William Penn Falls in Five to Rival GVU

Des Moines--The Statesmen men's volleyball team ran out of answers on the road Friday as it fell 3-2 to #5 Grand View in Heart of America Athletic Conference play.

#7 WPU (12-3, 6-2 Heart) lost by scores of 19-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-22, 12-15.  The squad was outhit .389-.355 and lost the aces battle 8-4 to the Vikings (14-2, 8-0 Heart).  The visitors did, however, post a 12-8 edge in blocks.

William Penn started slow Friday, never leading as it dropped the first set.

The navy and gold again faced an early deficit in the second round, but caught Grand View at 7-7.  After the lead changed hands a couple of times, the Statesmen were able to draw even in the match, wrapping up the set with a kill by Landon Krause (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management) and an ace by Charlie Figy (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education PE K-12).

Including the final score, the third set was almost identical to the first with WPU never tying or going on top.

With its back up against the proverbial wall down 2-1, William Penn did not back down.  The fourth set was a see-saw battle early, but a kill from Ike Papes (Sr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management), which was part of a 4-0 run, put his team up for good at 7-6.  The Vikings closed to within one on two occasions, but the navy and gold held them off.  Papes was incredible in the set, recording eight winners, while the Statesmen had by far their best round with a .432 hitting clip.

The first point of the fifth and final set also went the way of the visiting crew, but unfortunately WPU ran into a buzzsaw as the hosts scored seven in a row.  The Statesmen closed to within three a few times, but could not get over the hump as GVU finished off its home victory.

On a night where the margin for error was thin, William Penn struggled at the service line and unfortunately failed to overcome 20 errors (13 for Grand View).

Papes posted 23 kills to lead all players, doing so on a huge .531 attacking mark.  Krause, with 15 kills, and Figy, with 12 (.545 attack pct), also eclipsed double figures.  Devyn Zavala (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Wellness and Recreation) contributed six, while Britten Beallis (So., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) ended the evening with five winners on a team-high .571 clip.

Cezar Pedroso (So., Curitiba, Brazil, Software Engineering) assisted 48 times Friday, while Figy served up a pair of aces.

Defensively, Beallis' six blocks paced the navy and gold, while Krause had a part in five stops.

"This was a tough road test for our group," Head Coach Luke Bentley said.  "It is always a battle when we come to Des Moines and tonight was no different."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Lamoni next Tuesday to face Graceland in Heart play at 7 p.m.