Statesmen Drop First Heart Match

Oskaloosa--The William Penn women's volleyball team suffered its first Heart of America Athletic Conference loss in a 3-1 setback to Culver-Stockton Friday.

WPU (8-7, 4-1 Heart), which lost by scores of 21-25, 25-17, 23-25, 17-25, was outhit .192-.113.

The navy and gold sprinted out to 6-2 lead in the opening set and stayed on top at 14-11, but unfortunately a 6-1 run gave Culver-Stockton (8-4, 4-3 Heart) the lead for good.

The Statesmen, who were held under a .100 attack mark in the first, third, and fourth sets, were on fire in the second round at .382 and pulled even in the match. Alyvia Johnson (So., Owatonna, Minn., Elementary Education), with six kills in the set, and Alyssa Young (Sr., Winter Springs, Fla., Biology), with five winners, helped their team roll in the second round.

William Penn and C-SC were knotted at 8-8 in the swing third set, but the hosts got the upper hand at 19-12. WPU scored six consecutive points and stayed with the Wildcats until the end, but could not get over the hump.

Another strong start by the Statesmen (up 4-1) was countered by Culver-Stockton. Unfortunately, with the fourth set tied at 15-15, WPU allowed eight points in a row as the home team closed out the evening.

Johnson just missed a double-double with 11 kills and nine digs, while Young matched her teammate with 11 winners at a .318 attack clip.

Riley Hungate (Fr., Joliet, Ill., Business Management) tallied seven kills, while Corrin Lepper (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo., Biology) and Andressa Borges (So., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sports Management) also contributed with six and five points, respectively.

Macy Bailey (Sr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) assisted on 24 kills in addition to three aces, while Cecily Liphardt (Sr., Lincoln, Neb., Psychology and Business Management) and Caidince Cleveland (So., Bettendorf, Iowa, General Accounting) guided the defense with 14 digs each.

WPU came up short in aces (7-5) and blocks (10-5).

Next Up: William Penn travels to Parkville, Mo. next Friday to face #11 Park in Heart play at 7 p.m.