Statesmen Serve Up Season-High 13 Aces in Another Five-Set Matchup

Peru, Neb.--The William Penn women's volleyball team broke a streak of heartbreaking losses by defeating Peru State 3-2 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.

WPU (16-15, 10-7 Heart), which was playing in its 10th five-set match of the season, won by scores of 25-21, 25-27, 25-23, 22-25, 15-10.  Entering Saturday, the navy and gold, who held a .183-.125 attacking advantage, had lost their last three contests, all which went to five sets.

Trailing 7-6 in the opening set, the Statesmen, who hit .211 in the set, scored eight unanswered to go on top 1-0 in the bout.

The second round was all about runs with PSC scoring the first seven points, but WPU responding with nine in a row.  After a few more mini runs, the visitors led 23-20, but could not close it out as the Bobcats evened the matchup at 1-1.

William Penn led 5-1 in the third set, but gave up the edge and trailed much of the set, including facing a 23-20 deficit.  However, a pair of kills by Alyvia Johnson (Jr., Owatonna, Minn., Business Management) and an ace by Mia Brady (So., Pontiac, Ill., Exercise Science) knotted the score at 23-23, and Andressa Borges (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sports Management) eventually wrapped up the set with another kill.

Unfortunately, the fourth go-round was the complete opposite of the third with the Statesmen ahead for much of it before PSC rallied to force a fifth and final set.

The fifth was close throughout until the Bobcats broke an 8-8 tie with back-to-back points.  The Statesmen called a timeout and came out of the huddle as a different squad, tallying three consecutive kills, including two by Katlyn Jeter (Jr., Solon, Iowa, Business Management).  The junior finished with 11 kills on a team-high .409 hitting clip.

Peru State called a timeout, but it did not help as Johnson served up a pair of aces and the Statesmen closed the afternoon with seven straight points for the victory.  Overall, WPU tallied 13 aces with Johnson posting four and the duo of Alyssa Young (Sr., Winter Springs, Fla., Exercise Science) and Brady each managing three.

Johnson paced the Statesmen with 18 kills in addition to 10 digs for a double-double, while Young also hit double figures with 14 kills.  Borges ended the win with five winners.

Brady recorded a double-double with 27 assists and a WPU-best 18 digs, while Jeter added 12 digs to her kill total to become WPU's third player with a double-double.

Chyanne Bradford (So., Rowlett, Texas, Secondary Education) was right behind Brady with 19 assists, while defensively, Johnson and Young led the way with four blocks apiece.

Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines next Tuesday to face Grand View in Heart play and in its regular season finale at 7 p.m.