The No. 8 nationally ranked Park University men's volleyball program had a tough road assignment with (RV) Mount Mercy University on Friday night in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Pirates were unable to get going, while Mount Mercy pushed ahead for the sweep, 15-25, 22-25, 19-25.

The Pirates have lost two straight matches and are 15-5 on the season and 7-4 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, while the Mustangs bump up to 18-5 and 6-5 of the same.

It was a slow start for Park in set one with only a .083 hitting percentage compared to a .391 hitting percentage from the Mustangs, the worst and best sets for each team, respectively.

The Pirates led through the early part of the match, but at a slim 9-8 lead by Park, the Mustangs found their groove with a 10-0 run that put the first set far out of reach. The Mustangs got early momentum in set one for a 25-15 set win.

Once again, both teams were close in set two, but the Pirates moved head with a three-point lead on a 3-0 run off of kills from Nicolas Tenius and Leonardo Maldonado. Park briefly held on to the three-point advantage until the Mustangs had a 3-0 run to tie it at 10-10. Park battled and held on to a lead until 19-18, at which point a 5-0 run set in by Mount Mercy to overtake Park for the final time, 23-19. The Pirates showed good fight to finish out the set but the deficit was to great, leading to a 25-22 set two win for Mount Mercy.

In the final set, the Mustangs got out to a 3-0 run to lead 6-3 in the early going. Like the first set a huge run, this time of nine unanswered points, set up the Mustangs for another win. Park made the set more respectable with a 4-0 run at the end of the set on kills by Joao Infante and Maldonado, but Mount Mercy on their home court held on for the 25-19 win.

The Pirates hit .161 for the match, while the Mustangs were at .326.

Tenius was the leading attacker for Park for the second straight match and had 12 kills for the match. He was two digs off of a double-double to lead Park in dig numbers as well.

Infante had eight kills for Park followed by Maldonado with six kills.

Three Pirates had six digs on the match, including Maldonado, Veljko Stojic, and Eduardo Sabi.

Sabi was also the leader in assists with 27 for the match.

Park takes on Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa at 2pm on Saturday afternoon. WATCH
BOX SCORE