WPU Falls in Five to AIB
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Oskaloosa–For the third time in four matches, the Statesmen volleyball went to a decisive fifth set, but unfortunately the same ending was played out as William Penn fell 3-2 to AIB in Midwest Collegiate Conference action Tuesday.
WPU (2-18, 0-2 MCC) fell by scores of 25-13, 25-20, 22-25, 23-25, 13-15.
The hosts held a .137-.123 edge in hitting, but it did not translate into a victory yet again. WPU dominated the opener with a .167 mark, while limiting the Eagles to a -.047 clip. The second set was much closer, but after being tied at 19-19, the navy and gold recorded six of the final seven points for the huge 2-0 edge.
Up 13-10 in the third go-round, the Statesmen were looking to wrap up the sweep, but could not close the door. Another three-point advantage in the fourth set (21-18) was squandered to force a fifth and final battle.
WPU managed the first two points in the fifth, but three unanswered put AIB (6-13, 1-0 MCC) on top for good. The home squad did pull within one at 13-12, but the visitors closed out the come-from-behind win with two of the last three points of the night.
Injuries limited the Statesmen’s depth as kills leader Kylie Giger (Jr., Elkhart, Ind., Exercise Science) was again out of action as was key bench player Kelsey Guyette (So., Ottumwa, Iowa, Elementary Education).
Kayce Skocko (Sr., Watsonville, Calif., Business Management) tried to make up the difference with a match-high 16 kills, while Shawni Wills (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology) also reached double figures with 12 winners. Ana Gutch (Sr., Eddyville, Iowa, Secondary Education) narrowly missed the mark with nine kills in addition to a squad-high .348 attack percentage. Emily McHugh (Jr., Plainfield, Ill., Pre-Law & Psychology) added eight kills as well.
Leyra Jusino (Jr., Bayamon, P.R., General Biology) finished with 43 assists, while Danielle Breeher (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Undecided) served up five aces. She dug 20 Eagle attacks, but Wills had the high mark with 23 digs. Jusino (21 digs) and Skocko (10 digs) joined Wills in the double-double club (kills and digs).
Gutch and Erika Getz (Jr., Parsons, Kan., Physical Education) each had one solo block and two block assists.
Next Up: William Penn is off until next Wednesday, traveling to Fayette, Mo. to face Central Methodist in non-conference action at 7:30 p.m.
