Men’s Volleyball | Tue, Mar. 22, 2022
Cedar Rapids, Iowa–The William Penn volleyball team concluded their regular season slate against the Mount Mercy Mustangs, falling in four sets of 22-25, 13-25, 27-25, 20-25.
A closely contested first set fell the way of the Mustangs, as the Statesmen never got their feet off the ground offensively. Although the hosts were outhit by WPU, a small advantage at the service line was enough to give Mount Mercy the first set victory. The offense faltered in the second set, committing 10 attacking errors against only eight kills as MMU took a 2-0 lead in the match.
After trading points throughout the first half of the third, the hosts looked poised to put the set away after taking a 18-14 lead to force a William Penn timeout. The timeout proved successful as the Statesmen earned three straight kills, but had to call for their final timeout of the set as they found themselves trailing by three once again at 22-19. This time, it was four in a row coming out of the break as the navy and gold took a 23-22 lead, and won the back and forth battle down the stretch to make it a 2-1 game.
The fourth set began similarly to the third, as the two continued to trade blows through the first half of the set. Mount Mercy once again took an 18-14 lead. The visitors battled hard once again, but could not complete another comeback as the Mustangs finished off their victory with a 25-20 win.
Ike Papes (Jr., Elwood, Ill., Business Management) led the team with 19 kills, and Landon Krause (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) contributed 14. Charlie Figy (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) had seven finishers with a team-leading .500 hitting percentage. Unfortunately, the attackers were largely inefficient on the night, as the team hit just .161 in the match.
Connor Muff (Sr., Kenosha, Wis., Business Management) earned 40 assists on the night, also adding seven digs. Carlos Garcia had a busy night in the back row with 19 digs, and Krause helped the defensive effort with 12.
What’s Next: The Statesmen finish the regular season as the #2 seed in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, and will host a conference semifinal match next week against an opponent to be determined.
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