William Penn Takes Set from #4 Ottawa (Ariz.) in Season Opener

Chicago, Ill.--The Statesmen men's volleyball team gave the #4 team in the nation a fight in its season opener, but came up short in a 3-1 loss to Ottawa (Ariz.) Thursday.

#10 WPU (0-1), which lost by set scores of 27-25, 19-25, 20-25, 29-31, was outhit .330-.279.  OUAZ (1-0) is coming off an appearance at last year's NAIA National Championship where it was one set away from advancing to the semifinals.

The navy and gold came out of the 2024 gate on fire, hitting .522 to win the first set.  The Spirit scored the first three points of the set, though, and led 7-3 before William Penn found its proverbial legs.  Charlie Figy (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education PE K-12) and Matt Helmick (Sr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) both served up aces, while Ike Papes (Sr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) tallied a kill as the Statesmen took their first lead at 10-9.

WPU kept OUAZ in the rearview for some time, but OUAZ rallied and eventually reclaimed the edge at 21-20.  The navy and gold closed stronger, though, with Landon Krause (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management) notching two kills, including the set winner.

Back-to-back-to-back aces by Devyn Zavala (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Wellness and Recreation) saw the Statesmen pull out to a sizeable 6-1 advantage in the second go-round, but the Spirit responded and took the set with ease.

William Penn again held an early edge in the third set, but yet again, OUAZ found a reply.  The Statesmen continued to battle, though, and closed to within one at 20-19, but five unanswered points helped the Spirit claim a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair that featured an incredible 21 ties.  With every OUAZ score, William Penn was right there and actually had the Spirit down two at 23-21.  Unfortunately, OUAZ tallied three points in row.  From there, the Statesmen fought off six match points, but could never get over the hump in the four-set loss.

Of the team's 50 kills, Papes (.400 attack %) and Krause (.382 attack %) did most of the work with 17 kills each.  Zavala added seven winners, while Figy, who matched Papes with a .400 hitting mark, collected six kills.

Helmick assisted on 39 offensive points, while Zavala notched three aces (six total for WPU).  Anthony Torres (Sr., Aurora, Ill., Computer Science) also contributed a pair of aces Thursday.

Joao Gabriel Filippelli (Fr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) guided the defense with eight digs.  Krause was next with seven digs and also topped the net defenders with four block assists.  Britten Beallis (So., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) was a competent blocker as well with three (one solo, two assists).

"It is not ideal to open the season with a loss, but to do it against a top-five team and to play how we did, I am not mad about the result," Head Coach Luke Bentley said.  "Our guys battled hard all night.  I am looking forward to what this group can accomplish this season."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Elgin, Ill. Friday to face Judson in a non-conference match at 7 p.m.