Box Score The No. 14 nationally ranked Park University women's volleyball program defeated William Penn University on Friday evening at Breckon Sports Center in three deliberate victories, 25-16, 25-23, 25-18.

Park bumps up to 12-3 on the year and are 2-0 to begin Heart of America Athletic Conference play with three more home conference matchups in a row. The Statesmen are 11-8 and now move to 1-2 in the Heart.

It was International Night at Breckon Sports Center last night, where all the different cultures represented on the court were celebrated.

A big shout out to the Park International Club, who are a great organization to get involved with on campus. Their next meeting is coming up on October 15th, and they would love to see more students get involved! The club just launched a brand-new Instagram account, so make sure to follow them today @ParkUIntlClub.
 
The Pirates had 13 or more kills in each of the three sets and hit shy of .200 at .177 for the match, while William Penn was held to a .091.

It was a tight set one, but at the midway point, the senior from Rome, Italy, Irene Verdino took the serve and was part of a 6-0 run for Park to take a 16-9 lead. Mafalda Bras and Izabella Ceratti had kills in that stretch. Bras, a senior from Lisboa, Portugal led Park with 12 kills and Ceratti, the senior from Tijuana, Mexico was next in line with nine strikes. Park had a firm hold on the set from there and capped it off with a 3-0 run on two powerful kills from the middle blocker from the Netherlands Loes Peijnenburg, 25-16.

A service error, a Verdino service ace, and a Statesmen attack error; gave Park an early 3-0 run to take a 5-2 lead in set two. The match would later be tied three separate times at 12-12, 13-13, and 14-14. This time Bras would hold serve on a devastating 6-0 run that put the Pirates up 19-14. Bras had a kill and an ace in that stretch, along with Avery Caskey who contributed a kill. As we got deeper into set two, the Statesmen came back to life with a 5-1 run to make it 23-22. Park held on by a one-point lead, but Ceratti did the damage when it counted with two kills to close out set two, 25-23.

Momentum carried into set three with a 5-0 run for the Pirates early on to create good separation at 11-4. Caskey put down two kills and the senior from Alicante, Spain Patricia Carrio Ubeda delivered a well executed service ace. This would only be the start though, as a 6-1 run from Park put things out of reach at 17-6. Despite William Penn making it a respectable final line with seven of the last nine points, the Pirates went on to sweep the Statesmen with a 25-18 set three win.

Bras and Ceratti got it done defensively as well with eight digs apiece, just shy of Jullia Alvarez' 20 dig performance for a double-double on 29 assists. The setter from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil now has seven double-doubles in her last nine matches this year.

Peijnenburg and Caskey matched offensive production with seven kills each as well.

The Pirates will host Grand View University on Saturday at 2pm in Breckon Sports Center. WATCH HERE

Box Score