William Penn Battles in Kansas Tournament

McPherson Kan./Hillsboro, Kan.--The Statesmen women's volleyball team closed out its non-conference tournament play by collecting another win as it competed in the McPherson Invitational Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, WPU (11-5) fell to Bethel (Kan.) 3-1 (15-25, 22-25, 25-18, 21-25) and then came up short 3-2 to Doane (Neb.) (25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 16-18).

The navy and gold bounced back Saturday with a 3-0 sweep of Tabor (Kan.) (25-20, 25-18, 25-12), but closed the tournament with a 3-0 setback to No. 9 McPherson (14-25, 15-25, 11-25).

Bethel 3, WPU 1

After dropping the first two rounds, the Statesmen stayed alive with a solid third set, hitting .282, while limiting the Threshers to -.024.  Overall, however, WPU was outhit .233-.193 by a program that is receiving votes in the NAIA.

Maju Vieira (Jr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) attacked at a .375 rate with a squad-best 12 kills.  The duo of Khiani Jackson (Sr., St. Joseph, Mo., Psychology) and Abigail Mitchell (Jr., Oxford, Ala., Nursing) joined Vieira in double digits with 10 kills apiece, while Alix Robinson (Fr., Pontiac, Ill., Political Science and History) just missed the mark with nine.

Joceline Martinez (Orange County, Calif., Psychology) and Emilie Bojorquez-McFadden (Jr., Surprise, Ariz., Biology) started their weekends with five kills as well.

Mia Brady (Sr., Pontiac, Ill., Exercise Science) assisted on 19 of the winners with Courtney McWilliams (Fr., Rockton, Ill., Nursing) right behind her with 18 helpers.

Kaya Caprini (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Psychology and Human Services) produced 18 digs, while Bojorquez-McFadden was next with 17.

Doane 3, WPU 2

The Statesmen suffered a bit of uneven play, hitting well over .300 in their two set wins, but were under .200 in their three losses.  The wins lifted the squad to a .199-.137 overall hitting edge, but unfortunately it was not enough against the Tigers.

After pushing the bout to a fifth and deciding set, William Penn was unable to get over the hump and eventually lost, in spite of 17 kills by Vieira (.324 attack pct.).

Mitchell (13) and Bojorquez-McFadden (11) were in double figures as well, while Martinez (7), Robinson (6), and Kalley Brase (Centertown, Mo., New Media) (5) also contributed at the offensive net.

McWilliams led the setters with 29 assists (Brady had 19).

Caprini was everywhere in the back row, posting a 28-dig performance.  The senior also had two aces, while Maddy Gustafson (So., Marion, Iowa, Psychology and Human Services) was the service line star with three aces.

Martinez (three solo blocks) and Robinson (two solos, one assist) topped the defensive net presence.

WPU 3, Tabor 0

The navy and gold took it to the Bluejays in their home facility, posting a .186-.043 hitting advantage with three attackers finishing over .300.

Mitchell was the crew's top offender with 10 kills, while Vieira tallied eight and Jackson managed seven.

Brady recorded a double-double with 19 assists and 15 digs, while also serving up three aces.  Caprini's 17 digs were a squad high, and Martinez ended up with three total blocks.

Martinez also finished with four aces as William Penn tallied 12 overall.

McPherson 3, WPU 0

The Statesmen, who were outhit .435-.113, could not get their proverbial engine turned over versus the ninth-ranked Bulldogs on their home court.

Martinez headlined the offense with six kills, while Brady had 13 assists and seven digs.  Defensively, Martinez also added one solo block and one block assist.

"This was a tough weekend, but we learned a lot from our losses," Head Coach Lauren Eldridge said.  "It shows we can compete with some great teams; we just have to work on finishing out sets.  We will use this weekend to focus on the small things that took us out of sets, which will help us going into a tough conference field."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Lamoni Tuesday to face Graceland in Heart of America Athletic Conference action at 7 p.m.