OSKALOOSA — The William Penn women’s volleyball team secured a season sweep of Clarke Tuesday, sweeping its foe 3-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play.
WPU (14-12, 8-5 Heart), which won by scores of 25-22, 27-25, 25-19, also defeated the Pride (3-22, 2-1 Heart) in five sets earlier this season.
The hosts got slightly stronger offensively as the night wore on, posting a final hitting edge of .069-.000.
The navy and gold pulled out to a 7-1 edge in the opening round, but Clarke rallied all the way back and claimed an 11-10 advantage. Still down 14-12, William Penn scored the next five points, only to see Clarke again return the favor to put the home team in a 21-20 hole. Fortunately, the Statesmen regrouped with four consecutive points to go up 1-0 in the match.
WPU went up 6-1 in the second round and increased the margin to 13-5 before succumbing to a CU rally. The visitors eventually held a 22-18 lead, but the Statesmen called a timeout and it was timely and successful as the squad managed a couple of small runs for a 2-0 edge.
The Statesmen were on top for much of the third set, but only by one at 13-12. The hosts then took control with six of the next seven points and held off a Clarke push to snatch the sweep.
Alyvia Johnson (Jr., Owatonna, Minn., Business Management) headlined WPU’s efforts with nine kills, 12 digs, and three solo blocks.
Alyssa Young (Sr., Winter Springs, Fla., Exercise Science) and Jade Melton (Sr., Hallsville, Mo., Psychology) were next for the offense with seven winners each, while Katlyn Jeter (Jr., Solon, Iowa, Business Management) was good for an additional six winners.
Mia Brady (So., Pontiac, Ill., Exercise Science) assisted on 19 kills, while Cate Hahn (Jr., St. Charles, Mo., Biology) managed 12 assists in the victory.
In regards to the team’s serving, Jeter produced three of WPU’s five aces. Defensively, Young recorded five block assists as part of WPU’s 11-5 advantage.
“We did not play our prettiest volleyball tonight, but it still felt good to get it done in three sets since it took us five last time,” Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said. “Going 2-0 on a conference opponent for the year is huge. This is a great momentum going into a tough weekend.”
