WPU Begins 1-0 at William Penn Invitational
Oskaloosa–Capping off the first day of their very first hosted tournament, the William Penn men’s volleyball team defeated the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes in straight sets of 25-13, 25-16, 25-16.
After trading the opening two points, WPU ripped off a number of big runs to put the opening frame out of reach early. They took nine of the next 10 points, using a balanced attack as three different Statesmen earned a pair of kills. Michael Cox (Jr., San Jacinto, Calif., Business Management) checked into the game quickly with a pair of finishers, and Caleb Seguin (Sr., Pickering, Ontario, Digital Communication) punctuated the opening set with back-to-back aces. The navy and gold hit .435 in the opening set, holding the visitors to a -.062 clip.
Matt Helmick (Jr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) stepped to the service line to begin set two, and after Anthony Torres (Jr., Aurora, Ill., Computer Science) began the set with a kill, Helmick delivered three consecutive service aces. Cox and Seguin continued to make their presence felt, as the former finished the second set with five kills and the latter tallied four. The Statesmen held the Coyotes to an equal amount of errors as kills in the second set.
The Coyotes played tough to begin the third as the two played to a 6-6 tie, but the Statesmen pulled away at the midway point, coasting to a second consecutive 25-16 set as they earned the sweep to begin the tournament.
Cox led the team with 12 kills, while Charlie Figy (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) was second with six. Seguin and Torres each posted four, while Leonardo Minetto (So., Florianopolis, Brazil, Political Science) and Shawn Mason (Sr., Orlando, Fla., Sociology) both added four.
Setting duties were split between Helmick, Connor Muff (Sr., Kenosha, Wis., Business Management), and Louie Batang (Fr., Northbrook, Ill., Secondary Education). Batang was the assists leader with 13, while Muff and Helmick had 12 and 11, respectively. Charlie Bruecker (Fr., Kaukauna, Wis., was the leader in the back row, earning a game-high 12 digs.
What’s Next: The Statesmen conclude the William Penn invitational tomorrow with a trio of contests. At 9 AM, they are scheduled to face Morningside. At 2 PM is Central Christian, and then Goshen will finish off the day at 4:30 PM.
