Statesmen Outlast Bobcats in Five Sets
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen started what is going to be a busy week on Tuesday with a Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup with Peru State.
William Penn (14-5, 3-2 Heart) outlasted the bobcats (5-14, 1-6 Heart) in five sets (25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 22-25, 15-12) to win their ninth out of the last 10 matches.
After having a full week off from game action, the Statesmen came out a little sluggish, struggled to get into rhythm and found themselves down 21-15 in the first. However, the navy and gold once again showed the great resiliency that we have become accustomed to seeing with this team and produced a 10-2 run to close and take the set.
WPU took the momentum into the second and played their best set of the night grabbing a 25-18 victory. The team attacked at a match high .424 clip during the set while putting down 17 kills.
The Bobcats would not go quietly as they would grab a pair of 25-22 wins in the third and fourth sets.
Ultimately, the Statesmen rebounded to take set five by a score of 15-12 to take the match and continue to build upon a great first half of the season.
“Tonight definitely wasn’t our best performance” Head Coach Aleesha Cleaver said. ” But we found a way to win and that speaks a ton about the girls and their fight.”
William Penn outhit Peru State .244-.217. Three attackers reached double-digit kill totals led by Jordan Carter (Sr., Sigourney, Iowa, Elementary Education) who finished with 16 and now has a total of 222 on the season. Corrin Lepper (Fr., Jefferson City, Mo., Exercise Science) produced 12 kills, hitting at a .286 percentage while Alexis Weatherspoon (Sr., Kansas City, Mo., Physical Education) rounded out the trio with 10 kills respectively.
Haley Smith (Sr., Adrian, Mich., Elementary Education) and Elena Lucero (Fr., Yuba City, Calif., Political Science) have been a constant for the Statesmen all season long in the setter position. That was no different in this match as the duo recorded a total of 45 assists with Smith assisting 25 times and Lucero finishing with 20.
Defensively the navy and gold got a great performance from Alicia Jaquez (So., Farmington, N.M., Biology). She totaled 19 digs in the match which is a new career high for the sophomore. Jaquez also added seven kills.
Coach Cleaver was impressed with Jaquez’s play adding, “I thought Alicia Jaquez played big for us tonight. The stats may not show it, but she really picked up her play especially in crucial moments.”
Ashley Miller (Sr., Kalona, Iowa, Exercise Science) had another solid outing gathering 15 digs while Smith picked up 13 to complete her double-double.
Next Up: The Statesmen will have a quick turnaround as they will take on Grinnell in non-conference action tomorrow night beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Penn Gymnasium.
