WPU Faces Stiff Competition at Viterbo Tourney

La Crosse, Wis.--The Statesmen women's volleyball team failed to break through against some of the best teams in the NAIA as it went 1-3 at the Viterbo Days Inn V-Hawk Invitational Friday and Saturday.

WPU (7-7) opened Friday with a 3-0 loss to #10 Montana Tech (18-25, 18-25, 13-25) before taking a set against #4 and host Viterbo in a 3-1 loss (17-25, 29-27, 13-25, 15-25).

On Saturday, the navy and gold fell 3-0 to #11 Columbia (Mo.) (11-25, 22-25, 22-25), but closed out the weekend with a sweep of Dakota State (25-15, 25-22, 25-21).

Montana Tech 3, WPU 0

The Statesmen hit well, but so did the Diggers as WPU was out-attacked .297-.225.  William Penn led 12-9 in the first set, but could not hold off MTU.

The squad never got going in the second, but rebounded to lead 4-1 in the third set, only to see Montana Tech go on a huge run and put the match away.

Andressa Borges (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sports Management) paced the Statesmen with seven kills, while Katlyn Jeter (Jr., Solon, Iowa, Business Management) and Jade Melton (Sr., Hallsville, Mo., Psychology) added five winners each.  Melton hit a team-high .455 in the setback.

Mia Brady (So., Pontiac, Ill., Exercise Science), with 11 assists, and Chyanne Bradford (So., Rowlett, Texas, Education), with nine, combined in the two-setter system.

Kaya Caprini (So., Minneapolis, Minn., Undecided) paced the defense with 10 digs, while Alyvia Johnson (Jr., Owatonna, Minn., Elementary Education) contributed nine.

Viterbo 3, WPU 1

Despite being outhit .245-.094, WPU was able to pick off the V-Hawks once.  The tournament host rolled in the first set and had the Statesmen against the wall in the second round with a 24-20 edge.

The visitors did not flinch, however, and scored four in a row and fought off a total of six set points before finally taking the set 29-27.

Unfortunately, the win only reenergized Viterbo as it cruised in the third and fourth sets.  WPU did manage to own an 8-7 overall edge in blocks.

Jeter, with 11 kills and 15 digs, and Johnson, with 10 kills and 16 digs, both posted double-doubles.  Borges finished with seven kills in the matchup.

Brady assisted 16 times, while Bradford was right behind her with 15 helpers, while Caprini recorded 19 digs to headline the defensive effort.

Of WPU's eight blocks, Patricia De Souza (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Fine Arts) was part of six (all assists).

Columbia 3, WPU 0

Unfortunately, little went right for William Penn in Saturday's opener against the Cougars as the crew lost the hitting battle .291-.144.

Johnson topped her team with 11 kills, while Riley Hungate (So., Joliet, Ill., Business Management) posted seven winners on a .353 clip.  Borges ended the bout with six kills and De Souza had five more.

Cate Hahn (Jr., St. Charles, Mo., Biology) performed well with 16 assists, while Bradford tallied 12.  Caprini's 16 digs were a squad high.

WPU 3, Dakota State 0

The Statesmen wrapped up a tough weekend on a high note, including hitting .188 against Dakota State (.053 for DSU).

Johnson had a big showing with 13 kills (.314 attack %) and 18 digs, while Borges just missed double digits with nine kills.  Hungate and Keegan Buller (Jr., Rowlett, Texas, Psychology) both tallied seven kills, and De Souza added six more.

Bradford led the setters with 20 assists.

Defensively, four Statesmen eclipsed double figures in digs with Caprini matching Johnson with 18.  Hungate (11) and Borges (10) also hit the mark.

Buller (three block assists) and Borges (one solo, two assists) both had a part in three blocks.

"This was a tough weekend for us, competing against some of the top teams in the nation," Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said.  "We saw some really good things, but we were not able to execute consistently.  We know we are capable of hanging in there with these type of squads, so now we need to fix the little things so we can start winning the big matches."

"We ended the weekend on a very high note against Dakota State," Eldridge added.  "We executed and took care of the small things that we talked about in previous matches.  We look forward to fixing some more of those little things that will help us going into conference play."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Marshall, Mo. next Friday to face Missouri Valley in Heart of America Athletic Conference action at 7 p.m.