William Penn Hits over .500 in Sweep of C-SC
Canton, Mo.–The William Penn men’s volleyball team had its best hitting performance of the season as it swept Culver-Stockton 3-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Saturday.
#14 WPU (4-5, 3-3 Heart) defeated the Wildcats (0-9, 0-5 Heart) by scores of 25-17, 25-14, 25-21. The visitors outhit C-SC .515-.054 and also managed a 9-4 edge in blocks.
The Statesmen fell behind in the opening moments of the match, but an 8-0 run gave them a 14-7 edge and they cruised to the first-set victory.
The second round was also tight early, but another 8-0 run, at almost the exact same juncture, allowed the navy and gold to put the set out of reach.
The Wildcats captured the first point of the third set and then led 2-1, but WPU immediately captured the advantage for good and then had a couple of mini runs to seemingly cap the sweep. Unfortunately, Culver-Stockton rallied to get within one at 18-17, but a kill by Britten Beallis (Fr., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) and a Wildcat attack error gave the visiting crew a cushion and it was not threatened down the stretch.
William Penn’s strong attacking helped it overcome a tough serving performance (one ace, 16 errors).
Seven different Statesmen recorded a kill with four individuals hitting over .700 for the night. Eli Herro (Sr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) guided the victors with 12 kills on a .714 attack clip.
Anthony Torres (Jr., Aurora, Ill., Computer Science) was next with eight winners (.800 attack pct.). He and Herro both managed one solo block and four block assists as well. Ike Papes (Jr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) added seven kills Saturday.
Matt Helmick (Jr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) ended the matchup with 39 assists, while Carlos Garcia (Jr., Laredo, Texas, Biology) led the back row defense with eight digs.
“This was another solid step in the right direction,” Head Coach Luke Bentley said. “This was a great team win.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Tuesday to host Graceland in Heart play at 7 p.m.
