Statesmen Season Closes With Semifinal Loss to Vikings

Oskaloosa--The William Penn men's volleyball team came up just short in hopes of second consecutive Heart tournament championship bid, as it fell 3-2 to #3 seed Grand View Wednesday.

The #2 seeded Statesmen (16-10, 14-4 Heart), who lost by scores of 23-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-19, 15-13, outhit the Vikings (19-7, 13-4 Heart) .358-.205 in a contest that went down to the wire.

The opening set was a seesaw affair with neither team holding a lead larger than three points. Down 8-5, the navy and gold rallied back to knot up the score. Both teams continued trading blows with one another, but unfortunately GVU was able to take set one.

The second round was almost a near mirror image of the first as the combatants were evenly matched. William Penn faced a three-point deficit at 11-8, but rattled off four straight points before Grand View tied it at 12-12. The home squad stayed right with the Vikings over the few points, but it was not enough as the away team took set two 25-22.

Looking to keep its season alive the Statesmen took control early in the third set claiming a 10-6 lead. The Vikings were able to battle back within one, but back-to-back kills from Ike Papes (Sr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) and Landon Krause (Jr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management) helped WPU stay out in front en route to taking set three 25-14.

The visitors quickly jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the fourth set. Fortunately, William Penn responded as Krause and Charlie Figy (Jr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education) came up with back-to-back kills. Krause then followed with two services aces and a kill as the Statesmen took an 8-5 lead. WPU never relinquished the lead, however, kills by Eli Herro (Sr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) and Krause closed it out tying the match at 2-2.

The fifth set saw Grand View quickly get out to an 8-4 advantage. After a timeout by the navy and gold Papes and Krause delivered consecutive kills to cut into the deficit. Down 14-11 a kill from Papes followed by an attack error kept the reverse sweep alive for the Statesmen. Unfortunately, the away team took advantage of its match point situation with a match-clinching kill.

Krause hit .486 in the setback with 19 kills 10 digs and one assist, while both Figy (team-high .526) and Papes reached double figures with 12 kills each. Herro just missed joining the club with nine.

Overall, the Statesmen produced 54 kills (62 for GVU) with Matt Helmick (Jr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) dishing out 46 assists and finished with team-high 13 digs.

"A lot of things to consider when it comes to a full season. We did some good things this year, and I'm proud of how we competed against one of the toughest schedules in the country. Ultimately, we wanted to keep playing into April. But sports make things unpredictable. Thankful for our seniors and everything they've done for us. Our program is in a great place."