WPU Falls to Wildcats in Home Return
Oskaloosa–Playing in the Penn Activity Center for the first time in four weeks, the Statesmen women’s volleyball team came up short in a 3-1 Heart of America Athletic Conference loss to Culver-Stockton Saturday.
William Penn (11-10, 1-4 Heart), which fell by scores of 23-25, 17-25, 25-14, 18-25, was outhit .227-.142.
The hosts led 5-3 early in the first set, but could not hold off the Wildcats, who improved to 11-6 overall and 3-2 in the Heart. C-SC was on top for much of the opening round, but WPU rallied with six unanswered, including a pair of aces by Kaya Caprini (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology).
Unfortunately, Culver-Stockton bounced back and closed out the set for a 1-0 edge.
The home squad managed runs of 4-0 and 5-0 in the second set, but struggled for much of the session as it fell behind 2-0 in the match.
In a deep hole, WPU went to the bench in the third set and the non-starters impressed, hitting an afternoon-best .207 in the round. Even better, though, was their success on the service line as they tallied 10 total aces in the set.
Huston began the round with back-to-back winners, while Nicholaa Phillippe (Jr., Belle Plaine, Iowa, Psychology) was in the zone with six aces (four in a row at one point) during one single stretch of serving. Phillippe managed six in the bout (one shy of the school record), while Huston added five; overall, the navy and gold held a 13-4 advantage in aces.
Unfortunately, the momentum immediately shifted back to the Wildcats in the fourth set as the visitors closed out the contest.
Alyvia Johnson (Sr., Owatonna, Minn., Business Management) topped William Penn with 16 kills, while Hailee Pesek (Fr., New Hampton, Iowa, Nursing) also hit double figures with 11 winners. Patricia De Souza (Sr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sports Management), with seven kills, and Nicole McManus (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management), with five, were also solid offensive contributors.
In addition to her ace tally, Lydia Huston (Jr., Kansas City, Mo., Biology) assisted 45 times and also posted 15 digs for a double-double. Johnson managed 11 digs for a double-double of her own, while Caprini headlined the defensive back row with 16 digs.
Johnson and McManus both had a part in three blocks Saturday.
“This was an unfortunate start to our home conference campaign,” Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said. “We were missing a key contributor, but we still could have competed better on our home court. We need to make some changes going forward to get back to our winning ways.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines next Tuesday to face Grand View in Heart action at 7 p.m.
