Statesmen Collect Big Win Over Ranked Spartans

St. Louis, Mo.--Numerous players contributed as the William Penn men's volleyball team claimed another important road win, defeating #11 Missouri Baptist 3-1 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Friday.

#5 WPU (19-3, 12-2 Heart), which won its seventh-consecutive match, took down the Spartans by set scores of 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22.  The squad's defense was on display Friday as the navy and gold posted a 13-8 edge in blocks.

Back and forth early on, the visitors finally grabbed hold of the first set with seven unanswered points to go up 16-11.  MBU (19-5, 8-5 Heart) trimmed the margin to two on a pair of occasions, but the Statesmen denied their hosts for the 1-0 edge.

Another tight round ensued in the second set as WPU led 12-10.  Unfortunately, the Spartans pulled away with runs of 4-0 and 6-0 to even the match at one set apiece.

William Penn responded to the adversity with its best hitting effort of the night, posting a .440 attack clip in the third set, while limiting Missouri Baptist to just .188.  It was not easy in the opening moments, though, as the Statesmen trailed 8-5.  Three straight points brought them to even, and another five unanswered, led by two kills from Landon Krause (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management), lifted WPU into the lead for good.

The Spartans were able to knot the third set a few times, but were never allowed back on top, and the visiting crew scored six of the final seven points to close it out.

William Penn then caught fire in the fourth with a 6-2 advantage and seemed destined for its first easy victory, but MBU had other plans and eventually overtook the Statesmen at 14-13.  Down 18-17, the navy and gold called a timeout to regroup.  It proved to be a successful break as the crew scored six of the next seven points (five in a row) and held on to finish the season sweep of Missouri Baptist.  WPU also defeated the Spartans 3-1 in Oskaloosa back on March 1.

The Statesmen permitted eight aces (four for WPU), but also took advantage of 21 service errors by MBU (14 for the Statesmen).

Krause guided William Penn with a double-double of 12 kills and 14 digs.  He was the lone Statesmen in double figures in either department.  The senior also had two aces in addition to one solo block and two block assists.

Ike Papes (Sr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) and Charlie Figy (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education PE K-12) both narrowly missed the mark with nine kills each, while Britten Beallis (So., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) tallied eight with a team-high .800 hitting clip.

Devyn Zavala (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Wellness and Recreation) contributed five winners as well.

Matt Helmick (Sr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) guided the offense with 32 assists.  He recorded four block assists, as did Zavala, while Beallis managed one solo block and four block assists.  Figy, however, topped the net defense with six block assists.

"What a win for our group!" Head Coach Luke Bentley said.  "These guys continue to battle with the top teams in our conference.  This was a tough Missouri Baptist team in a tough environment."

Next Up: William Penn remains in St. Louis, Mo. Saturday as it faces Health Sciences and Pharmacy in Heart play at 12 p.m.