Statesmen Wrap Up Arch City Tour with Sweep of #14 Missouri Baptist
St. Louis, Mo.–The William Penn men’s volleyball team was nearly flawless as it swept #14 Missouri Baptist 3-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Saturday.
#9 WPU (9-5, 8-3 Heart), which won by scores of 25-17, 25-20, 25-21, owned a hitting edge of .397-.132. The victors also tallied an 8-5 advantage in blocks, while overcoming tallying just one service ace (four for MBU).
The navy and gold, who have won seven in a row, stormed out of the gate with the day’s first four points and were never threatened. William Penn posted two more 4-0 runs to walk away with the first set.
Hitting .300 in the opening round, the Statesmen only got more proficient as the match wore on, improving to .423 in the second and a match-high .500 in the third.
WPU trailed by one point on a few occasions early in the second set, but with the score tied at 16-16, Landon Krause (Jr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management) recorded three straight kills as part of four unanswered to help his squad claim a commanding 2-0 edge.
The Spartans (9-6, 6-5 Heart) attempted to stay alive by scoring four of the first five points in the third round. The navy and gold eventually took the lead for good, however, on a trio of Missouri Baptist mistakes and slowly stretched out the edge for a convincing victory.
Krause was a force with a match-high 18 kills on a .414 attack clip. Ike Papes (Jr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) narrowly missed double figures with nine winners, while Eli Herro (Sr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) had seven kills. Charlie Figy (Jr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education) managed six kills without an error for a team-best .667 hitting mark.
Matt Helmick (Jr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) assisted on 36 offensive points, while CJ Rettig (Sr., Sierra Madre, Calif., Educational Studies) tallied eight digs.
Herro headlined the defensive net performance with two solo blocks and three block assists.
“I feel like a broken record the last few matches, but I am really proud of how our team has responded from the beginning of our season,” Head Coach Luke Bentley said. “I look forward to seeing us continue this high level of play.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Cedar Rapids next Tuesday to face #7 Mount Mercy in Heart play at 7 p.m.
