WPU Finishes 2-2 at Home Tourney
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen women’s volleyball team enjoyed being on its home court for the first time this fall, but unfortunately could not use that home cooking for a perfect weekend as it hosted the Jimmy John’s Classic Friday and Saturday.
William Penn (4-6) opened Friday with a 3-1 loss to Waldorf (25-18, 19-25, 19-25, 20-25) and was then toppled by Trinity International 3-1 (16-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-25).
The navy and gold bounced back Saturday by sweeping Iowa Wesleyan 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-14) and defeating Hannibal-LaGrange 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 25-17).
Waldorf 3, WPU 1
The Statesmen came out strong, outhitting the Warriors .265-.059 in the opening set. Unfortunately, WPU could not hold that momentum, falling behind early in the next three sets and dropping its first bout of Classic. Overall, William Penn lost the hitting battle .177-.143 and came up short in aces at 8-5.
WPU was the more aggressive net defender with 10 total blocks, compared to seven by WU.
Alyvia Johnson (So., Owatonna, Minn., Elementary Education) topped the Statesmen with 12 kills; she completed a double-double with an additional 19 digs (team best). The duo of Riley Hungate (Fr., Joliet, Ill., Business Management) and Katlyn Jeter (So., Solon, Iowa, Business Management) then both recorded nine kills. Corrin Lepper (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo., Biology) tallied eight winners, while Alyssa Young (Sr., Winter Springs, Fla., Biology) contributed six winners as well and also tied Johnson with five blocks.
Chyanne Bradford (Fr., Rowlett, Texas, Education) managed the offense with 23 assists and also served up three aces. Cecily Liphardt (Sr., Lincoln, Neb., Psychology and Business Management) was also stalwart on defense with 18 digs.
Trinity International 3, WPU 1
The navy and gold edged the Trojans in the second set, but were otherwise out of sorts as they were held winless on Friday. Overall, William Penn was outhit .222-.133, but fared better at the defensive net with a 7-3 advantage in blocks.
Lepper’s 10 kills and .400 attack percentage proved to be one of the squad’s lone bright spots. Young joined her in double figures with 10 kills, while Hungate had nine, Jade Melton (Jr., Hallsville, Mo., Psychology) finished with eight, and Johnson added five more.
Bradford guided the two-setter formation with 25 assists, while Liphardt had a huge outing with 29 digs. Lepper also led the Statesmen with four blocks.
WPU 3, Iowa Wesleyan 0
The Statesmen were never challenged by the Tigers, hitting .265 as a collective unit, while keeping IWU in the red at -.100. Eleven aces were recorded by the victors, including five by Macy Bailey (Sr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management). She also blazed the trail for the setters with 11 helpers.
Eight different WPU players managed a kill, led by nine from Katelynn Wissman (Sr., Shawnee, Okla., Biology). Her .538 attack clip was bested only by Johnson’s .600 mark, which she earned on seven kills. Young also ended the outing with seven points.
Johnson did even more work on defense with 15 digs, while Wissman completed her impressive showing with four block assists.
WPU 3, Hannibal-LaGrange 1
William Penn walked off the court for the weekend on a high note, holding a .236-.190 edge in hitting over the Trojans.
Johnson managed 16 kills, while Lepper (14, .360 attack) and Hungate (10, .364) also reached the double-figure mark and did so with efficient efforts. Melton’s seven winners came off the bench, while Young and Wissman were also in the mix with six kills apiece.
Bailey earned most of the work in the finale with 35 assists, while Caidince Cleveland (So., Bettendorf, Iowa, General Accounting) was WPU’s top defender with 21 digs in a non-starting role.
“It felt good to be on our home court for the first time this season,” Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said. “We again had some great moments, but need to find more of that more frequently as we go into conference play. It was nice to end our weekend with back-to-back wins and see a lot of players get experience so we saw how deep our squad is. We are ready to get conference started and show what we have moving forward.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Lamoni next Tuesday as it opens Heart of America Athletic Conference play against Graceland at 7 p.m.
