WPU Comes Up Short in Heart Season Opener

Oskaloosa--The No. 5 William Penn men's volleyball team faced a tough battle in their Heart of America Athletic Conference opener, falling 3-1 to Mount Mercy on Tuesday night.

The Statesmen (3-5, 0-1 Heart) struggled to find their rhythm against the Mustangs (6-1, 1-0 Heart), dropping the match with set scores of 23-25, 22-25, 25-23, and 18-25.

William Penn opened the first set with a competitive edge, trading points with Mount Mercy before the Mustangs strung together a 6-2 run to break a 9-9 tie. The Statesmen responded with a 7-3 surge of their own, pulling ahead 21-18, but they couldn't close it out as Mount Mercy rattled off a 7-2 run to take the set.

The second set followed a similar pattern. WPU jumped to an early 6-3 advantage and held its lead until MMU evened the score at 11-11. The Mustangs then caught fire, surging to a 24-16 lead. The Statesmen made a valiant push with six straight points to narrow the gap, but Mount Mercy held firm to take a 2-0 match lead.

On the brink of defeat, the Statesmen found a way to fight back in the third set. In a tightly contested frame, the Statesmen found an extra gear late, stringing together a crucial 5-2 run to stay alive and force a fourth set.

However, any momentum was short-lived as Mount Mercy seized control early in the final frame, racing out to a commanding 12-3 lead. The Mustangs maintained their cushion, extending their advantage to 20-10 before WPU attempted one last rally, cutting the deficit to 22-16. But the Statesmen's comeback effort fell short, sealing their fate in the season opener.

Statistically, Mount Mercy held the edge in kills (55-43) and hitting percentage (.187 to .120), while both teams struggled with attack errors, committing 27 apiece.

Leading the way for WPU, Josh Bluhm (Fr., Lockport, Ill., Software Engineering) and Ben Cemeno-Castillo (Jr., Joliet, Ill., Business Management) each tallied 12 kills, with Bluhm adding three aces. Britten Beallis (Jr., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) contributed eight kills, while Ben Brinkman (Fr., Appleton, Wis., Undecided) recorded seven

Brady Zell (Fr., Wales, Wis., Business Management) set up the offense with 39 assists, while Cemeno-Castillo and Tommy Fellows (Fr., Shorewood, Ill., Exercise Science) anchored the defense with 10 digs apiece. João Gabriel Filippelli (So., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) and Luke Luckfield (Sr., Honolulu, Hawaii, Software Engineering) followed, chipping in nine digs each, while Zell added eight. 

At the net, Brinkman led the team with four blocks (two solo, two assists), as WPU totaled eight team blocks.

"We need to continue to find a way to put ourselves in a position to win," said Head Coach Luke Bentley. "We didn't do that enough tonight, and the results showed."

Next Up: The Statesmen travel to Sioux Center, Iowa, where they'll take on Dordt in another Heart matchup Friday at 6:00 p.m.