Statesmen Extend Streak to Nine with Four-Setter Over Yellowjackets
Lamoni–The William Penn men’s volleyball team was tested against a determined Graceland squad, but came away on top with a 3-1 Heart of America Athletic Conference win Thursday.
#9 WPU (11-5, 10-3 Heart) won by scores of 25-17, 25-15, 30-32, 25-23. The navy and gold outhit GU (4-11, 2-9 Heart) by a .344-.216 margin, but needed to overcame an 11-6 deficit in blocks. The victory is William Penn’s ninth in a row.
The Statesmen shared the first two points with their hosts and then scored four straight to force a Yellowjacket timeout. It did not benefit Graceland, though, as William Penn rolled to an easy first set, courtesy of a .600 hitting clip (14 kills, two errors).
The second set was a different story, however, with WPU falling behind 4-1 and later 8-4. Still down 13-11, the Statesmen finally got on the right page with a 7-1 run. GU scored the next point to get with three at 18-15, but William Penn closed the round with seven unanswered for a commanding 2-0 edge.
Knotted at 6-6 in the third, the visitors tallied three in a row and were poised to close out yet another sweep. Unfortunately, with the match nearly concluded at 22-19, the Statesmen could not finish it off. The teams went deep into extra play with WPU matching Graceland point-for-point, including eight set points (all by GU). The Yellowjackets finally put it away to force a fourth set. The loss ended a streak of 26 sets in a row won by William Penn.
The fourth set was a seesaw battle. WPU scored the first three points, but Graceland rallied and had the visiting crew on the ropes at 18-16. Fortunately, the Statesmen regained the advantage for good with three straight as part of a 6-1 run. GU fought and tied the match one final time at 23-23, but a kill and an ace by Landon Krause (Jr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management) secured the victory. The junior guided his team with two service winners (four total for WPU).
Ike Papes (Jr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) was William Penn’s top producer with 20 kills on a .500 attack clip. Krause was next with 16 kills, while the duo of Eli Herro (Sr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) and Charlie Figy (Jr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education) each managed nine winners. Devyn Zavala (Jr., Long Beach, Calif., Business Management) contributed eight kills as well.
Matt Helmick (Jr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) was in on nearly every offensive point, tying the school single-match record for assists with 56. Carlos Garcia (Jr., Laredo, Texas, Wellness and Recreation) paced the defense with 18 digs, while Papes was good for two solo blocks.
Krause ended up with a double-double as he also hit double figures in digs with 10, while Helmick narrowly missed one of his own with nine digs.
“I am really proud of our guys for fighting for tonight’s win,” Head Coach Luke Bentley said. “This is a not an easy place to play and there were a lot of outside factors that made it tough on us. This was a great win.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Friday to host Grand View in Heart play at 7 p.m.
