our pins, from kills to blocks, while our defense was holding it down in the back court. This was a great team win to get us straightened out again.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Friday to host Mount Mercy in a Heart match at 7 p.m.
