The No. 14 nationally ranked Park University women's volleyball program closed out a five-match home, conference stand against (RV) Benedictine College in Breckon Sports Center on Tuesday evening, falling to the Ravens in a roller coaster of five sets 25-10, 22-25, 20-25, 25-19, 7-15.

This is the first time in five seasons that Park has had back-to-back Heart of America Athletic Conference losses, at home nonetheless. This is also Benedictine's first win over Park since joining the conference in 2020. Park held a 21-match win streak over the Ravens since Michael Talamantes took the program over in 2011.

Park moves to 13-5 on the year with a 3-2 Heart record, while Benedictine is the top player in the Heart now at 5-0 in conference play with a 14-3 regular season record.

The Pirates looked extremely good in set one, earning a 25-10 victory. Park had 15 kills with only one error on 26 attempts for a .538 attack percentage. The Ravens were slow out of the gate with a -.120 hitting percentage on three kills, six errors, and 25 attempts. A 6-0 run was instrumental in tilting the set to Park's advantage at 14-5, three of these points were off of Benedictine attack errors.

It seemed like Benedictine got off to fast starts in the remaining sets and were 5-0 out of the gate in set two. Park was down by as much as nine points in set two, 19-10, but Florencia Churin gave Park three strong kills to help force a Raven timeout at the 22-20 mark. The Pirates got a key block from Amra Kovac and Trinity Iverson to make it 23-22, but back-to-back kills by the Ravens closed out set two, 25-22.

It was a 2-0 start by the Ravens in set three, but Park reeled themselves back in for a tie at 3-3. A 3-0 run for the Ravens put them up 10-6 to force a Park timeout. Both teams would exchange blows, as Park got three unanswered points on kills from Mafalda Bras and Loes Peijnenburg to cut the deficit to one point, 10-9. Benedictine's Regan Breggeman had five kills in a 6-0 swing. This put a damper on any comeback for Park as the set drudged on to a 25-20 Benedictine win.

This time Park got out to a 2-0 lead, but a 4-0 run gave the Ravens a 4-2 lead. The Ravens continued to press Park and soon earned a five-point spread, 9-4. The Pirates remained in it and chipped the deficit to 11-9. A huge 7-0 run soon broke the game open for Park as Churin teamed up with Bras and Daniela Gomez for two blocks in that span. Despite the Ravens, getting back within reach at 21-19, the Pirates tacked on the last four points on two Caskey kills, 25-19.

The Ravens shook off the prior set loss and were quick to get to a 7-3 lead. When it mattered, the Ravens came up big and hit their best percentage of the night at .318, while the Pirates were at .000 on only four kills and four errors. With only five points to go, Benedictine held a 10-5 lead, which held up as Maura Lickteig and Breggeman contributed a kill and a pair of blocks. The Ravens clinched the road win, 15-7.

Caskey and Gomez both were playing at a high level with 15 kills for Caskey and 14 for Gomez. Gomez was one dig shy of a double-double, while also leading Park with two service aces.

Bras once again delivered a balanced match at 12 digs and seven kills.

Irene Verdino gave great effort and earned a new career-high in digs at 28 in a match.

Silvia Albani is continuing to grow each match and put up a 47 assist night.

Trinity Iverson led Park with five blocks, while Churin and Caskey supplied four and three, respectively. Churin also earned a new match-high of eight kills in her young Pirate career.

Park looks to move on to their next Heart matchup with Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo. on Friday, October 4 at 7pm. WATCH HERE
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