DUBUQUE — The William Penn women’s volleyball team started slow, but warmed up as the evening wore on en route to a 3-2 victory over Clarke in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Tuesday.
WPU (10-10, 4-3 Heart) won by scores of 24-26, 26-28, 25-22, 25-18, 15-3 and outhit the Pride .189-.023.
It was a grind for the visitors through the opening two sets as they hit under .150 in both rounds. The squad led numerous times in the opening set, including being up 21-19, but could put the home team away in falling behind 1-0 in the match.
The second time around was eerily similar with William Penn again posting a late two-point edge at 22-20. Unfortunately, Clarke (3-17, 2-6 Heart) scored three unanswered and on its fourth set point, finally claimed the winner for a commanding 2-0 advantage in the bout.
In the third set, the Statesmen took the lead for good at 4-3 and had comfortable separation, but had to hold off the hosts in the late moments. Up 23-18, WPU permitted four points, but a kill by Jade Melton (Sr., Hallsville, Mo., Psychology) and an attack error by CU kept the visiting crew alive at 2-1.
The fourth set opened with the Statesmen falling behind 3-1, but they rallied with four straight and stayed on top the rest of the way.
Having captured the momentum with back-to-back sets, WPU could have easily expected to run away with the decisive fifth set, but even the visitors could not have predicted such a landslide.
The Statesmen scored the first seven points of the set before allowing CU’s first point. WPU then went on another 7-0 run to blast the Pride in the reverse sweep. The victors managed needed just four kills (they hit .231) in the final set as they also recorded four blocks in limiting Clarke to a -.304 mark in the fifth.
After a slow start, Alyvia Johnson (Jr., Owatonna, Minn., Business Management) produced yet another double-double with 16 kills (.278 attack %) and 20 digs. She played her best in the fourth round with six winners.
Melton kept the Statesmen afloat in the early going and finished with 14 winners on a .242 clip, while Andressa Borges (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sports Management) just missed double digits with nine winners. Katlyn Jeter (Jr., Solon, Iowa, Business Management), with eight kills, Alyssa Young (Sr., Winter Springs, Fla., Exercise Science), with six, and Riley Hungate (So., Joliet, Ill., Business Management), with five, also contributed offensively.
Mia Brady (So., Pontiac, Ill., Exercise Science) assisted on 27 kills, while Cate Hahn (Jr., St. Charles, Mo., Biology) tacked on an additional 20 helpers. Brady was also productive at the service line with a team-high three aces.
Kaya Caprini (So., Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology) managed 27 digs for tops on the team, while Young (seven block assists) and Patricia De Souza (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Physical Education) (one solo block, six block assists) both had big nights at the defensive net. Overall, the Statesmen stuffed the Pride 17 times (nine for CU).
“It was not the prettiest night, but we got the win,” Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said. “We were able to use some firepower going into the fifth set to finish with a statement. Four consecutive five-set matches shows this team has a lot of fight and drive in them.”
