The No. 3 nationally ranked Park University men's volleyball program had a tough matchup with (RV) Missouri Baptist University in Breckon Sports Center on Tuesday evening, falling to the Spartans in four sets, 22-25, 26-28, 29-27, 19-25.

Both teams now stand at four losses on the season at similar records of 15-4 for Park and 17-4 for the Spartans. The Pirates still have a game advantage over Missouri Baptist in conference record at 7-3 compared to 6-4 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.

Now with 70 matches between both of these powerhouse programs in their histories together, the series now stands at 39-31 in favor of Park. The Pirates have not played another team more in program history than the Spartans. It's also been relatively evenly matched in the last 10 matches, as Park is 6-4 in that span. Of course, last year the Spartans were the only team in the Heart of America Athletic Conference to defeat Park in a five-set match in St. Louis.

The Pirates had a 4-1 start to begin the match and pushed their lead to seven at 11-4. A Park service error set in motion a turnaround for Missouri Baptist amounting to a 7-3 run to get within three points, 14-11. A 5-0 run by the Spartans was a big difference maker to tie the game 19-all. A service error by Park and then two service aces by the Spartans were key in that span. The set was tied two more times before Missouri Baptist captured the last three points for the set win, 25-22.

The Pirates hit .222 in set one and that would be their highest percentage of the match, as they were unable to break .200 again and finished at .157 for the match. The Pirates were right near their average per game and had seven total blocks, while Missouri Baptist had their second highest total block number of the season with 16.

Set two was a reversed start from the first set, as the Spartans were off to a 4-1 lead. Park battled off of two service aces by Nicolas Tenius to tie the match at 6-6, but a 4-0 run by Missouri Baptist was the response for a 10-6 lead. The Spartans led by as much as six points throughout the heart of the set, but a 5-2 run by Park put them in a good position to rally. A kill by Tenius and two kills by Joao Friedrich were instrumental. Park was able to tie the Spartans late at 22-22. Then there were four lead changes before Missouri Baptist once again took the last three points for the 28-26 win.

Set three was close throughout, as neither side had more than three points of separation the entire set. There were 20 ties and eight lead changes. Tenius was heavily relied upon in set three and had seven kills to will his team to victory in the second straight deep set for a 29-27 win. Park secured the last three points of the set on a service error by the Spartans, a kill by Tenius, and a Spartan attack error.

Through the first part of set four the Pirates held the 11-9 lead, but Missouri Baptist went on a 4-1 run to overtake Park, 13-12. The Pirates tied the Spartans once more at 13-13, but outside of that Missouri Baptist held on and pulled away towards the end for the biggest set win of the evening, 25-19.

For Tenius, his 18 kills in the match gives him a new career-high. Tenius and Friedrich also led the Pirates with three service aces each.

Friedrich was next in line in kills with nine, followed by Joao Infante with seven and Leonardo Maldonado and Carston Wellong each with five.

Eduardo Sabi had 35 assists and was second on the team in digs with six. Joao Bonanoni was the Park dig leader with seven.

The Pirates in the most recent NAIA poll have moved to No. 8 in the nation and will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for their next match against (RV) Mount Mercy University, the host institution of the 2024 Men's Volleyball National Championship. WATCH
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