WPU Suffers Another Tough Loss in League Opener
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Cedar Rapids–For the second time in 24 hours, the Statesmen volleyball fell in a heartbreaking manner as it opened the Midwest Collegiate Conference season with a 3-2 loss to Mount Mercy Wednesday.
William Penn (2-16, 0-1 MCC) lost by scores of 21-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23, 13-15.
Obvious by the line scores, Wednesday’s league opener was a tight one throughout with the Mustangs (8-10, 1-0 MCC) narrowly outhitting WPU .128-.119.
The Statesmen started slowly, hitting just .029 and never leading in the initial set. The visitors rebounded in the next go-round, however, taking a 6-1 lead and never looking back. MMU narrowed the margin to two points on several occasions down the stretch, but never held the advantage.
Momentum unfortunately swung right back in favor of the home squad in set #3. WPU tallied the first point, but four unanswered put the Mustangs in control and they reclaimed the edge 2-1.
Facing elimination, the Statesmen stepped up, especially on the defensive end (MMU hit -.045) and rallied for the victory in the fourth set. Down 22-16, William Penn took advantage of five attack errors by its foe to score nine of the final ten points to force a decisive fifth set.
The final turn witnessed five lead changes and seven ties. The Statesmen trailed 10-7, but battled to knot it up at 11-11 and then tied the set twice more. With the score 13-13, MMU unfortunately managed the final two points to extend WPU’s losing streak.
Tuesday night’s setback to Hannibal-LaGrange did not feature a single navy and gold player with double figure kills, but the squad reversed that trend Wednesday with three individuals reaching the mark.
Kylie Giger (Jr., Elkhart, Ind., Exercise Science) guided the way with 16 winners, while Kayce Skocko (Jr., Watsonville, Calif., Business Management) added 15. Ana Gutch (Sr., Eddyville, Iowa, Secondary Education) managed 11 kills and also had the best hitting mark at .273.
Shawni Wills (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology) finished with eight kills, while Leyra Jusino (Jr., Bayamon, P.R., General Biology) assisted 47 times.
Danielle Breeher (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Undecided) served up two aces, while Giger and Jusino were team leaders with 23 digs apiece. Giger also posted two block assists as did Erika Getz (Jr., Parsons, Kan., Physical Education).
“A completely different team came out on the court tonight,” Head Coach Jennifer Carlson said. “We started out slow and had a little hole to climb out from, but we fought back until the end. Unfortunately, this was another bittersweet match that did not go our way.”
Next Up: William Penn returns home Friday to host Culver-Stockton (Mo.) in non-conference play at 7 p.m.
