WPU Sweeps Missouri Valley Again
Oskaloosa–Returning home for the first time in over two weeks, the Statesmen men’s volleyball team dominated another ranked foe, sweeping #13 Missouri Valley 3-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Friday.
#2 William Penn (12-2, 10-1 Heart) won by scores of 25-11, 25-19, 28-26 to complete the season sweep of the Vikings (9-5, 4-4 Heart), having also swept them exactly two Fridays ago. The hosts did it on all ends, outhitting MVC .330-.136 and posting a 13-2 advantage in blocks.
If they had one, the Statesmen’s lone hiccup may have been serving as they committed 14 serving errors. On the flip side of that, WPU did record nine aces, while the visitors had just one on the evening.
The first point of the night was awarded to Missouri Valley on one of those service errors, while half of the Vikings’ first eight points came via serving mistakes. Although MVC was collecting free points, the squad was not doing much else early on as the navy and gold sprinted to an easy first-set victory.
Up five at 13-8, the Statesmen pulled away with four in a row and closed out the set on a 12-3 run. Overall, William Penn hit .345 in the opener, while keeping Missouri Valley in the negatives at -.129.
The Vikings also scored the first point of the second set, only to see WPU answer with four straight and never trail again. Runs of five straight and three straight later in the round put the Statesmen in total control of the match at 2-0.
Unfortunately, Missouri Valley had plenty of fight left and pushed the hosts to the limit in the third set. The teams exchanged numerous points in the back-and-forth affair, being tied 16 times, including at 16-16. The Vikings then managed a pair of kills to eventually own a pair of set points.
With his crew down 24-22, Eli Herro (Jr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) came up with a kill and then a solo block to keep WPU alive. After a Statesmen service error, Ike Papes (Jr., Elwood, Ill., Business Management) delivered a winner and Herro and Landon Krause (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) denied an MVC attack to give the home squad a match point. The Vikings kept their hopes intact on the next play, however, but tied at 26-26, Papes and Krause closed it out with back-to-back terminations.
Krause (.526 clip) and Papes (.364) topped the offense with 11 kills each, while Charlie Figy (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) added six. CJ Rettig (Jr., Sierra Madre, Calif., Exercise Science) was good for five more winners as well
Connor Muff (Sr., Kenosha, Wis., Business Management) had a big all-around night with a near double-double of 31 assists and nine digs, while also tallying a team-high three aces. Krause and Anthony Torres (So., Aurora, Ill., Computer Science) were next in the service department with two aces apiece.
All six starters were active at the defensive net with each being a part of at least two blocks. Figy headlined the wall with one solo block and six assists, while Herro managed one solo and four assists.
“This was a great win in front of our own crowd,” Head Coach Luke Bentley said. “Our guys were locked in and took care of business. I am very proud of the effort tonight.”
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Saturday to host Culver-Stockton in Heart play at 1 p.m.
