The No. 8 nationally ranked Park University women's volleyball program were superb in St. Louis, Mo. at the Missouri Baptist University Classic, earning four wins against Saint Ambrose University, Lindsey Wilson College, No. 7 Missouri Baptist, and Saint Xavier University.

Park is now 22-2 on the season and are riding an 18-match winning streak.

For the four-game stretch, Park had a .321 hitting percentage while holding their opponents to a .133. They also averaged 14.86 kills per set as a unit.

Grecia Ung led the Pirates offensively with 47 kills or 3.36 kills per set.

Day One

Saint Ambrose, 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-19) | Box Score

A 9-1 lead in the first set against Saint Ambrose was a strong statement by Park and after a five point scoring spree, they led 15-4. Two kills came in by Malaina Hensley in the last three points for Park to secure the 25-11 win. Grecia Ung gave a great effort with three kills to begin to begin the match.

Hensley came back in set two with three more kills and finished with a double-double on 11 kills, 11 digs. The Fighting Bees competed hard in set two and brought the match within two points at 16-14. The Pirates took things into their own hands after this point and scored the next six of seven points for a 22-15 lead. Debora Bernardi's play was pivotal with a kill and a block back-to-back in that exchange. Saint Ambrose was not able to mount a comeback as Park won 25-18.

Park kicked it into gear again midway through set three with a 6-1 run to give them a 18-11 lead as consecutive kills by Barbara Almeida and Ung forced a Saint Ambrose timeout. The Pirates led by as much as eight points at 23-15 before closing the match at 25-19.

Ung co-led with Hensley with 11 kills. Ung had a balanced match as well with two service aces and three block assists, which matched Bernardi's block total.

Arianna Marino continued to deliver well-timed sets to her hitters with 31 assists for the match.

Lindsey Wilson, 3-1 (25-13, 25-17, 25-27, 25-16) | Box Score

The Pirates began the first set with Lindsey Wilson with a .552 hitting percentage with 17 kills and only one error. The Pirates for the match hit .278 for the match while holding Lindsey Wilson .124. Bernardi played a big part with two kills in a 6-0 run in set one to bring Park up to a15-8 lead. The Blue Raiders were unable to get much going in set one with three attack errors and an additional two blocks by Park for a 25-13 first set. Izabella Ceratti had six kills in the first set and had a season-high match of 19 kills.

The Blue Raiders clung close to Park at 6-4, but the Pirates widened the gap to 12-4 after another run of six points. Both sides went back and forth in the middle of the set, but the Pirates hammered home the win 25-17 after a five-point scoring run. Ceratti was involved with a kill and service ace, but the Blue Raiders had two attack errors and a service error towards the end of the match.

The Blue Raiders did not go down without a fight though and won the third set 27-25. A three point scoring run turned a tie game into a Lindsey Wilson lead 12-9. The Pirates tied it seven times before taking the lead 23-21, but the Blue Raiders spoiled the sweep by taking the last six of eight points for the win. This is even after they faced match point when Park led 25-24.

The Blue Raiders looked to challenge the Pirates at the start of set four again and overcame Park 11-10 after winning five of the last six points. The Pirates had different plans though and coming out of a Michael Talamantes timeout, Park dug their heels in for a five point scoring run. With a 15-11 lead, Park continued to apply pressure before landing at a 25-16 set and match victory.

There were plenty of offensive performances that complimented Ceratti, including 14 kills from Ung. Ceratti and Ung were two of three Pirates in double-figure kills and they both secured double-doubles with 13 and 15 digs, respectively.

Bernardi had 11 kills and hit .421. Almeida had a great match with nine kills and three block assists, while Hensley helped her team with eight kills and 15 digs.

Aly Anderson gave a serving clinic with five service aces.

In all, four Pirates earned double-doubles including Ceratti, Ung, Marino, and Irene Verdino. Marino and Verdino got their double-digit numbers in assists and digs. Marino finished with 43 assists and 19 digs, while Verdino had 10 and 21 of the same. Each pair has more than double-doubles in common, as Ceratti and Ung both hail from Mexico, while Marino and Verdino have the same home country of Italy.   

