Statesmen Swept by Peru State

Peru, Neb–The William Penn women’s volleyball team fell on the road 3-0 against Peru State in Heart of America Athletic Conference action on Friday.

The Statesmen (14-10, 4-5 Heart) lost by scores of 24-26, 18-25, 20-25, while being outhit .237-.150 by the Bobcats (8-11, 1-5 Heart).

While WPU kept every set competitive in the loss, the opening frame proved to be the highlight of the night for the Statesmen. Trailing 14-21, William Penn stormed back with six unanswered points to pull within one. The Statesmen battled all the way to knot the score at 23-23, but Peru State held firm in extra points to edge out a 26-24 victory.

From there, the Statesmen had no answers for the Bobcats’ attack, dropping the next two sets as Peru State secured its first conference win of the 2025 campaign.

Maju Vieira (Jr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) paced the Statesmen with a team-best 11 kills while adding eight digs to support the defense.

Hailee Pesek (So., New Hampton, Iowa, Nursing) collected seven digs of her own, while Alix Robinson (Fr., Pontiac, Ill., Political Science and History) chipped in five.

Kaya Caprini (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology and Human Services) led the way for WPU defensively with 13 digs, Emilie Bojorquez-McFadden (Jr., Surprise, Ariz., Biology) and Amaris Williams (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis., Public Accounting) both added seven.

Leading the assist effort, Emalee Young (Jr., O’Fallon, Mo., Nursing) finished with 13 assists, with Mia Brady (Sr., Pontiac, Ill., Exercise Science) right behind at 10.

“Tough loss for us tonight,” Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said. “We were looking to bounce back to get a winning streak going. We had opportunities tonight to execute and take sets, but we were not in rhythm. We have to find a way to get hitters to score points to get us back in contention for the post season.”

Up Next: William Penn heads to Des Moines Tuesday to play Grand View in Heart action at 7 p.m.