Graceland Men’s Volleyball Drops Road Contest at William Penn
The Graceland University men's volleyball team fell in straight sets to William Penn University on Friday night at the Penn Activity Center. The Yellowjackets dropped the match 25-13, 25-12, 25-14 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play.
With the loss, Graceland moved to 2-19 overall and 0-14 in conference, while William Penn improved to 14-8 overall and 11-4 in Heart play.
Graceland struggled to establish consistent offensive rhythm across all three sets. The Yellowjackets finished the match with 18 kills on 73 total attacks and committed 16 errors, resulting in a .027 team hitting percentage. The Statesmen, meanwhile, produced 39 kills on 73 attempts with only 10 errors, finishing with a .397 hitting percentage.
Christopher Sawyer led the Yellowjackets' distribution with 12 assists and added five digs and one service ace. Andrew Cziep paced the attack with four kills and two block assists while Elijah Kline and Kalanikapu Aona chipped in five and three kills, respectively.
Defensively, Graceland totaled 22 digs, led by AJ Rasquero, who had five from the libero position. The team also registered one solo block and six block assists, with Chase VanDellen and Cziep each contributing two assisted blocks.
Graceland opened the first set with a brief exchange of points but quickly fell behind following a 6-1 run by William Penn. The Yellowjackets were unable to recover as the Statesmen took the set 25-13. In the second frame, an early timeout by Graceland came after William Penn opened with a 3-0 scoring run, and despite a brief rally featuring kills from Kline and Cziep, the Yellowjackets were again outpaced, falling 25-12.
The third set saw Graceland produce six kills but hit .000 for the frame. Despite a late effort and a kill from Christopher Sawyer, William Penn closed out the match 25-14 with a kill from Fischer Paulson.
William Penn was led by Ben Cemeno-Castillo, who posted 11 kills, three service aces, and 14.0 total points. Setter Brady Zell compiled 30 assists and contributed defensively with three digs and one block assist. Britten Beallis added nine kills and a .538 hitting percentage, while Travis Keller recorded three service aces and a .750 hitting mark.
Graceland was outscored in total points 54.0 to 23.0 and committed eight service errors compared to William Penn's 10. The Statesmen controlled tempo from the service line, producing 11 aces and limiting Graceland's sideout opportunities.
Head Coach Eric Majors acknowledged the team's challenges post-match:
"We're working through a tough stretch, but I'm proud of the effort our guys are giving," Majors said. "William Penn executed well in all phases. We're focused on developing our systems and fundamentals, and we'll continue to build on these moments. I'm confident in the character of this group moving forward."
Graceland will look to bounce back quickly.
Up Next
The Yellowjackets will take on Grand View University tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa, at the Charles S. Johnson Wellness Center.
For more information on Graceland men's volleyball and all Graceland athletics, visit GUjackets.com.