Jimmie Men’s Volleyball, Thurs. 5 in a row

OSKALOOSA, Iowa  (UJ) –– The seventh-ranked University of Jamestown men’s volleyball team won its fifth straight match Thursday, defeating William Penn University 3-1. Set scores were 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-15.

The Jimmies (6-1) hit 40 percent in the first set, taking a 16-7 lead and only allowing the Statesmen to get within five points for the remainder of the set. Tanner Woods (FR/Huntington Beach, Calif.) had four kills and Zack Meyer (JR/Wheaton, Ill.) three as UJ finished with 13 in the opener.

Four more kills and a pair of service aces by Woods helped Jamestown win 25-20 in set two. Neither team had a consistent offensive attack, with UJ hitting .154 and WPU .138. Both teams had nine kills and five errors. Following a WPU service error, Jamestown led 17-10, but the Statesmen came back by scoring six of the next eight points to make it 19-16.

The Jimmies led just once in the third set at 7-6, and William Penn played with the lead for the third set, cutting the match to 2-1 following a 25-22 set victory. UJ had 14 kills in the set but 11 errors helped keep the home team in front.

Jamestown finished with a strong fourth set, hitting 80 percent and making just one error in 20 attempts. Clark Steele (JR/Lake Forest, Calif.) sent five balls to the floor and Meyer four more as six different players registered a kill in the set.

Woods finished with 17 kills and hit .464 while Meyer ended with 10 kills. Steele had nine, and the duo of Derek Owens (FR/Andover, Minn.) and Ever Cancel (FR/Mayaguez, Puerto Rico) both had six.

Derek Correa (FR/Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) (23) and Caylor Cox (FR/Helena, Mont.) (21) combined for 44 of the Jimmies’ 50 assists. Woods had six service aces, a season high. Braden Neumann (JR/Costa Mesa, Calif.) led the defense with 10 digs, followed by Meyer with seven. Cancel and Woods both had four block assists.

Jamestown is now 6-1 overall and will face No. 1 Grand View (Iowa) University in Des Moines on Friday. Match time is set for 7 p.m.