William Penn Returns to Win Column with Sweep of Yellowjackets

Lamoni--The Statesmen men's volleyball team got back on track Tuesday as it swept Graceland 3-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.

#6 WPU (13-3, 7-2 Heart), which won by scores of 25-14, 25-13, 25-22, posted a hitting advantage of .414-.041.

The visitors, despite allowing the first point to GU in each round, dominated the first two sets.  Up just 9-7 in the opening set, the navy and gold scored nine in a row to cruise to the 1-0 lead.

Tied at 4-4 with the Yellowjackets (3-12, 1-8 Heart), the visitors then produced six separate runs of three unanswered points to dominate the second go-round.

The final set was by far the most entertaining, featuring a plethora of ties and lead changes.  Behind 21-20, William Penn took advantage of three Graceland service errors, while Krause also tallied an ace.  Both sides had just four aces, while GU made only 10 mistakes (14 for WPU), but had several down the stretch when it hurt the most.

Landon Krause (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management), who finished with two Statesmen aces, was errorless in the hitting department with 12 kills out of 19 attacks for a .632 clip.

Ike Papes (Sr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) was next with eight winners, while the duo of Charlie Figy (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education PE K-12) and Devyn Zavala (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Wellness and Recreation) each added seven.  Britten Beallis (So., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) was good for five offensive winners as well.

Figy (.667) and Beallis (.714) were also extremely efficient hitters Tuesday.

Matt Helmick (Sr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) returned to the court after missing over a week due to injury and posted 28 assists.

Joao Gabriel Filippelli (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) guided the defensive with nine digs, while Beallis had a part in three blocks.

"This was a nice road win," Head Coach Luke Bentley said.  "I am proud of how well we executed."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Salina, Kan. Thursday to face Kansas Wesleyan in non-conference play at 7 p.m.