William Penn Comes Up Short in Heart Final
Des Moines–The Statesmen men’s volleyball team got another crack at its rival, but unfortunately was once again unable to take down Grand View in a 3-0 loss in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Finals Saturday.
Second-seeded WPU (22-6) fell to the top-seeded Vikings (22-6) by scores of 21-25, 21-25, 15-25 and will now await its national tournament fate. The NAIA’s Selection Show is set for Monday, April 22 at 4 p.m.
The Statesmen, who have numerous signature wins, are looking to advance to their second NAIA National Championship in school history (2022). Unfortunately, the navy and gold could not come up with one more big victory to clinch an automatic berth.
The visitors scored the first point of the afternoon, but then permitted GVU to tally five of the next six points. William Penn, which hit .360 in the opening round, could not recover as the host squad posted a .500 hitting clip.
The Statesmen again owned a solid attacking mark (.312) in the second set, but Grand View was a bit better at .350. WPU managed several small leads, including being on top at 10-9, but back-to-back points by the Vikings put them ahead for good. While William Penn closed to within one at 21-20, GVU had a little left in the tank and pulled out the set for a 2-0 lead in the match.
Overall, the Statesmen were outhit .395-.263 with Grand View holding a 45-30 edge in kills. The victors also managed nine aces, compared to three for William Penn.
WPU, which was paced by Landon Krause (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management) with 11 kills, was up against the proverbial wall, but unfortunately it failed to produce any come-from-behind heroics as the third round was dominated by Grand View to finish off the sweep. The Statesmen are now 0-3 against the Vikings this season.
The trio of Charlie Figy (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education PE K-12), Devyn Zavala (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Wellness and Recreation), and Britten Beallis (So., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) all managed five kills, while Matt Helmick (Sr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) tallied 24 assists Saturday. Figy also served up two aces.
Defensively, Joao Gabriel Filippelli (Fr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) had six digs, while Figy, Beallis, and Krause all had a part of two blocks. WPU tied GVU 5-5 in blocks.
“It was not our day,” Head Coach Luke Bentley said. “I am very proud of our guys, though, to put us in this position, but Grand View was the better team today. All we can hope for now is to get another chance to compete this season.”
