WPU Battle Hard but Come Up Short in 3-1 Loss to No. 5 Missouri Baptist
St. Louis, Mo.–The Statesmen men’s volleyball team fell short in a 3-1 loss to No. 5 Missouri Baptist in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Friday evening.
William Penn (12-8, 9-4 Heart) kept the match competitive, pushing Missouri Baptist (20-4, 13-2 Heart) into a fourth set with set scores of 22-25, 20-25, 25-23, and 13-25.
The opening set saw the Spartans take an early 6-4 lead before extending it with a 6-1 run. William Penn rallied back with an 11-4 scoring streak to close the gap to 21-20, but Missouri Baptist held on to win the set 25-22.
The second set was tightly contested, with the score tied at 9-9 before the Spartans took an 18-15 lead. The Statesmen fought back to even the score at 19-19, but Missouri Baptist finished strong with a 6-1 run to secure a 25-20 victory.
In the third set, William Penn gained an early 7-3 advantage and built on it, holding a 14-8 lead. Though Missouri Baptist closed the gap to 21-19, the Statesmen held their ground, eventually winning the set 25-23 to extend the match.
However, in the fourth set, the Spartans dominated after the Statesmen took a brief 5-4 lead. Missouri Baptist went on a 6-0 run to take control, and William Penn struggled to respond, with the Spartans finishing the set 25-13 to seal the match.
Offensively, William Penn was outpaced by Missouri Baptist in several statistical categories, including a 65-46 deficit in kills. The Statesmen posted a .301 attack percentage, while the Spartans hit at an impressive .423 clip. Both teams struggled with errors, as the Statesmen committed 15, just two more than Missouri Baptist’s 13.
Britten Beallis (Jr., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) and Ben Cemeno-Castillo (Jr., Joliet, Ill., Business Management) led the Statesmen with 10 kills each, while Ben Brinkman (Fr., Appleton, Wis., Undecided) and Josh Bluhm (Fr., Lockport, Ill., Software Engineering) each added nine.
Brady Zell (Fr., Wales, Wis., Business Management) led the offense with 41 assists and also contributed nine digs. Cemeno-Castillo and João Gabriel Filippelli (So., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) added seven digs each.
Next Up: The Statesmen face UHSP in St. Louis, Mo., Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in a Heart of America Athletic Conference contest.
