Oskaloosa–Junior hitter Savanna Hartman (Morgan Hill, Calif., Psychology) and senior setter Leyra Jusino (Bayamon, P.R., General Biology) both notched postseason recognition as the 2015 all-Heart of America Athletic Conference volleyball teams were announced today.

Hartman and Jusino, who are both first-time honorees, were named to the 23-person honorable-mention list.  A total of 51 individuals garnered either first, second, or honorable-mention laurels.

Hartman paced William Penn (6-23, 1-10 Heart) with 254 kills (.156 attack pct.) in addition to 77 digs, 36 blocks, three aces, and two assists.  The junior reached double-figure kills on 13 occasions, highlighted by an 18-kill effort against Avila.

Jusino ‘captained’ the offense with 747 assists (7.3 assists/set).  She also managed 50 kills, 238 digs, 23 blocks, and eight aces.  The senior recorded a season-best 55 assists against Robert Morris (Ill.).  She was named Heart Setter of the Week on October 5.

Rachel Kater of MidAmerica Nazarene was named both Heart Player and Setter of the Year.  Jhessica Martins of Peru State claimed Attacker of the Year accolades, while Morgan Smith (Evangel) and Shannon Liewer (Peru State) shared the Libero of the Year award.  Freshman of the Year honors went to Cydney Newton of Avila.  MNU’s Kristin Steele and Molly Brewster were named Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year, respectively.

For the complete 2015 all-Heart team, go to http://www.haacsports.com/d/2015-16/2015{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}20VB{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}20All{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}20Conf.pdf

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Dutch wrestlers lose tight Iowa Conference opener

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Central College wrestling team gave No. 11 Coe College all it could handle Thursday night, but came up short in the upset bid, falling 19-18.

The Dutch (0-1, 0-1 conf.) and Kohawks (1-0, 1-0 conf.) were tied 18-18 after the completion of all 10 matches. The match went to the third tie-breaking criteria of total points scored not including falls or forfeits, where Coe had outpaced Central 44-42, to break the tie and give Coe the win.

Central competed Thursday night without returning All-American and third-ranked Matt Seabold (junior, Burlington) at 197 pounds, who was out for medical reasons.

Three straight wins to start the match catapulted Central to a 12-0 lead. CJ Pestano (sophomore, Torrance, Calif.) and Aaron Anderson (senior, Clarion, Iowa, Clarion-Goldfield HS) got it started with decisions at 125 pounds and 133 pounds, respectively. Sophomore Jahleel Vester (Oak Harbor, Wash.) punctuated the 12-0 run with a second period fall.

“If you’re going to compete with a team like Coe, you have to set the tempo early,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “Those three established an intensity level that we really needed as team in order to give ourselves a chance to win”

Vester took over as the starter at 141 as a freshman in 2014-15 and emerged once again from a crowded field this season.

“I think that Jahleel just had to figure out how could he could be, “ Van Kley said. “He’s realizing he can be pretty special. He’s just got to continue to commit to the process and making improvements.”

Central needed dramatic wins on the back end to stay in the match. At 184, freshman Austin Laabs (Guthrie Center) won 3-1 in overtime to keep the Dutch alive. Senior Jay Pike (Solon) followed that up by scoring a takedown with less than 10 seconds left in a 3-1 win.

“I think both of those guys are great examples of mental toughness and staying the course,’ Van Kley said. “Both of those matches were grinding and challenging matches. Austin and Jay kept a good head on the shoulders and won tough matches. I’m proud of their effort.”

The Dutch nearly pulled off their first road win against the Kohawks since 1990, but fell to the third tie-breaking criteria.

“Bottom line, every guy in our program is disappointed that we didn’t get the job done,” Van Kley said. “Our guys expect to be able to compete in those kind of environments. Our guys showed that they’re capable of it tonight.”

The Dutch have a short turnaround, as they hit the road to compete at the Augsburg Adidas Open in Minneapolis Saturday.

