Epic Rally Caps Four-Set Win Over MMU

Oskaloosa--In an up-and-down evening, the Statesmen men's volleyball team fought off a handful of set points to close out #10 Mount Mercy 3-1 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Tuesday.

#7 William Penn (15-3, 8-2 Heart), which won by scores of 25-19, 19-25, 25-18, 28-26, posted a .292-.228 hitting edge over the Mustangs (17-5, 5-5 Heart) to complete the season sweep (WPU won 3-0 last month in Cedar Rapids).

The hosts, who hit an evening-best .400 in the opening set, WPU was locked in a 9-9 tie before reeling off four points in a row and never looking back.  Landon Krause (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Business Management) was electric in the early going, tallying six of his team-high 19 kills in the first set.

Although they never led, the navy and gold stayed tight with the Mustangs throughout much of the second set, trailing just 15-14 at one point.  Unfortunately, down just two at 19-17, the home squad gave up four unanswered and MMU pulled even in the match, 1-1.

A complete 180-degree turnaround occurred in the third set as William Penn scored the first three points (five of the first six) and kept the visitors in the rearview the entire way.  Holding solidly to a three-point edge at 21-18, the Statesmen finished with four straight points to go back ahead 2-1.

Momentum appeared to once again switch hands as the Mustangs rolled to a sizeable 13-9 edge in the fourth set.  The Statesmen managed to muck things up, though, with five points in a row to claim first first lead at 15-14, but it was short-lived with MMU tallying five of the next six points.

Keeping the pressure on, Mount Mercy eventually had the Statesmen up against the proverbial wall at 24-19, just one point away from forcing a fifth and decisive set, but William Penn refused to quit.

Krause started the comeback with a kill and then the defense stiffened, causing a pair of MMU hitting errors to close the gap to two at 24-22.  MMU called a timeout to regroup, but it did not help as Krause and Britten Beallis (So., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) blocked an attack.  Krause's winner in the next play brought the Statesmen all the way back to even at 24-24.

The hosts scored another point to earn a match point, but the teams then shared the next few points to sit tied one final time at 26-26.  Serving would determine the winner as Mount Mercy recorded an error and Krause ended the night with an ace.  Neither team had much success at the service line with WPU producing four aces against 16 errors and MMU ending up with three aces versus 21 errors.

Ike Papes (Sr., Elwood, Ill., Sports Management) joined Krause in double figures with 11 kills on a .500 attack clip, while the middle hitting duo of Beallis and Charlie Figy (Sr., Appleton, Wis., Secondary Education PE K-12) both managed seven kills.

Matt Helmick (Sr., Fullerton, Calif., Business Management) was an accomplished member of the navy and gold, posting a double-double of 37 assists and 12 digs, while the Statesmen defense recorded 10 blocks, compared to six for the Mustangs.  Beallis had a part in eight blocks, and Krause was good for five more.

"It is hard to put into words what that last set looked like," Head Coach Luke Bentley said.  "It was just incredible resiliency and effort by our guys to stay alive and find a way to win.  I am so proud of the fight in this group."

Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Friday to host Missouri Valley in Heart play at 7 p.m.