The No. 8 nationally ranked Park University women's volleyball program came face to face with the Vikings of Grand View University on Friday evening in Des Moines, Iowa, defeating the Vikings in straight sets 25-17, 25-16, and 25-21.

The Pirates now have their 15^th win of 2023 at 15-2 and a perfect 9-0 conference record. Grand View dips to 6-12 on the year and are 6-4 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The Vikings have been solid at home this season though with only their second loss at 4-2 on their home court.

It was a clean match for both teams as each side hit north of .300. The Pirates had their highest hitting percentage of the season as a team with a .488, while the Vikings were good in their own right at .325.

The Pirates were on another level in set one with 18 kills and a .571 hitting percentage, underscored by a 5-0 lead to start things off. It was a good night for Izabella Ceratti who cranked 10 kills with four coming in set one. The Pirates continued to tear it up and led by as much as nine points at 21-12, before the eventual first set win of 25-17.

The Vikings were knot it up in the first third of the second set at 8-8, but the Pirates took the next three points off of a service error by Grand View and then two consecutive service aces by Grecia Ung. Ung had three of Park's seven service aces tonight. The other four came from Arianna Marino, Ceratti, and Aly Anderson. The Pirates continued to pick up points and led 15-10 as part of another 3-0 run. Things continued to pick up as Malaina Hensley and Ceratti squared up the last three kills of the set for a 25-16 win. Eight of the last 10 points were awarded to the Pirates for the 2-0 lead.
It was a battle for set three, as the set was tied 13 separate times. Grand View held on to a temporary three point lead at 14-11, but Park would not go away. Ung came through with three consecutive kills to tie it back up at 14 all. She would have six kills in set three to give her a total of 14 for the night, which ties her season-high. Park had another strong crescendo in the set with five of the last six points siding with them for the 25-21 match victory.

Ung led all Pirates with 14 kills, while Ceratti and Debora Bernardi were tough to stop with 10 kills each. Hensley and Barbara Almeida were great supports with seven and five kills, respectively.

Hensley helped out in the dig department with nine for the match, while Irene Verdino contributed a team-leading 12 digs.

It was another great night of connection with the Park hitters for Marino who made it happen throughout the match with 41 assists.

The Pirates will camp out in Iowa for their Saturday match tomorrow with William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa at 2pm. WATCH HERE
Box Score