Statesmen Close Home Tourney with Three More Sweeps
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s volleyball team bulldozed its competition Saturday as it finished the William Penn Invitational with a perfect 4-0 record.
Winners of eight in a row, #2 WPU (18-2) opened its day with a 3-0 sweep of Morningside (25-21, 25-19, 25-19) before also taking care of Central Christian (Kan.) in three sets (25-11, 25-16, 25-14). The Statesmen then wrapped up their own event by sweeping Goshen (Ind.) 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-10). Goshen is unofficially 21st in the NAIA.
WPU 3, Morningside 0
Despite only trailing three times (all in the third set), the navy and gold had quite a fight on their hands against the Mustangs, outhitting their foes just .395-.257.
Ike Papes (Jr., Elwood, Ill., Business Management) was the offensive star with 18 kills on a .516 attack clip, while Landon Krause (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) also hit double figures with 12 winners on a .429 mark. Eli Herro (Jr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) was productive as well, notching six kills in eight total attempts.
Connor Muff (Sr., Kenosha, Wis., Business Management) assisted on 37 of WPU’s 45 kills, while also tallying three aces. Papes was William Penn’s serving leader with five points at the line.
Krause topped the victors with 10 digs to complete a double-double, while Herro was a part of four blocks. As a unit, WPU finished with seven blocks.
WPU 3, Central Christian 0
The starters rested during Saturday’s second match as the reserves took care of the Tigers, hitting .368, while limiting CCC to -.188.
Anthony Torres (Jr., Aurora, Ill., Computer Science) and Luke Scheuble (Jr., Hemet, Calif., Wellness and Recreation) headlined the offense with eight kills apiece, while Michael Cox (Jr., San Jacinto, Calif., Business Management) was good for another six. Matt Helmick (Jr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) (18 assists) and Louie Batang (Fr., Northbrook, Ill., Secondary Education) (11 assists) shared the setting responsibilities, while the Statesmen served up 12 aces with Scheuble tallying three.
WPU’s net defense was on point, finishing with 11 blocks; Shawn Mason (Sr., Orlando, Fla., Sociology) participated in six stops, while Torres and Charlie Figy (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) did their part five times each.
WPU 3, Goshen 0
Meeting their toughest opponent of the weekend, the navy and gold made a statement with a massive .451-.068 edge in hitting. That margin included a 40-23 advantage in kills and a 9-3 mark in blocks.
WPU got stronger as the match grew on, hitting just .120 in the opening set, but then improving to .538 in the second go-round, and eventually finishing at an incredible .750 (15 kills, 0 errors, 20 attempts) in the final set.
Papes (11 kills, .435 attack) and Krause (10 kills, .600) were a dynamite 1-2 punch for the hosts, while CJ Rettig (Jr., Sierra Madre, Calif., Physical Education) tallied six kills and Herro added five more. Muff assisted 32 times, while also serving two aces and helping on four blocks.
Krause, who matched Muff with a pair of serving points, produced his second double-double of the day with 11 digs. In addition to his four kills, Figy was William Penn’s prime blocker with one solo and five assists.
“This was a great weekend in Oskaloosa,” Head Coach Luke Bentley said. “It was great to see a ton of our guys get chances to play. We are looking forward to the last few weeks of the regular season.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Parkville, Mo. next Tuesday to face #9 Park in Heart of America Athletic Conference action at 7 p.m.
