Statesmen Defeat Park to Reach Heart Finals
Oskaloosa–The road to Des Moines will go through Des Moines, as the William Penn men’s volleyball team earned the right to play in the Heart of America Athletic Conference championship game after a four-set win against the Park Pirates. Saturday’s championship match will be hosted by the Grand View Vikings.
While the Statesmen are in good position to earn an at-large bid to nationals, a win on Saturday would secure an automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament, which will be held in West Des Moines from April 12-16.
Landon Krause (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) got the match started with a pair of kills, and Park took an early timeout after falling behind 6-3. The timeout was extremely successful, however, and the visitors took nine of the next 12 points to take a 12-9 lead. The Statesmen could not build momentum to overcome the deficit, and a late run fell short as Park took the first set 25-21. WPU outhit the Pirates .200-.130, but five service errors contributed to the Pirates earning the first set victory.
The navy and gold once again jumped out to an early lead, and forced both of Park’s timeouts before the halfway point. Eli Herro (Jr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) bookended the timeouts with a pair of kills, and he and Ike Papes (Jr., Elwood, Ill., Business Management) hit well down the stretch to keep the hosts in the lead. Leading 23-18, the Statesmen allowed three straight points, but were able to hold off the late comeback to take set two 25-22. William Penn hit .324 in the set, keeping Park to a .241 clip.
Papes continued his hot stretch into the third, opening the set with a pair of kills and an ace. Krause and Charlie Figy (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) added two finishers apiece, leading to a Park timeout. The timeout did little to slow the surging Statesmen, and the hosts came out of the break with three consecutive points to push their lead to 10-4. The Pirates struggled to generate any momentum on offense, and WPU fended off the visitors as CJ Rettig (Jr., Sierra Madre, Calif., Physical Education) put the finishing touches on a 25-20 set three victory. The navy and gold fired on all cylinders in the third, hitting .500 as a team while holding the Pirates to a mere .083 attacking percentage.
The Pirates took the opening three points of the fourth, but that was as much momentum as they would have in the set. Krause was all over an 8-2 run to put the Statesmen ahead, contributing three kills and an ace during the stretch. The teams continued to trade points as Park tried to keep pace, but two separate three-point runs, the latter of which was capped by back-to-back aces from Anthony Torres (So., Aurora, Ill., Computer Science), created the separation needed for the Statesmen to close out the set, which they did by a final of 25-18. Park hit better at a .259 clip, but the William Penn attackers were nearly unstoppable in the finale, hitting .609 and committing only a single error in the set.
Krause led the team with 21 kills, hitting an even .400 on the night. He also added five digs and three blocks defensively. Papes complemented Krause with 18 finishers, including a number of thunderous kills in the final two sets, and finished with a .394 attacking percentage. He also had seven digs in the back row.
Herro was nearly flawless, tallying nine kills and committing one error. Rettig was also incredibly efficient, leading the attackers with a .583 hitting percentage after earning seven mistake-free kills. Connor Muff (Sr., Kenosha, Wis., Business Management) assisted on 53 of the team’s 61 kills on the night, and Carlos Garcia (Jr., Laredo, Texas, Nursing) tied for the team lead with seven digs.
“Great win for our program!” Said Head Coach Luke Bentley. “So proud of our guys to continue to battle and work their way through a tough opponent. They deserve this win!”
What’s Next: The Statesmen will head to Des Moines on Saturday to play for the Heart Championship. The matchup with the Grand View Vikings begins at 2 PM.
