William Penn Departs North Sioux City with Three Wins in Tournament
North Sioux City, S.D.–The Statesmen women’s volleyball team traveled to the Siouxland Invitational Friday and Saturday and came home with three more wins to add to its early season total.
William Penn (5-1) opened the tournament Friday with a 3-1 win against Bismarck State (N.D.) (12-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-20), but then succumbed to Dakota State (S.D.) 3-0 (14-25, 11-25, 13-25). On Saturday, WPU got back to its winning ways, sweeping Mayville State (N.D.) 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-16) and taking down Briar Cliff 3-1 (25-13, 19-25, 25-21, 25-15).
WPU 3, Bismarck State 1
After a one-sided first set that went against the navy and gold, William Penn took over the rest of the way, winning the next three sets despite being outhit .259-.158 overall. The Statesmen did dominate at the service line, however, as they collected 12 aces compared to Bismarck State’s four.
Emilie Bojorquez-McFadden (Jr., Surprise, Ariz., Biology) paved the way for the Statesmen in the weekend opener with 14 kills. Hailee Pesek (So., New Hampton, Iowa, Nursing) was next as she collected nine kills.
Maju Vierira (Jr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was one kill shy of a double-double, totaling nine kills and 19 digs.
Rounding it out for the Statesmen were Emalee Young (Jr., O’Fallon, Mo., Nursing) (20) and Mia Brady (Sr., Pontiac Ill., Nursing) (19) as they combined for 39 assists.
Dakota State 3, WPU 0
Kaya Caprini (Sr. Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology) was the only Statesmen to reach double-digits against the Spartans as she had 10 digs.
Vierira finished with a team-high five kills, while the Statesmen were outhit .344-.013.
WPU 3, Mayville State 0
WPU bounced back on Saturday, outhitting Mayville State .122-.027 with the standout play coming in the third set. In the clinching go-round, the navy and gold hit .348, while limiting the Comets to a -.038 mark.
Bojorquez-McFadden posted a team-high nine kills, while Khiani Jackson (Sr., St. Joseph, Mo., Psychology) was right behind with seven kills.
Caprini and Vierira headlined the defense with 11 digs apiece, while Brady narrowly missed a double-double with 15 assists and nine digs.
WPU 3, Briar Cliff 1
WPU wrapped up its weekend tournament with a victory, although it was outblocked 12-6.
Pesek was the best hitter in the bout with 16 kills, while Jackson also reached double figures with 10. Bojorquez-McFadden and Alix Robinson (Fr., Pontiac, Ill.) ended up with eight winners each.
Caprini (15), Brady (12), Bojorquez-McFadden (11), Vierira (11) topped the victors in the dig column, and Brady (23) and Young (22) again guided WPU in assists.
Overall, WPU outhit Briar Cliff .175- .101.
“This was a solid weekend for us, going 3-1 against some good competition,” Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said. “While we still need to work out some kinks, we did a lot of great things; I am very happy with how we competed in the opening weekend of the season. This is a great start to the season.”
Up Next: William Penn heads to Columbia, Mo. Wednesday to take on Columbia in non-conference play at 5:30 p.m.
