The No. 12 nationally ranked Park University men's volleyball program stood their ground against Culver-Stockton College on Friday evening in Breckon Sports Center, downing the Wildcats in straight sets, 25-21, 25-18, 25-17.

The Pirates are 20-5 on the year with a 12-4 Heart of America Athletic Conference record, while the Wildcats are 3-26 and are winless in conference play at 0-16.

Everyone will be on the edge of their seat to see the post-season seeding. As it stands now, there are two teams at 13-4, No. 4 William Penn and No. 5 Grand View, and Park and No. 11 Missouri Valley are at 12-4. Everything rides on the last two matches of the regular season as Park plays Missouri Valley at home and then travels to Grand View.

Park was efficient offensively with a .325 hitting percentage, while holding the Wildcats below .100 for the match. Both sides gave some extra chances to their opponent on the serve, Culver-Stockton with 14 service errors and Park had 17.

The Wildcats played Park tight in the opening set with not much separation being established by either side. Culver-Stockton took the lead at 9-8 and despite Park tying the score six times, the Wildcats held onto the lead late at 18-16. Park got a 4-0 run to turn the set around 20-18, which was enough to fend off Culver-Stockton for the 25-21 win. Two blocks closed out the set for Park, a solo block from Nicolas Tenius and a double-block from Mihailo Ivanovic and Leonardo Maldonado.

Park got back on track in sets two and three and pulled away for similar 25-18 and 25-17 wins. Joao Infante got his first action of the match in set two and led the Pirates with seven kills. Set two was also Park's best hitting percentage of the match at .407 on 13 kills, two errors, and 27 total attacks.

Set three was highlighted by a 5-0 run to gain the 15-11 lead on Culver-Stockton. Towards the end, Park benefited from a few service errors by the Wildcats, but then Gabriel Soares ended the match with a kill and a combined block with fellow senior Marcus Lucchesi for the 25-17 win.

Infante led the charge in only two sets played with 12 kills and hit an outstanding .625.

Maldonado was also in double-figure kills with 10 for the match, all coming in the first set.

There were 17 different Pirates that saw action last night, including time at the setter position as Lucchesi and Jovan Nikolic each recorded 15 assists.

Park and Missouri Valley will play in a Senior Day matchup at 2pm in Breckon Sports Center on Saturday with a blackout theme for fans in attendance. The Senior Day Ceremony will begin directly before starting lineups are announced at 2pm. WATCH

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