Statesmen Down Indiana Tech in Season-Opening Top-10 Matchup

Oskaloosa--The William Penn men's volleyball team earned a resume-building victory Thursday as it opened the 2023 season with a 3-1 victory over #7 Indiana Tech in non-conference action.

#5 WPU (1-0), which won by scores of 26-24, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21, claimed the top-10 bout with an uneven showing.  The Statesmen outhit the Warriors .250.-127, including a lopsided 59-35 advantage in kills, but struggled at the service line.  The hosts committed 27 services errors, compared to just two aces, while ITU (0-1) had three aces and nine errors.

The Statesmen were slow out of the gate, trailing 5-2 in the first set, but battled back with four in a row in an opening round that witnessed 10 ties and five lead changes.  WPU appeared in control with a 24-21 edge, but the Warriors rallied with three consecutive points.  Landon Krause (Jr., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) and Anthony Torres (Jr., Aurora, Ill., Computer Science) then fortunately stepped up with back-to-back kills to close it out.

Up 3-0 in the second round, William Penn pulled out to a five-point edge at 8-3, only to see Indiana Tech respond to knot the score at 11-11.  The visitors continued to pour it on and eventually led by two on two occasions.  A pair of offensive winners by Ike Papes (Sr., Elwood, Ill., Business Management) headlined a 6-3 run, however, and the Statesmen never trailed again for a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

William Penn unfortunately failed to claim the sweep as eight service errors helped the Warriors to an easy third-set victory.  The Statesmen were able to stay in the set with 16 kills on a .303 hitting clip, but ITU was nearly flawless with just two errors (one hitting, one serving) and a .588 attack mark to stay alive.

Despite committing seven more errors in service, the hosts managed to put the Warriors away in the fourth, courtesy of 16 kills on .400 hitting.  Papes posted seven of those points, finishing with a match-best 17 kills.

The Statesmen tallied the first four points of the fourth, but the Warriors once again would not step aside and eventually captured a 15-13 advantage.  Four unanswered turned the tables in favor of WPU, however, and the host never trailed again.  The victors finished the evening on the proactive side by tallying a kill in six of their final seven points.

After dropping its first-ever match in program history back in 2020, William Penn has now won its season opener for three years in a row.

Papes was joined in double figures by Krause with 15 kills and Eli Herro (Sr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) with 12.  Charlie Figy (Jr., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) just missed the club with nine winners.

Herro, whose .500 attack percentage was a team high, also guided the Statesmen defensively with seven block assists.  Krause added five block assists; both teams tallied nine total blocks each.

Matt Helmick (Jr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) captained the offense with 48 assists, while Carlos Garcia (Jr., Laredo, Texas, Biology) topped the back row defense with 11 digs.

"This was a great team win for our first match of the year," Head Coach Luke Bentley said.  "It was probably our gutsiest performance to date.  I am proud of the guys in grinding through a great first test against a really strong team."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines Friday and Saturday compete in the Molten Invitational hosted by Grand View.  The Statesmen face Lourdes (Ohio) Friday at 4 p.m. and then take on The Master's (Calif.) Saturday at 11 a.m.  Lourdes is unofficially 16th in the NAIA, while The Master's is 11th.