In college volleyball, William Penn’s men celebrated Senior Night Tuesday (3/15) with a three sets to none victory over Graceland at Penn Activities Center.  The scores were 25-17, 25-16 and 25-16.  Ike Papes had 17 kills and three blocks as the third-ranked Statesmen are now 20-5 on the season and 14-3 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.  How does Statesmen Coach Luke Bentley explain the Statesmen’s rise this season?

“We were confident with who we had and what we could do.  I’d probably be lying if I said that I thought we’d be top two, top three.  But it’s a good honor and it shows how the guys worked really hard for it.  But no, probably not. Probably not expecting to be that high.  Men’s volleyball in the NAIA is getting really, really strong, so it says a lot about the guys to be able to be ranked that high.”

What have the Statesmen done well on the court to reach this level?

“Our guys.  Our guys work really hard and it’s been the same group of guys for the last three years.  This is year three of the program and so…having that stability with those guys and being able to build around the same group is realy, really nice. And they just really want to win and they’ve done a good job of winning this year.”

The Statesmen spikers will be in Milwaukee Saturday (3/19) for games against Cardinal Stritch and Concordia of Illinois.  William Penn is looking forward to the Conference tournament, which starts March 26.