Statesmen Topple Buena Vista in Home Opener
Buena Vista attempts to block the spike from William Penn during action on Wednesday night.
Oskaloosa–For the second-straight evening, the William Penn volleyball team blitzed an Iowa Conference competitor early, but then hit a wall before finally closing out the match. This time it was Buena Vista in a 3-1, home-opening victory on Wednesday night.
The Statesmen (7-7) reached .500 for the first time this fall with scores of 28-26, 25-12, 21-25, 26-24.
The statistics were quite even, but for the most part leaned in favor of the home squad, including a .145-.134 mark in hitting.
William Penn and Buena Vista went back and forth in the opening set with the largest lead of three going to WPU three times. The Statesmen faced a few deficits late, including 25-24, but scored three of the final four points to take the 1-0 edge.
After a tough start, the second set was a breeze as the hosts, leading 9-7, reeled off 11 of the next 13 points to lead 2-0.
Possibly letting their guard down, the navy and gold could not shut the door on the Beavers (6-2).
The fourth and final set was a mix of the first three as the start was very tight (tied at 8-8), the middle was all WPU (up 18-11), and the latter points were won by Buena Vista (tied at 24-24).
Fortunately, the hosts snuck out the final two points, concluded by a kill from Alanna Connors (Sr., Libertyville, Ill., Biology).
Kylie Giger (So., Elkhart, Ind., Exercise Science) paced William Penn with 13 kills and a .632 attack clip (just one error in 19 attempts). The sophomore was also best on the defensive end with seven blocks (one solo, six assists).
Jeanette Cunningham (Sr., Mt. Orab, Ohio, Elementary Education) joined her teammate in double figures with ten winners as well.
Kristal Campos (Jr., Lancaster, Calif., Sociology), with eight kills, and Connors, with seven, were also productive for WPU. Connors also dug 14 BVU attacks.
Dayna Sammons (Jr., Menomonee Falls, Wis., Software Engineering) recorded 30 assists off the bench, while Danielle Breeher (So., St. Louis, Mo., Undecided) finished with three aces.
“We were really excited to play at home for the first time and that helped us jump out to a good start,” Head Coach Jennifer Carlson said. “Unfortunately, just like last night, we sat back a little and let our opponent back in the match. The ladies worked hard to regain the momentum and picked up another nice win.”
Next: William Penn travels to Clinton this weekend to play in the Ashford Tournament. On Friday, the Statesmen face Bellevue (Neb.) at 11 a.m. and Culver-Stockton (Mo.) at 5:30 p.m. The team’s results on Friday will place it in one of Saturday’s three medal division tournaments (Gold, Silver, Bronze).
