OSKALOOSA — The No. 9 William Penn men’s volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to Heart of America Athletic Conference rival Grand View Saturday in the Heart Championship Quarterfinals.
No. 4-seeded William Penn (18-7) fell to the fifth-seeded Vikings (14-8) with set scores of 25-27, 25-21, 14-25, and 17-25. Across the four sets, the Statesmen hit .162, .061, .000, and .000, while Grand View posted marks of .273, -.061, .333, and .258.
The opening set featured a strong start from the Statesmen, who built a 10-2 advantage. Grand View responded by closing the gap to 18-16 before eventually tying the set at 24-24. The Vikings used a 3-1 run to secure the comeback victory in the frame.
Set two remained tightly contested, with the score knotted at 11-11 and again at 15-15. William Penn created separation with a 3-0 run and later extended its lead to 24-19 following another 3-0 stretch. Grand View answered with back-to-back points, but the Statesmen closed the set on a Vikings service error to even the match.
Grand View seized momentum in the third set, taking a 9-6 lead before an 11-5 run out of a William Penn timeout widened the gap. The Statesmen were unable to recover as the Vikings closed the set with an additional 5-3 surge.
The Vikings carried that momentum into the fourth set, jumping out to a 12-3 lead. William Penn attempted to rally with a 6-2 run, but Grand View responded with a 7-3 stretch to maintain control. The Statesmen added a late 6-3 push but ultimately fell on a Vikings service ace.
Grand View held a 53-38 advantage in kills and finished with a 30-29 margin in errors. William Penn posted a .064 hitting percentage, while the Vikings recorded a .189 mark.
At the net, the Statesmen led in total blocks with a 15-12 edge. Grand View held the advantage from the service line with four aces compared to William Penn’s two, while also posting an 11-10 margin in service errors.
Marton Sebestyen (Fr., Gyenesdias, Hungary, Business Management) led the Statesmen with 12 kills on a .290 hitting percentage, while Tommy Fellows (So., Shorewood, Ill., Exercise Science) added 11 kills.
Brady Zell (So., Wales, Wis., Business Management) recorded 28 assists to pace the offense. Fellows also contributed 11 digs, while Joao Gabriel Filippelli (Jr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Business Management) added eight.
Defensively at the net, Ben Brinkman (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) totaled eight block assists and one solo block. Britten Beallis (Sr., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) contributed six block assists, while Sebestyen and Josh Bluhm (So., Lockport, Ill., Software Engineering) each recorded five block assists.
