Statesmen in Good Form, Pick Up Fourth-Straight Win
Dubuque — Returning to Heart of America Athletic Conference play, William Penn men’s volleyball went up north to try to complete the season sweep of Clarke. Once again, strong defense and efficient play from both Ike Papes (So., Elwood, Ill, Business Management) and CJ Rettig (So., Sierra Madre, Calif., Physical Education) helped the Statesmen take the victory. Despite dropping the first set 25-22, WPU rebounded to win the next three sets 25-20, 25-20, and 25-18 to take the match 3-1. The navy and gold improve to 10-8 on the season and 5-7 in Heart action.
While the team had been off to slow starts recently, the Statesmen jumped out to a 6-3 lead behind a block from Eli Herro (So., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) and the first kill for Rettig on the night. The Pride mounted a spirited comeback, though, tying the set at 7-7. The teams then exchanged points, but Clarke slowly started to pull away, as it jumped ahead 13-9. William Penn came back within three at 13-10, but could not close up any more through the middle stages of the set.
Down 18-14, the navy and gold managed a short burst of points to slice the deficit to 20-18, as Papes and Charlie Figy (Fr., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) each put down kill-shots. Clarke unfortunately rounded into form once more, pulling away to take set one 25-23. William Penn hit .207 in the first, with 12 kills and six errors in 29 attempts.
Set two again saw WPU take the advantage at 4-2, but Clarke responded to tie the score at 4-4. The teams stayed in lock-step as the rallies went along, with Anthony Torres (Fr., Aurora, Ill., Computer Science) putting down a couple kills for the Statesmen.
Tied at 12-12, Rettig powered down a kill to put WPU ahead 13-12. With Torres behind the service line, the team put up five-straight points to go up 17-12; Rettig and Figy each collected kills over the run. The Statesmen poured it on over the final moments of the period, with Connor Muff (Jr., Kenosha, Wis., Business Management) collecting an ace to push the score to 22-16. The Pride came back some, but WPU got a dump from Muff to take the second 25-20. The lineup again produced 12 kills and six errors, but this time in 25 attempts for an attack percentage of .240.
The navy and gold upped the tempo to start the third, rattling off four unanswered at the onset of the frame. After a service error, the team got back in a grove as they went up 12-5 over the span of an 8-5 hot streak. The defense forced Clarke into numerous attack errors, keeping the hosts from finding any momentum.
Behind kills from Papes and Figy, WPU kept ahead and won the third frame 25-22. The Statesmen held Clarke to a .092 attack percentage, while getting nine kills and seven errors themselves.
The fourth was more contested in the early going, as things were soon tied 4-4. Rettig then put up back-to-back blocks to snag the lead. With five unanswered for a 9-5 edge, WPU seemed ready to roll off into the sunset. The Pride had other ideas, as they then came back, getting the score to 12-9. But the navy and gold silenced the home side over a 6-2 hot streak to take a firm hold on the final frame.
Up 18-15, William Penn scored seven of the last 10 points to take the set 25-18 and the match 3-1. The Statesmen only managed seven kills, but errored just three times and more importantly limited the Pride to -.143), a testament to a strong blocking presence up front for WPU.
The navy and gold hit .161 for the game, with 40 kills, 42 digs, and 24 total blocks. Papes led the team with 13 kills, while it was also another great night for Rettig. He netted 10 kills and 11 digs for a double-double, while also picking up three solo blocks and three block assists. Herro yet again posted no errors on the night, with eight kills to complement three solo blocks and three block assists. Torres had four kills and nine digs, while Carlos Garcia (So., Laredo, Texas, Biology) paced the team with 12 digs.
“Any conference win on the road in March is a good win,” Head Coach Luke Bentley said. “Credit to Clarke for coming out and battling us all night, but we responded well. This is a good first step as we face a couple long weeks.”
Next Up: Lots of volleyball for the team over the final couple weeks of the season, beginning with the squad playing again tomorrow night. WPU will host Park on the Penn Activity Center floor at 6 p.m.
