WPU Battles Hard but Drops to Baker in Five-Set Thriller

Oskaloosa-- The William Penn University women's volleyball team hosted Baker on Saturday morning in a closely contested five-set match, but WPU came up short as Baker earned a 3-2 victory in the Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup.

WPU (14-13, 4-8 Heart), which fell by scores of 25-11, 25-21, 14-25, 14-25, 9-15, was outhit .161-.092 against Baker (11-6, 5-4 Heart).

The Statesmen opened set one in dominant fashion. After the first 14 points were split between WPU and Baker, William Penn responded with 10 unanswered points to take complete control and secure a 1-0 lead.

Baker opened the second set with a 7-2 lead and maintained the five-point advantage until the score reached 17-12. The Statesmen then began to rally, going on an 8-3 run to tie the set at 20-20. From there, three attacking errors by Baker gave William Penn the edge, as the Statesmen closed out the set to take a 2-0 match lead.

The start of the third set saw the Wildcats climb back into the match. Midway through the set, Baker held a 10-8 lead before going on a dominant 13-1 run. Two kills from the Wildcats sealed the deal, giving the Wildcats a 25-14 win in set three.

Set four started evenly, with the score tied at 9-9. Baker then broke the tie with a 16-6 run, taking the set and forcing a decisive fifth with a reverse sweep in sight.

Baker didn't take its foot off the gas as William Penn tried to keep things close in the fifth set. After an even 6-6 start, the Wildcats took complete control and completed the reverse sweep with a 15-9 win in set five.

Maju Vieira (Jr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) once again headlined the Statesmen offense, recording another double-double on the season with 11 kills and 18 digs.

Khiani Jackson (Sr., St. Joseph, Mo., Psychology) closely followed Vieira in the digs category with nine, while Hailee Pesek (So., New Hampton, Iowa, Nursing) added eight and Emilie Bojorquez-McFadden (Jr., Surprise, Ariz., Biology) contributed six.

Kaya Caprini (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology and Human Services) anchored the Statesmen defense with a match-high 26 digs. She was followed by Mia Brady (Sr., Pontiac, Ill., Exercise Science) with 14 and Maddy Gustafson (So., Marion, Iowa, Psychology and Human Services) with 10.

Brady also dished out a team-high 20 assists, with Emalee Young (Jr., O'Fallon, Mo., Nursing) adding 10 more. 

Up Next: William Penn travels to Olathe, Kansas on Friday to take on MidAmerica Nazarene in Heart action at 7 p.m.