The No. 3 nationally ranked Park University men's volleyball program concluded its trip to Arizona with a Saturday night match in Glendale, Ariz. against (RV) Arizona Christian University. Park was able to outlast the Firestorm for the road win, 25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-13.

This was the first meeting between these two programs and The Master's also joined Park in the semifinals last year on the other side of the bracket.

Park moves to 6-1 in their non-conference schedule, while the Firestorm are now 1-1. Interestingly enough, Arizona Christian has played both Park schools, Park (Mo.) and Park – Gilbert (Ariz.) in their opening matches.

This is the first match between Park (Mo.) and the Firestorm in program history.

A 4-0 start for the Pirates immediately drew a timeout from Arizona Christian. Carston Wellong and Joao Infante had their first kills of the match in that span. Two service aces by Joao Friedrich and a kill from Leonardo Maldonado put the Pirates up 8-1 in a strong start to the set. A 3-0 run in a rally by the Firestorm nearing the end of the set put them back one point at 17-16, but a 4-0 run by Park caused another Arizona Christian timeout. Infante was responsible for two kills in the rally and Park was able to clinch set one, 25-22. Make that six kills for Infante in the opening set.

The Pirates had two sets on the evening with hitting percentages surpassing .450. In set two the Pirates hit .462 and in the fourth set .583. Both teams were close out of the shoot in set two and with it tied in set two, Maldonado and Friedrich went to work with two kills for Maldonado and an ace by Friedrich for a 3-0 run. Soon the Pirates reached a five-point lead using that 3-0 run as a larger 6-1 scoring spree, 15-10. Park led by as much as eight points in the set, 20-12, but the Firestorm rallied late and scored six of the last eight points to end things at 25-21.

The Pirates went out to a 6-3 lead early on in set three and continued to build the lead to as much as 19-13. Four unanswered points brought the Firestorm within two points, 19-17. The Pirates were able to a couple more points before a 4-0 run gave Arizona Christian its first lead, 23-22. Park tied the game at 23 all, but two consecutive blocks by the Firestorm continued the match into a fourth set, 23-25.

It began close in set four at 5-5, but the Pirates were able to turn it on in big ways, starting with two straight kills from Friedrich as part of a 3-0 run to lead 8-5. This year we are seeing Mihailo Ivanovic, a sophomore middle blocker from Gornji Milanovac, Serbia, make is serving debut this season. He held serve for five consecutive rallies and recorded his third service ace of the season to aid the Pirates to a 13-6 lead. A couple service errors by the Firestorm helped grease the wheels for the Pirates, and then kills by Infante Veljko Stojic, and Eduardo Sabi left no doubt as to the direction of the match to give Park a 10-point lead, 20-10. There would be no miracle comeback on this night as Haris Delci, freshman from Novi Pazar, Serbia, slammed a kill for the 25-13 win.

The Pirates held the Firestorm under 10 kills in the first and fourth sets defensively.

The Firestorm had an advantage on the serve with nine service aces and 10 service errors, while the Pirates were at six aces and 13 service errors.

For the match, Park hit .336 and held Arizona Christian to .202.

Infante is really coming into his own, showing a lot of growth from his freshman year to his sophomore year. The outside hitter from Lisbon, Portugal led the Pirates with 20 kills, a new career-high for Infante.

Two other Pirates were in double-figures in kills, including Friedrich with 11 and Ivanovic with 10.

Friedrich led in service aces with three for the match.

 A balanced effort was shown in digs by the crew. Joao Bonanoni led the team with nine, while Infante and Sabi each recorded seven.

44 assists were recorded by Sabi as well and he is averaging 10.12 assists per set through seven matches.

Park will make their way back to Parkville, Mo. and rest up for a Friday, February 9 match against (RV) Ottawa at 6pm in Breckon Sports Center. WATCH
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