“We’ve got to get better,” Van Kley said. “They’re were a lot of opportunities tonight that we didn’t capitalize on. The great thing about our schedule is that we’re on our bus (Friday) at noon and we get another chance to compete. I think we’ve got a lot guys that like competing in big matches.”

Story provided by Joe Flaherty

The Oskaloosa 8th Grade Boys traveled to Grinnell Tuesday night and came back with a split. Oskaloosa won the “A” game 47-14 and came up just short in the “B” game losing 33-28.

In the “A” game, Oskaloosa started slow and then was able to build a 21-10 halftime lead. The Indians came out in the second half with a little more fire and turned numerous Grinnell turnovers into points. Oskaloosa played a full-court trapping man defense which helped put the game out of reach early I the second half. Tyler Miller led the way with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 8 steals. Reese Sarver scored 9 points with Noah VanVeldhuizen next at 8 points and 8 rebounds. Xavier Foster and Iszak Schultz each scored 7. Foster pulled down 5 rebounds and Schultz pulled down 4 rebounds and 5steals. Colton Butler and Walker Newman rounded out scoring with 2 points each. The Indians committed 17 turnovers and will need to improve on that when they meet Pella on Monday, November 23rd.

Oskaloosa dropped a close 33-28 decision in the “B” game. Sullivan Tighe led the scoring with 10 points while Dalton Deney was next with 6 points. Collin Bambrook chipped in 4 points and Austin Adams, Andrew Scholes, Kaden Bambrook, and Owen Gordon each scored 2 points. Treyton Schilling was the leading rebounder with 4.

Story provided by Doug DeKock

Marshall, Mo.–Three players eclipsed the 20-point mark and the Statesmen men’s basketball team survived both its first road test and first battle in the Heart of America Athletic Conference with a 92-83 win over Missouri Valley Wednesday.

William Penn (5-1, 1-0 Heart), which has won five games in a row, defeated the defending Heart Tournament champions with superior shooting (47.7{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}-46.8{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}) and rebounding (41-33).  To claim the victory, the team was forced to overcome serious foul trouble (four starters and a reserve player finished with at least four fouls) and also the absence of key player Steven Roundtree (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla., Physical Education) (coaches decision).

The Vikings (1-2, 0-1 Heart) led by a 6-2 tally 4:04 into a slow-moving contest, but the navy and gold opened it up with a 16-6 run.  MVC rallied right back to lead 22-21 only to see the visitors reel off 14 of the next 16 points.  WPU’s margin was trimmed to four at halftime, 48-44.

The home squad continued to chip away, eventually claiming a trio of one-point leads early in the second stanza.  Fortunately, another pro-WPU stretch followed as a 57-57 tie with 16:13 to go turned into a 69-60 Statesmen advantage with 12:22 still on the clock.

William Penn’s lead ballooned to as big as 14 points before a mini 7-0 Viking run in the final minutes brought them within five with 30 seconds left.  The Statesmen, who finished 19-for-26 at the charity stripe, put the proverbial cherry on top with four successful free tries at the end.

Antonio Levy (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) owned sharpshooter status Wednesday, pacing WPU with 23 points by going 8-for-12 from the field (5-for-8 3-PT).

He was joined in the 20-point crew by Brady Burford (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) and Dondre Alexander (Jr., Iowa City, Iowa, Physical Education), both of whom recorded double-doubles.  Burford finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks, while Alexander posted 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Charles Knowles (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) added seven points off the bench and Josh Caldwell (Sr., Denver, Colo., Physical Education) contributed six more. Jake Guenther (Sr., Altoona, Iowa, Secondary Education) scored five points in only three minutes of action as well.

Capitalizing on its foe’s mistakes also steered the Statesmen to the ‘W’.  WPU had 14 turnovers, but forced MVC into 16 turnovers which were converted in 22 points.

“This was the best we have played all year,” Head Coach John Henry said.  “This is a tough place to win; they had a loud and intense crowd.  We kept our composure and made plays all night.”

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host Avila in Heart action at 4 p.m.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage