William Penn Takes One Victory at Ashford Tourney
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Clinton–In easily its toughest invitational of the season, the Statesmen volleyball team finished 1-3 at the Ashford Tournament Friday and Saturday.
William Penn (8-10) began the weekend with a 3-0 loss to eventual champion #17 Bellevue (Neb.) (11-25, 16-25, 13-25). Friday’s qualifying concluded with another 3-0 loss to Culver-Stockton (Mo.) (23-25, 19-25, 14-25).
In Saturday’s Bronze Tournament, the Statesmen defeated Michigan-Dearborn 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22), but then lost 3-2 to William Woods (Mo.) (25-23, 26-24, 19-25, 21-25, 15-17).
Bellevue 3, William Penn 0
Kylie Giger (So., Elkhart, Ind., Exercise Science) paced her squad with six kills, while Danielle Breeher (So., St. Louis, Mo., Undecided) had 13 digs.
Jeanette Cunningham (Sr., Mt. Orab, Ohio, Elementary Education) finished with two solo blocks.
Culver-Stockton 3, William Penn 0
Giger again led WPU with 11 kills, while Cunningham added seven. A total of 13 assists were notched by Dayna Sammons (Jr., Menomonee Falls, Wis., Software Engineering), while Leyra Jusino (So., Bayamon, P.R., General Biology) had 11 assists.
Breeher’s 20 digs were a squad best.
“We faced two pretty strong teams on Friday,” Head Coach Jennifer Carlson said. “Bellevue is a great program and we knew what we had coming at us.”
“Culver-Stockton has a nice team as well and even though we lost in three sets, we gave them a run,” Carlson added.
William Penn 3, Michigan-Dearborn 1
Giger again topped the Statesmen with 11 winners, and Cunningham and DeAuntra Pryor (So., East Chicago, Ill., Elementary Education) contributed six kills.
Sammons finished with 22 assists (15 for Jusino), while Giger had four of the navy and gold’s 13 aces. Breeher (21 digs) and Pryor (four block assists) guided the defensive effort.
William Woods 3, William Penn 2
Alanna Connors (Sr., Libertyville, Ill., Biology) and Shawni Wills (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology) both got into the mix in the weekend finale. Connors led WPU with 13 kills and Wills also reached double figures with 11. Cunningham added eight and Giger managed six.
Sammons accounted for 35 assists, while Connors served up three aces. Breeher posted 13 digs and Giger blocked five attempts all by herself.
“We played similarly-competitive teams on Saturday and got a good win against Michigan-Dearborn,” Carlson said. “Unfortunately, we could not pull off another win against William Woods, but our ladies fought hard until the end.”
“We knew this weekend was going to be tough, especially with having a few players missing,” Carlson said. “I am extremely proud how this group came together to play.”
Next: William Penn travels to Rock Island, Ill. Tuesday to compete in a non-conference triangular. William Penn first meets host Augustana at 3 p.m. and then takes on Carroll (Wis.) at 5 p.m.
