Park University's No. 3 nationally ranked men's volleyball team began the 2024 season with a clean sheet against four opponents at the 2024 Pirate Invitational. The Pirates earned three sweeps against University of Rio Grande (Ohio), (RV) Westcliff University (Calif.), and Brescia University (Kent.). Park's weekend was underscored by a four set winner against NCAA Division II school Missouri S&T on Saturday.

Rio Grande | 25-20, 25-17, 25-18 | Box Score

In their opening match of the year, Park hit .369 as a team. The Pirates were led by Joao Infante's nine kills, followed by Nicolas Tenius and Veljko Stojic at five and four.

Park picked up steam in the middle of each of the first two sets to go up 2-0. In the final set, turned up the heat on the RedStorm with a nine-point lead, brought on by a 9-1 run in the middle of the set.

In the opening sweep of the weekend, Marcus Lucchesi earned 27 assists and Infante also led the team with three service aces.

Stojic, Gabriel Soares, and Carston Wellong worked hard up front with two block assists each. Wellong and Soares also tallied one solo block apiece.

Westcliff | 25-16, 25-18, 28-26 | Box Score

The Pirates had a big match against (RV) Westcliff to cap off day one and now the Pirates are 3-0 against the Warriors in the last three seasons.

Park had stingy defense and held Westcliff to a -.011 hitting percentage. Westcliff played a decent defensive front as well and Park was held to a hitting percentage of .267.

Seven more blocks were recorded by Park compared to Westcliff. Joao Friedrich and Wellong were the defensemen to credit with four and three total blocks, respectively.

Infante led in the second match with 11 kills again, while Friedrich was close behind at eight kills.

The 2023 Heart Setter of the Year Eduardo Sabi opened up the season with a double-double on 30 assists and 11 digs.

In his first appearance as a Pirate, Joao Bonanoni went for 10 digs with three service aces.

In the first set, an 8-1 scoring run set the tone early. Park was able to keep the fire going and won set one with ease 25-16.

It would get increasingly more competitive as the evening went on, as the second set still was in control of Park, but the third set was an exciting finish in Breckon Sports Center. In the third set alone there were eight ties. Midway through the third set, Westcliff secured a three-point lead, 13-10, after a 5-0 run. The Warriors carried a five-point lead at 22-17, but a Warrior service error and attack error caused a Westcliff timeout. This sudden shift was the window the Pirates needed and they took it with a double block by Infante and Mihailo Ivanovic and then a solo block by Stojic to force the final timeout by Westcliff. It would be back-and-forth until the score hit 25-24. At this point, Park took full control, scoring the final four of the last five points for the 28-26 win.

Brescia | 25-13, 25-23, 25-18 | Box Score

Brescia is in their inaugural season as a men's volleyball program and were unable to get their first win in program history at the Pirate Invitational. Against Park it proved to be tough sledding for the Bearcats in set one. Brescia held their own with a score of 11-11, but the Pirates took back their lead with a 6-1 scoring run to force a timeout. Four service aces in a row by Allesandro Tolin then extended the lead to 19-12 before landing at a 25-13 win.

Park's largest lead in set two was only four, as the Bearcats showed a lot of resilience to come back with a hard-fought set two. Ivanovic and Soares sealed the deal though in the third set with kills for a 25-23 win.

The final set went to Park with relative ease, as Soares and Ignacio Pedemonte won the day with nine kills each. Nicolas Tenius had a well rounded match with seven kills and five service aces.
For the match the Pirates earned 12 service aces as a team.

Missouri S&T | 23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20 | Box Score

Park handed the second loss of the weekend to the Miners, who were the only team to take a set from Park this weekend. The Pirates hit a smooth .366, highlighted by a high-flying .481 in set two.
Park was led by Friedrich and Infante with 22 and 18 kills each.

It was close the entire way in set one, but the Miners finally got to Park with a 4-2 run to end the set one with a 25-23 win.

The Pirates came roaring back with three straight sets for the win. Park had to overcome a 15-14 deficit in set two and they did so with a 7-1 scoring run to even things a set each with a 25-19 win.
Even more special was the fight in set three, as the Pirates had to comeback from a 17-12 deficit. At 19-15, the Pirates had a 6-1 run to overtake the Miners, 21-20. Four different Pirates notched kills in that span. With a 23-22 lead, the Pirates called on Friedrich and Infante to send it to set four, 25-22.

With victory in sight, the Pirates leveraged a 4-0 and 5-0 scoring runs to initially earn a 14-11 lead and a 25-20 win to close things out. Park had their 5-0 run to finish the match, as the Pirates held to a 21-20 lead. Of those five, Friedrich had four consecutive points with two kills and two solo blocks.

Sabi connected well with his hitters and had 51 assists, while Bonanoni was the only Pirate with 10 digs.

Friedrich' hitting percentage was through the roof, blasting .459.

The Pirates will be in Mesa, Ariz. for their next tournament where they will face No. 2 Benedictine University – Mesa, (RV) Arizona Christian University, and No. 5 The Masters' University (Calif.).