Win Streak to Eight as Lady Statesmen Sweep Ashford
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Oskaloosa–The William Penn volleyball team kept intact the program’s longest winning in two years with a 3-0 sweep over Ashford in non-conference action Thursday.
The Lady Statesmen (18-6), who own an eight-match winning streak, won by scores of 25-21, 28-26, 25-23. William Penn was actually outhit .205-.186, but countered that with 21 more hitting attempts on the evening.
The hosts were resilient, trailing in each and every game, including facing a 4-1 deficit early in the opening game. The navy and gold eventually took the lead for good at 19-18 and pulled away to claim the 1-0 lead.
Game two came even harder as William Penn lost a four-point advantage late and was forced to score 28 points to take the commanding 2-0 edge.
The Saints (14-8) claimed their largest advantage of the night (11-6) in the third and final game. Fortunately, the Lady Statesmen regrouped to score ten of the next 14 points to go ahead for the first time. The lead exchanged hands a few more time, finally settling at 22-22 before William Penn recorded three of the final four points for the victory.
Two nights after leading her squad with 19 kills against St. Ambrose, Lacey Taylor (Sr., Cedar, Iowa, Elementary Education) again paced the offense with 18 winners. Kylie Giger (Fr., Elkhart, Ind., Undecided) was also in double figures with 13 kills.
Katie Rielly (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Digital Communications) and Jeanette Cunningham (Jr., Mt. Orab, Ohio, Elementary Education) narrowly missed the mark with nine kills each. Cunningham topped the hosts with a .318 attack clip.
Dayna Sammons (So., Menomonee Falls, Wis., Software Engineering) finished with 47 assists, while Giger served up three of William Penn’s seven aces (Ashford had just one ace).
Defensively, Danielle Breeher (Fr., St. Louis, Mo., Undecided) managed 24 digs and Cunningham helped with three blocks (two solos, one assist).
“This was a nice win for us as we go into our first open weekend of the season,” Head Coach Jeremy Wise said. “Our goal tonight was to keep things going in the right direction that we have been building the last couple weeks. Our team chemistry has come together on the court and off. If we “Hold On” to that the rest of the year, this team will surprise a lot of people.”
“We showed some more improvements tonight,” Wise added. “We were really trying to close the match quickly after our first two home matches this season went the distance. As a coaching staff, we wanted to see that closing mentality tonight and we did. I am very proud of our ladies’ efforts tonight.”
Next: William Penn remains at home next Monday to host Simpson in non-conference action at 7:30 p.m.
