CEDAR RAPIDS — The No. 10-ranked William Penn men’s volleyball team kept its NAIA National Championship hopes alive Wednesday, upsetting No. 7-seeded St. Thomas in a historic five-set battle.
The Statesmen now sit at 1-1 in pool play and still have a path to advance. If St. Thomas defeats The Master’s on Thursday at 1 p.m., a three-way tiebreaker will determine who moves on. Seeding for the tiebreaker would be based on set-win percentage during pool play. William Penn currently sits at 3-5 in sets, while The Master’s is 3-0, and St. Thomas is 2-3. The second and third-seeded teams would first play a single-set matchup, with the winner advancing to face the top-seeded team in another one-set showdown.
William Penn (19-8) earned the 3-2 victory over St. Thomas (24-5) with set scores of 37-35, 22-25, 25-17, 20-25, and 15-12. The Statesmen battled through an up-and-down offensive performance, posting hitting percentages of .295, .040, .458, .000, and .261 across the five sets. The Bobcats recorded marks of .196, .242, .036, .189, and .000.
William Penn came out firing in the first set with a 6-0 run to build a 9-4 lead before the teams began trading momentum swings. St. Thomas answered with a 9-3 stretch to take control, but the Navy and Gold responded with a run of their own to reclaim the advantage. Following the large momentum swings was one of the most dramatic sets in NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship history. Holding a narrow 24-23 lead, the Statesmen and Bobcats battled through 11 ties and four lead changes before William Penn finally secured the marathon set, 37-35.
The set officially became the longest in NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship history, surpassing the previous record of 35-33 set in 2023 between Georgetown and Saint Xavier.
St. Thomas answered in the second set, opening with a 4-1 run before William Penn tied the frame at 6-6. The squads traded points until the Bobcats used an 8-2 surge to create separation. The Statesmen rallied with five consecutive points to stay within striking distance, but STU closed out the set 25-22.
The third set belonged to the Navy and Gold from the start. William Penn opened on a 6-1 run and never surrendered the lead. The Bobcats cut the deficit to 12-10 midway through the set, but the Statesmen responded by extending the margin to 21-15 before cruising to a 25-17 win.
The fourth set featured another momentum swing. After the teams battled to a 6-6 tie, St. Thomas used a 7-1 run to take control. William Penn answered with a 6-1 stretch of its own, but the Bobcats regained momentum late with a 6-3 run to force a decisive fifth set.
The final set opened with William Penn in command as the Statesmen raced out to an 8-2 advantage before St. Thomas mounted one final push. The Bobcats used a pair of runs to cut the deficit to 13-12, but William Penn delivered the final two points of the match to complete the upset with a 15-12 victory.
Despite the win, the Statesmen were outpaced 70-55 in kills. However, St. Thomas committed 43 attack errors compared to William Penn’s 24, helping the Statesmen finish with a .200 hitting percentage while limiting the Bobcats to .153.
St. Thomas totaled seven service aces and 19 service errors, while William Penn recorded two aces and 13 service errors.
Emilio Spanner (Sr., Sint Eustatius, Sports Management) paced the offense with 15 kills, while Tommy Fellows (So., Shorewood, Ill., Exercise Science) added 14 kills with a .379 attack percentage. Ben Brinkman (So., Appleton, Wis., Sports Management) and Marton Sebestyen (Fr., Gyenesdias, Hungary, Business Management) contributed 10 and nine kills, respectively. Britten Beallis (Sr., Naperville, Ill., Sports Management) delivered a strong all-around performance with seven kills at a .312 clip.
Brady Zell (So., Wales, Wis., Business Management) directed the offense with 46 assists. Defensively, Fellows led the team with 13 digs, while Zell added 11. Taylor Brummond (Jr., Winsted, Minn., Sports Management) recorded seven digs, and Spanner finished with six.
At the net, the Statesmen dominated with 19 total blocks compared to St. Thomas’ 12. Beallis led the effort with nine block assists and two solo blocks, while Brinkman and Spanner each added seven block assists. Zell contributed five block assists and one solo block, while Fellows also chipped in with five block assists.
“Great way to finish pool play,” said Head Coach Luke Bentley. “Proud of the way our guys battled and pulled out a win! Now we wait to see what happens tomorrow.”
