SYLVANIA, Ohio – Taking on its third formidable opponent in as many days, the Hope International men's volleyball team dropped a 25-22, 25-14, 25-18 decision to No. 15 William Penn on Saturday, concluding play at the Lourdes Gray Wolves Invitational.
The tournament, which also featured No. 4 Georgetown College and host Lourdes – currently receiving votes in the national poll – represented an opportunity for the Royals to gauge a squad with several new faces to start the 2026 season.
HIU was competitive in all three matches. Jah'mi Jeter was productive throughout, as the outside hitter led the Royals in kills for the third straight match. He finished with 10 kills to go along with an ace and two digs.
Three Royals collected five kills – Travis Donahue, Hugo Gonzalez Gutierrez and Sean Seaman – and Alistair Namsinh and Steve Tong tied for team high honors with eight digs apiece.
Sam D'Ambrosio dealt out 11 assists for the Royals, which hit .079 (25-18-89) as a team.
The Statesmen swung at a .344 (41-10-90) clip, with Ben Cemeno-Castillo leading the way with a match-high 13 kills.
HIU fell behind 6-1 in set one, but fought back with four of the next five points to pull within 7-5. William Penn built the lead back to 15-10 following a pair of HIU errors, but the Royals reeled off five straight to tie the score at 15-15.
The Statesmen stopped HIU's momentum with a mini 3-0 run, but back-to-back kills from Donahue brought the Royals within 18-17. With the Statesmen leading 22-19, the Royals trimmed the deficit to one again as Jeter slammed one to the floor.
HIU trailed 23-22 when William Penn scored the final two points on an HIU service error and bad set.
In set two, William Penn hit .433 (16-3-30) compared to HIU's .037 (6-5-27), earning the 25-14 victory. HIU was in the vicinity trailing 13-9, but the Statesmen pulled away with a 7-1 run to take a 10-point lead.
William Penn continued its hot hitting in set three, checking in at .379 (14-3-29), while the Royals continued to struggle to find their offense. HIU hit just .033 (7-6-30) in the final set.
The Statesmen took a 6-0 lead, but HIU responded with four straight points – a Seaman kill and three straight Namsinh aces. HiU battled to stay within two points, making it 14-12 following an assisted block from Seaman and Gonzalez Gutierrez on Marton Sebestyen.
HIU trailed just 17-15, but got derailed when William Penn scored three straight points – two coming on blocks of HIU hitters. An HIU timeout did not stop the Statesmen's momentum, and they finished the match with a Cemeno-Castillo kill to take the 25-18 win.
The Royals conclude their trip to the midwest on Monday with another tough matchup, facing No. 7 Lawrence Tech at 4:00 p.m. (PT).
