WPU Collects First Win of 2024, Finishes MVC Tournament with 1-2 Record

WPU Collects First Win of 2024, Finishes MVC Tournament with 1-2 Record

Marshall, Mo.--The William Penn women's volleyball team broke into the win column as it went 1-2 at the Missouri Valley Tournament Friday and Saturday.

The Statesmen (1-4) began the weekend with a 3-1 loss to #18 Central Methodist on Friday (25-20, 19-25, 16-25, 12-25).

On Saturday, WPU was swept 3-0 by Missouri Valley (18-25, 23-25, 22-25) before finally picking up its first win of the campaign by dropping Tabor 3-1 (29-27, 20-25, 25-23, 25-20).

CMU 3, WPU 1

The Statesmen, who were outhit .174-.051, led wire-to-wire (one tie) to take the opening set, but unfortunately could not built off of that as each of the following sets the Eagles got stronger offensively.

William Penn was paced by 11 kills from Alyvia Johnson (Sr., Owatonna, Minn., Business Management), while Katlyn Jeter (Solon, Iowa, Business Management) added nine.  Patricia De Souza (Sr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sports Management) was good for six winners, and Khiani Jackson (Jr., St. Joseph, Mo., Psychology) contributed five more.

Lydia Huston (Jr., Kansas City, Mo., Biology) assisted on 20 of WPU's kills, while Johnson, who had two aces, finished her double-double with 15 digs.  Defensively, Delaney Morrow (Moore, Okla., Business Management) notched 19 digs, whereas De Souza's three block assists topped the net defenders.

MVC 3, WPU 0

The first set featured several runs, but unfortunately, the Vikings' stretches were much longer than WPU's.

The navy and gold claimed a 17-13 edge, but could not hold on in the second round.  The third set was in the same vein as William Penn was ahead 21-19, but failed to put away MVC.

Overall, the Statesmen lost the hitting battle .202-.091 with Jeter's 10 kills leading the way.  De Souza was right behind her with nine offensive points, while Morrow had six kills and Johnson finished with five.

WPU employed a pair of setters as Huston notched 13 assists and Cate Hahn (Sr., St. Charles, Mo., Biology) had 12.  The duo of Jeter and Maddy Gustafson (Fr., Marion, Iowa, Psychology and Human Services) both served up two aces, and defensively Johnson handled 12 digs.  Jade Melton (Hallsville, Mo., Psychology) ended the contest with three blocks (one solo).

WPU 3, Tabor 1

The Statesmen fought off a few set points before closing the opening round with three unanswered points.

After losing the second set, William Penn was on the verge of going down 2-1, but a 21-17 deficit was erased with seven of the next eight points.

Again in the rearview for the fourth set, the navy and gold chipped away and then broke a tie with five straight points before Jeter wrapped up the victory via a kill.

With Johnson out of the lineup versus the Bluejays, Jeter stepped up and amassed 16 kills on a .222 attack clip.  De Souza also produced with eight winners.

Huston assisted 30 times, while Cagle's three aces were a team high.  Huston was credited with a team-best 14 digs as well for a double-double performance.

The Statesmen, who held a .135-.103 hitting edge, were much better defensively with an 11-3 advantage in blocks.  De Souza was her crew's most prolific blocker with one solo and five assists.

"It is nice to finally get a win under our belt, but there is still a lot of room for improvement," Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said.  "We had some ladies step up this weekend, which was nice to see, but there are a lot of things we need to work on in this upcoming week of practice."

"We know we are capable of so much more than what we are producing, but we are excited to finally be on our home court next weekend and show our improvements," Eldridge added.

Next Up: The Statesmen return to Oskaloosa next Friday and Saturday to host the William Penn Tournament.  On Friday, the navy and gold will face Hannibal-LaGrange at 3 p.m. and Tabor at 7 p.m., while on Saturday, WPU takes on Mount Marty at 11 a.m. and Waldorf at 3 p.m.