WPU Secures #2 Seed with Sweep of Pride
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen men’s volleyball team finished off the regular season with a 3-0 sweep of Clarke in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Tuesday.
#8 William Penn (16-9, 14-4 Heart), which won by scores of 25-15, 25-16, 25-14, outhit the Pride (8-17, 5-13 Heart) by a .415-.078 margin on Senior Night.
With the win, the Statesmen have earned a bye in the Heart Championship, advancing straight to next Wednesday’s semifinals where they will face either #3 seed Grand View or #6 seed Missouri Valley. WPU swept both Viking squads during the year.
The navy and gold started a bit slow, allowing the visitors to score the first two points of the night, but quickly recovered. Still down 3-1, WPU went to work at the service line, tallying four aces to claim the advantage for good. In fact, the hosts never trailed again the remainder of the match. Overall, the victors owned a 7-0 edge in aces.
Tied at 5-5, William Penn, which outhit CU .417-.000 in the first set, reeled off six unanswered and rolled to a 1-0 lead.
The Statesmen tallied the first five points of the second round and were never threatened. The third set then saw WPU hit a match-high .520 and lead the entire way (CU tied it twice) to finish the victory.
William Penn won despite being outblocked 6-3.
Charlie Figy (Jr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education) was nearly perfect as an attacker, producing 12 kills on just 14 attempts for a .786 hitting clip. The junior also led the net defense with two block assists.
Landon Krause (Jr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management) matched Figy with 12 kills (.478 attack), while also being the navy and gold’s best server with four aces (three in the first set).
Ike Papes (Jr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) hit double figures as well with 11 winners on a .364 mark, while Eli Herro (Sr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) finished with six kills.
Matt Helmick (Jr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) assisted on 42 of WPU’s 43 kills, while Carlos Garcia (Jr., Laredo, Texas, Nursing) recorded a team-high eight digs.
“This was such a great night for our program,” Head Coach Luke Bentley said. “I am so proud of the seniors who we recognized. These are the guys who started it all. We would not be here today without them. Tonight is another reminder of how fortunate I am to be part of this great program.”