Day Two

No. 7 Missouri Baptist, 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-19) | Box Score

A story line coming into this tournament is the marquee matchup between two NAIA top 10 teams, No. 8 Park and No. 7 Missouri Baptist.

This is the first time these former in-conference rivals in the American Midwest Conference have played since the 2021 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship match at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, where the Pirates were the runner-up to the Spartans in a thrilling five set match.

This year, the Pirates triumph after facing earlier adversity in set one. Missouri Baptist looked to have their game on point with a .295 first set hitting percentage compared to only .159 for the Pirates. 19 kills were registered in set one for the Spartans who came into the match at 17-3 on the season. The Pirates played from behind most of the set but tied the match at 14-14. Missouri Baptist took the next two points to which both sides went point for point. The Pirates forced a Spartan timeout at 23-21, but Missouri Baptist retained the lead and finished the set at 25-21.

The Pirates finished the last three sets with higher hitting percentages per set, including going for .441 in set two. The Pirates changed things up in set two and involved Szonja Stollar who made a big difference with four kills and one solo block in the set. Park built a four-point lead at 10-6 and held off the Spartans before extending their lead to eight at 19-11. A five-point run helped Park drive home their point to get to 19-11 and they remained on top until the set ended with two Verdino service aces for a 25-18 win.

It was a tightly contested set three with plenty of defense to go around as nine blocks were recorded by both teams, five for the Pirates and four for the Spartans. Bernardi is coming off of a Heart Defender of the Week award and she led the effort with five block assists for the match. The Spartans began with a 4-2 lead, but the Pirates quickly regrouped with a five-point scoring spree for a 7-4 turn of events. The Pirates would not give up the lead the rest of the way, even after Missouri Baptist brought it within one point twice at 14-13 and 15-14. Again, the Spartans tried to overcome late in the set at 23-20, but following a Pirate timeout Hensley delivered a kill and then combined with Bernardi for a block to end the set 25-20.

With a 2-1 lead, the Pirates had momentum on their side and the Spartans on the ropes. Park and Missouri Baptist were tied at 8-8 early on and went point for point for the next few series. Down the stretch the Pirates kept picking up points on the Spartans and took a four-point advantage at 17-13. Ung had a great set with four kills, striking down a team-leading 13 kills for the match. The Spartans brought the deficit within three at 21-18 to prompt a Park timeout, but the Pirates would not let this one slip away as they captured four of the last five points for the 25-19 win.

Ung and Ceratti shared another double-double. Ung had 13 kills and 10 digs, while Ceratti roped 11 kills and 14 digs.

Marino earned a double-double on 50 assists and 10 digs, but her 50 assists is also her new season-high.  

Saint Xavier, 3-0 (25-12 , 25-15 , 25-12) | Box Score

Park was full steam ahead in the last match of the Missouri Baptist Classic against Saint Xavier and the Cougars were unable to keep pace with Park. For the Pirates, this is their second highest hitting percentage of the season at .413, while also holding Saint Xavier to a .071 hitting percentage.

The Cougars did not have a single block on the Pirate hitters, while the Pirates had six and kept them under 10 kills per set. Ung had a big first set with six kills as Park cruised to a 25-12 win.
Avery Caskey was effective for Park in set two with five kills. For the match, Caskey tied her season-high of nine kills. Half of Park's eight services aces in the match came in the second set, three aces were delivered by Anderson and one by Verdino in the second frame. There was little resistance from Saint Xavier and Park rattled off a 25-15 win.

Barbara Almeida had eight kills for the match and came alive in the last set with four kills. The Pirates jumped out front with a 4-0 run to begin the third set and then followed that up with a five-point scoring spree to bump the lead up to 9-3. The third set finished exactly like the first set at 25-12, as the Pirates secured 10 of the last 12 points for the victory.

The Pirates will return to Heart of America Athletic Conference play in Baldwin City, Kan. against Baker University at 7pm on Tuesday, October 17. WATCH HERE