WPU Falls to Viterbo in Five Sets
Oskaloosa—The Statesmen began a busy weekend with a five-set match with Viterbo as the two teams will take part in a quadrangular hosted by William Penn University.
WPU (1-4, 0-3 Heart) got off to a hot start, taking the first two sets of the match, but Viterbo (4-5) weathered the storm and rallied back to take the final three sets and the match by the scores of 14-25, 23-25, 25-20, and 15-13.
In the first set, the Statesmen jumped out to a 17-5 lead before putting their opponent away with rather ease. Ike Papes (Fr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) was in rhythm early as he logged three kills and an ace in the set.
The navy and gold showed some grit in the second as they trailed 23-21 before they scored four straight points to steal the set, capped off by a Papes block.
A slow start cost William Penn in the third as they found themselves down 16-9 early then 23-16 later in the set before putting together a run to bring it within three points at 23-20 but it was too little too late as the V-Hawks closed the door and took their first set of the night.
The offense of the Statesmen had its best outing of the night in the fourth, hitting .286 but the defense could not match the intensity as they gave up a .378 clip en route to a 25-21 loss.
A fifth and final set went down to the wire. Viterbo went up on William Penn early 6-3 before the home squad scored four consecutive points to take a 7-6 lead. Viterbo gained a 13-12 advantage late then a big kill once again by Papes tied the set back up at 13-13. Viterbo went on to score the final two points of the set to conclude the match.
Despite the loss, William Penn outhit Viterbo .118-.110.
Papes (16 kills) and Eli Herro (Fr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) (10 kills) both reached double-digits while Carlos Garcia (Fr., Laredo, Texas, Biology) just missed out with nine.
Connor Muff (So., Kenosha, Wis., Business Management) and Matt Helmick (Fr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) split duties running the offense from the setter position as Muff finished with 21 assists while adding four kills and Helmick had 19 assists while posting eight digs.
On the defensive end, three Statesmen reached double-digit digs led by Pedro Maciel (Fr., Belo Horizante, Brazil, Psychology) who finished with 19. CJ Rettig (Fr., Sierra Madre, Calif., Wellness and Recreation) had 11 while Papes posted 10 to notch the double-double. Garcia nearly missed out on a double-double himself with nine digs.
Next Up: William Penn will play Jamestown and Indiana Tech tomorrow in the Penn Activity Center with play starting at 9 am.
