No. 6 Statesmen Rally Past No. 14 Mustangs in Five-Set Reverse Sweep
Sioux City, Iowa–The No. 6 William Penn Statesmen dropped the opening two sets before storming back to defeat the No. 14 Morningside Mustangs in a five-set Heart of America Athletic Conference thriller Friday.
William Penn (4-2, 1-1 Heart) secured the reverse sweep with set scores of 23-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-22, and 15-12. After hitting just .212 across the first two sets, the Statesmen responded with an attack percentage above .300 over the final three frames to complete the comeback.
The opening set featured tight play throughout, with ties at 16-16 and 23-23 before Morningside claimed the final two points. The Mustangs then built a 19-12 cushion in set two and held off a late William Penn push to take a two-set advantage.
William Penn shifted momentum in the third set, jumping ahead 14-9 and fending off a Mustang rally that trimmed the deficit to 21-20. A decisive 4-1 run closed the frame and sparked the comeback.
Set four remained close midway through, with Morningside holding an 18-16 edge. The Statesmen answered with a dominant 7-1 surge to even the match at two sets apiece, 25-22.
In the decisive fifth set, William Penn seized control early with an 8-5 lead and never allowed the Mustangs to draw even, finishing the reverse sweep with a 15-12 victory.
Offensively, the Statesmen held a 68-64 advantage in kills and posted a .276 attack percentage compared to .226 for Morningside. The Mustangs committed slightly more attack errors, 24-21.
Ben Cemeno-Castillo (Sr., Joliet, Ill., Business Management) paced William Penn with 24 kills on a .479 hitting clip. Britten Beallis (Jr., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) added 13 kills at .440, while Emilio Spanner (Jr., Sint Eustatius, Sports Management) contributed 11.
Joao Gabriel Fillipelli (Jr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) recorded 17 digs, and Cemeno-Castillo and Brady Zell (So., Wales, Wis., Business Management) added 13 and 10, respectively. Zell directed the offense with 58 assists, while Beallis led the net defense with five block assists and one solo stop.
“Really proud of our guys’ ability to respond on the road like they did,” said Head Coach Luke Bentley. “Morningside is a tough team, and our guys refused to quit. That was big.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to face the Dordt Defenders in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Saturday at 11 a.m.
