Statesmen Drop Five-Setter Against Mustangs on Senior Night

Oskaloosa--The William Penn women's volleyball team got the favor returned to it Tuesday on Senior Night as it fell 3-2 to Mount Mercy in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.

WPU (15-14, 9-6 Heart), which had defeated the Mustangs 3-2 in Cedar Rapids back on October 10, fell by scores of 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 12-25, 9-15.

The hosts, who were outhit .179-.105 overall, led 6-1 in the first set and continued to be in control at 13-6 until eight unanswered put MMU (20-6, 13-3 Heart) on top.  The Statesmen fortunately regrouped with a pair of 3-0 runs and took the first set.

The west side of the court proved to be the less fortunate one as neither side won any of the sets on it, including William Penn coming up short in the second round.  The Mustangs led wire-to-wire (four early ties) as they knotted the match at 1-1.

Back on the home side of the net for the third go-round, WPU battled through numerous ties and lead changes, but closed it out with a 5-1 run to grab a 2-1 edge in the bout.

Unfortunately, the Statesmen could not finish off their visitors as the fourth set was a runaway for MMU.

The Mustangs also tallied the first point of the fifth set, but the hosts rallied with three in a row and eventually pulled out to an 8-5 advantage as the squads switched sides.  As aforementioned, though, the west side provided tough sledding for the Statesmen as Mount Mercy scored seven unanswered and wrapped up the victory.

In a matchup that featured 11 blocks from both teams, Alyssa Young (Sr., Winter Springs, Fla., Exercise Science) had a team-best 12 kills and six blocks, while Riley Hungate (So., Joliet, Ill., Business Management) managed 11 kills with a squad-high seven blocks.  Young served up three aces as well.

Alyvia Johnson (Jr., Owatonna, Minn., Business Management) notched nine offensive winners and Jade Melton (Sr., Hallsville, Mo., Psychology) also produced six.

Cate Hahn (Jr., St. Charles, Mo., Biology) concluded the contest with 24 assists and Mia Brady (So., Pontiac, Ill., Exercise Science) came up with a double-double of 20 assists and 11 digs.

Patricia De Souza (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Fine Arts) was a force on the defensive net as well with five block assists, while Kaya Caprini (So., Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology) led the back row with 18 digs.

Next Up: William Penn travels to Lamoni Friday to face Graceland in Heart play at 6 p.m.