Season in Review: Men’s Volleyball Sets the Foundation

Oskaloosa, Iowa—The 2019-2020 season was historic for William Penn as they welcomed three new sports to its now 24-sport department. Men’s Volleyball was the first of those three sports to make its debut as the program set forth a foundation to build off of in seasons to come.

The Statesmen were guided by first-year Head Coach Luke Bentley as he took a young squad (11 freshman, two sophomores) and challenged them with a tough schedule compromised of 26 games that featured matchups with some of the NAIA’s top programs in Grand View, Missouri Valley, Briar Cliff, and Jamestown.

“To compete in the NAIA and Heart of America Athletic Conference, it takes some serious resiliency and fortitude. It’s the toughest conference in the country for sure. We had a good amount of four and five set matches that can really wear on you,” Head Coach Luke Bentley said, “I felt like our guys did a great job battling through the long grind that is a college volleyball season. In order to compete at a high level, we felt it was appropriate to play top level teams throughout.”

WPU finished the season with a 6-15 overall record before the campaign was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Included in those six wins were a pair of Heart of America Athletic Conference victories.

It was a year of firsts for the first-year program and the Statesmen made their highly-anticipated introduction in front of a home crowd inside a packed Penn Activity Center against Clarke on January 21. The two squads battled to the end with a much more experienced Pride taking home the five-set victory. Ike Papes (Fr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) cemented himself right away as WPU’s best offensive weapon as he tallied 15 kills in his collegiate debut.

“We took the floor having never played in a collegiate match and battled against a team that has some strong experience and a talented senior class,” Said Head Coach Luke Bentley following the match, “I could not really ask for much more in our first match.”

William Penn picked up its first win on January 31 as they played Dordt in Sioux Center. It was a highly-contested match in which the Statesmen dropped the first set 25-27 but proceeded to win the following three by the scores of 26-24, 28-26, and 25-20. The setting duo of Connor Muff (So., Kenosha, Wis., Business Management) and Matt Helmick (Fr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) ran the offense at a high level, combining for 35 assists.

Head Coach Luke Bentley once again had high praise for the team following the match saying, “Picking up our first victory in program history is special, but more importantly these guys played as a team and showed a toughness that is unparalleled to any team I’ve been around.”

On February 7-8 the navy and gold hosted a quadrangular in the Penn Activity Center featuring Jamestown, Viterbo, and Indiana Tech. After falling to a very talented Jamestown team and Viterbo, William Penn swept Indiana Tech by the scores of 29-27, 28-26, and 25-17 to claim its first home win. Papes was dominant as he logged 20 kills while hitting at a .423 clip. Pedro Maciel (Fr., Belo Horizante, Brazil, Psychology) showcased his defensive prowess collecting 20 digs.

“Finishing with a victory was a great way to end the weekend,” said Head Coach Luke Bentley, “The guys responded well from the previous matches and played our best match of the year.”

The Statesmen once again made history on March 2 as they picked up their first Heart of America Athletic Conference victory on the road, with a 3-1 win against Graceland. Carlos Garcia (Fr., Laredo, Texas, Biology) narrowly missed a double-double as he netted nine kills at a .421 clip along with 10 digs.

Coach Bentley was once again very proud of his squad as they knocked another first off the list saying, “One thing I love about this season is it’s full of firsts! Tonight we captured our first conference win and I couldn’t be more proud of our team. We came out strong from the start and battled a very good Graceland team in front of a loud crowd. This was a huge step for our program.”

WPU concluded its season on a high note, despite having it cut short due to Covid-19, winning three-straight games, grabbing wins over St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Midway then ending the inaugural campaign with a 3-1 win over conference foe Clarke.

Two Statesmen were recognized following the season for their efforts as Maciel and Papes were named to the all-Heart honorable-mention team.

Maciel finished 2020 with 197 digs (2.94 digs per set) in addition to 39 assists, seven aces, and two kills. He tallied 12 double-digit dig performances. The freshman paced the Heart in digs per set and was second in total digs. Nationally, Maciel was ninth in dig average and 13th in total digs.

Papes ended the season with 270 kills (3.97 per set) on a .165 attack percentage. He also tallied 87 digs, 41 blocks (11 solos, 30 assists), 23 aces, and five assists. The freshman recorded two double-doubles (kills and digs) and had 14 double-digit kill showings. His year concluded with a season-best 27-kill performance against Clarke on March 10. Papes ranked second in the league in both total kills and kills per set, while being fourth in the Heart in total aces and fifth in aces per set (0.34). Within the NAIA, the freshman was 10th in kills, 11th in kill average, and 23rd in aces.

“2020 was a great year for William Penn men’s volleyball. We had a year full of ‘firsts’ and saw incredible growth in all areas.” Head Coach Luke Bentley said, “We can sit and talk about all the cool moments but the thing that stands out to me is the grit and hard work this team showed throughout the year. To go into matches with far less experience and age than almost every team shows a ton of grit and toughness. That will pay dividends for us in the future. We expect even bigger strides next year and hope to continue to build on the great foundation we built this year.”