Statesmen Drop Road Match to MidAmerica Nazarene in Three Sets

Olathe, Kan.-- William Penn women's volleyball team traveled to MidAmerica Nazarene Friday and was saddled with a 3-0 setback in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.

WPU (14-14, 4-9 Heart), which lost by scores of 17-25, 22-25, 21-25, was outhit by MNU (14-4, 9-1 Heart) .168-.073.

The Statesmen's second-half struggles continued as MidAmerica Nazarene, sitting third in the Heart of America Athletic Conference standings, showed why they're near the top. Midway through the opening set, the two squads split the first 18 points, but from there, MNU went on a run that WPU couldn't match, taking the set 25–17.

The Navy and Gold showed serious energy to start the second set, jumping out to an 11–2 lead. However, MNU responded with a dominant 22–11 run to take its first lead of the frame at 23–22. The Pioneers then closed it out with back-to-back points to secure a 2–0 match advantage.

Set three proved competitive once again, as the teams found another tie at 15–15 midway through. However, MNU pulled ahead late and maintained control down the stretch, taking the set 25–21 to complete the sweep.

Hailee Pesek (So., New Hampton, Iowa, Nursing) led the Statesmen offensively with six kills, followed by Joceline Martinez (Sr., Orange County, Calif., Psychology) with five.

Kaya Caprini (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology and Human Services) anchored the defense with a team-best 17 digs, while Abigail Mitchell (Jr., Oxford, Ala., Nursing) added 12.

Emalee Young (Jr., O'Fallon, Mo., Nursing) dished out 14 assists and added eight digs.

Up Next: William Penn travels to Parkville, Mo. on Saturday to take on Park in Heart action at 2 p.m.