Beallis Breaks Blocks Record as WPU Dispatches Saint Xavier in Top-10 Battle
Chicago, Ill.–Behind a record-breaking performance from Britten Beallis (So., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management), the William Penn men’s volleyball team shut down #8 Saint Xavier 3-1 in non-conference action Saturday.
#10 WPU (2-1), which won by scores of 25-22, 25-15, 17-25, 25-18, posted a .311-.057 hitting edge and also tallied 16 blocks, compared to just five for the Cougars (0-3). Those numbers helped the navy and gold easily overcome being shut out at the service line (0 aces, 15 errors), while SXU was solid in that department (7 aces, 12 errors).
The opening set was a dandy, featuring 16 ties and eight lead changes. Never trailing by more than a point in the round, William Penn went on a late 5-1 run, including three kills by Ike Papes (Sr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management), to go ahead for good and take the 1-0 lead.
The second set was not near as close with WPU running out to a 10-2 advantage, headlined by a trio of blocks by the visitors. A pair of Devyn Zavala (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Wellness and Recreation) kills guided the Statesmen to another 6-0 run and they were up 2-0 in the match.
William Penn was slowed in the third set as Saint Xavier stayed alive. The Cougars then scored the first two points of the fourth, but the navy and gold slammed the door shut with four unanswered and never trailed again. WPU managed five blocks in the final set, including Papes and Beallis ending the match with a stop. For Beallis, it was his 11th of the night (one solo, 10 assists), breaking the old single-match mark of nine by Charlie Figy (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education PE K-12) from 2021.
Zavala, with a .524 attack clip, and Papes, at .333, and, both managed a team-high 12 kills. Beallis and Landon Krause (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management) were next with nine winners. Not only did he lead the squad on defense, Beallis also topped the navy and gold with a .727 hitting mark.
Matt Helmick (Sr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) tallied 36 assists, while he and Krause both managed five digs.
Krause was also a part of six blocks, while three other Statesmen recorded four stops.
“I am proud of the effort our guys came out with today after two long days to start the year,” Head Coach Luke Bentley said. “Saint Xavier is a really strong, well-coached team. This was a great win for us as we move into the second week of the season.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Davenport next Tuesday to face St. Ambrose in non-conference play at 7 p.m.
