Men’s Volleyball | Tue, Mar. 15, 2022
Oskaloosa–Senior night festivities for men’s volleyball took place on Tuesday, and the Statesmen were able to celebrate with a sweep over the Graceland Yellowjackets by scores of 25-17, 25-16, 25-16.
The opening set was closely contested, but Landon Krause (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) set a strong early attacking tone with four kills in the first five points. The two teams traded points nearly the entire set until reaching a 17-17 standstill, but the hosts did not concede a single point from there, taking the next eight points to finish out the set. Krause had a ridiculous eight kills in the set, while Ike Papes (Jr., Elwood, Ill., Business Management) contributed five.
WPU opened the second set with a 9-4 advantage, but the Yellowjackets battled back to close the deficit to two at 14-12. Krause earned a couple kills to bring Anthony Torres (Jr., Aurora, Ill., Computer Science) to the service line, and after his serving run led to a kill from Charlie Figy (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management), he delivered four service aces in a matter of only five points as part of a seven point run. At match point, Shawn Mason (Sr., Orlando, Fla., Sociology) made a great diving save to keep the point alive as Papes closed the set with another kill. The navy and gold took a step back on offense, but still hit a strong .320 while holding Graceland to only four kills and a .000 hitting percentage.
Taking the third set by an identical 25-16 score, the Statesmen used a run in the middle of the set that saw them capture eight of nine points to turn a 7-5 deficit into a 13-8 lead. The navy and gold finished off the match hitting .417 in the final frame, including a game sealing kill by Caleb Seguin (Sr., Pickering, Ontario, Digital Communication).
Papes led the Statesmen with 17 kills, hitting .583 in the match. Krause was a dominant force on the other side of the net as well, totaling 13 finishers with an even .500 hitting percentage. Eli Herro (Jr., Dousman, Wis., Business Management) only took eight swings in the match, but earned kills on six of them.
Connor Muff (Sr., Kenosha, Wis., Business Management) earned an assist on 37 of the team’s 45 kills in the match. Krause led the defense with seven digs, while Carlos Garcia (Jr., Laredo, Texas, Nursing) contributed five.
What’s Next: The Statesmen travel to Milwaukee this weekend for a pair of games on Saturday. They will face Cardinal Stritch at 10 AM, and then…
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