Statesmen Defeat Graceland in Four-Set Graveyard Game

Oskaloosa--The William Penn women's volleyball team made sure to bring a high-level performance on an entertaining night as it dropped Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Graceland 3-1 in the second annual Graveyard Game Tuesday.

WPU (14-11, 4-5 Heart), which won by scores of 25-16, 19-25, 25-21, 25-22, posted a .211-.124 hitting edge over the Yellowjackets.  The navy and gold have now won three matches in a row.

With her squad ahead just 5-3 on GU (1-17, 0-9 Heart) in the first set, Alyvia Johnson (Sr., Owatonna, Minn., Business Management) turned things up a notch with a pair of aces that were part of six unanswered points.

Patricia De Souza (Sr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sports Management) was the big factor in the opening set as she posted five kills, including three in a span of four Statesmen points.

Facing a 13-10 deficit in the second round, William Penn rallied with five in a row, only to see the visitors go on a similar run with seven straight and eventually knot the match at one set apiece.

Katlyn Jeter (Sr., Solon, Iowa, Business Management) paced her crew with 20 kills in the victory, headlined by eight winners in a tight, seesaw battle third set.  The sides were all square at 21-21, but Jeter sent two balls to the floor as WPU recorded the final four points for a 2-1 edge in the bout.

The home team then pulled out to an 11-6 edge in the fourth set, but GU responded and went on top 18-16.  Fortunately, a De Souza kill and a Johnson ace were bookends for a 7-0 run that included five Yellowjacket attack errors as WPU took the lead for good and held on down the stretch.

Jeter hit .395 with her 20 kills Tuesday, while Johnson produced a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs, alongside three aces.  The Statesmen came out on top despite losing the serving battle with just five aces, compared to nine for GU.

De Souza tacked on eight more kills in the victory, while Lydia Huston (Jr., Kansas City, Mo., Biology) posted 24 assists and Emalee Young (So., O'Fallon, Mo., Nursing) tallied 19.  Young joined Johnson with a double-double of her own as she also finished with 12 digs.

De Souza and Nicole McManus (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) both ended up with three blocks.  Overall, the Statesmen posted an 8-4 edge in blocks.

Kaya Caprini (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology) collected 11 digs, helping her eclipse 1,000 digs for her career.

"This was a great win on our home court and for the Graveyard Game," Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said.  "After our hot start, we cooled off a bit, but fortunately took back control as we limited our unforced errors.  We are looking forward to having a weekend off to rest before heading into the second round of conference play."

Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa next Tuesday to host Peru State in Heart play at 6 p.m.