The No. 8 nationally ranked Park University women's volleyball program was in Miami, Fla. for the South Florida Invitational hosted by St. Thomas University (Fla.) and Florida Memorial University on Saturday and Sunday.  

Park went 2-1 over the weekend, falling to undefeated No. 19 St. Thomas, but then sweeping University of Mobile and Florida Memorial.

The Pirates had 14.40 kills per set for the tournament had 19 service aces to their opponents six. They also have bumped up their blocking with 20 total blocks for the three matches.

No. 19 St. Thomas | 27-29, 25-21, 23-25, 26-28 | BOX SCORE

This was the first matchup between Park and St. Thomas in their programs' histories. Both teams are also national contenders year-to-year in the battle for the red banner. The Bobcats hit a similar hitting percentage to the Pirates at .220 compared to Park's .212. While the Pirates doubled the number of service aces to their opponent, Park also doubled the number of service errors of the Bobcats.

The Pirates played close with the Bobcats in set one and even held a two-point lead, but at 10-8 the Bobcats turned things around with a 4-0 scoring run to grab back a two-point lead, 12-10. Park was able to take the lead at 15-14, before St. Thomas made a big push for the 18-15 lead to force two of Park's timeouts. The Pirates did not go down easy and after three attack errors by St. Thomas and a kill by Grecia Ung, the Pirates held a 25-24 lead. The Pirates held the advantage two more times, but a three-point scoring run capped off the set at 29-27.

The Bobcats had a slim lead in the second set at 9-6, but the Pirates came alive in the second half of the set with a 6-1 scoring run brought on by a kill from Ung, Loes Peijnenburg, a double-block, and two service aces. The Pirates built up their lead to as much as five before winning the set 25-21.

All of the sets Park lost were close against the Bobcats with two ending beyond 25 points. The last two sets, the Bobcats came on strong in the end for the 25-23, 28-26 wins.
Ung and Izabella Ceratti were the hot hands with 21 and 15 kills between them, and both hit higher than .350.

Irene Verdino put in some work on the defensive end with 16 digs and her teammate Aly Anderson was also in double-figures in digs with 10.

Jullia Alvarez made an appearance at setter with 46 assists, one of the first times she is back in this role since her Heart Setter of the Year award in 2022.

Mobile | 25-20, 25-16, 25-15 | BOX SCORE

The Pirates got back on track with Mobile, who was 10-1 entering the match. The Pirates had two straight sets with 15 kills to open up the match against Mobile. Park defensively held Mobile to a dismal hitting percentage of .051, while hitting .307 on the offensive end.

Park started off the match with a 6-2 run to get to the lead. The Rams were able to work their way back into the  mix with a 4-0 run to tie at 13-13. Kills by Peijnenburg and Caskey got the Pirates back out front at 15-13. The Rams continued to apply pressure to Park, but the Pirates responded every time and did not give up the lead the rest of the set, 25-20.

Park's starts to the sets were impressive with a 6-1 run to begin set two. Mobile turned the tables with six unanswered to take a 10-8 lead. Park took the lead and then some as a 10-2 run gave them the upper hand. The Pirates were led by Ceratti who went for six kills in the second set and contributed to Park's highest hitting percentage of the match at .481. The Pirates with the offensive firepower had no problem for the 25-16 win.

It was another 6-2 lead for Park out of the gate in set three, at this point the Rams were struggling to get much going with a -.026 hitting percentage in the set. Mobile never led in the set, as Ung and Caskey combined their kills to give Park a 10-6 lead. In this one, Caskey got Park going in set three with six kills to secure the sweep, 25-15.

Three Pirates were in double-figure kills, including Ceratti with 15, Caskey with 11, and Ung with 10. Ung was one dig shy of a double-double with nine digs, while Anderson and Verdino both matched that dig count of nine in the match.

Alvarez helped her team with 34 assists.

Florida Memorial | 25-7, 25-12, 25-11 | BOX SCORE

With momentum on their side, the Pirates improved their record to 4-2 after handling Florida Memorial, who only had a 1-5 record coming into the matchup.

The Pirates executed at a high level with a .438 in the opening set and hit .360 for the match. A Park attack error got FMU up 1-0, but Park surged with seven straight points off of two Verdino service aces and kills from Florencia Churin and Peijnenburg. Another 7-1 scoring run gave Park a 17-5 lead and forced a timeout from their opponent. Park continued to score at will with a 8-1 run to end the set, 25-7.

After a 4-3 start to set two, the Pirates went on a 3-0 run on a service ace by Mafalda Bras and a kill by Daniela Gomez for the 7-4 lead. The Pirates continued to put FMU more and more behind them with a 25-12 win in set two.

Trinity started off set three with a kill for Park and in all six different Pirates got in on the mix with kills in the set. Gomez led Park in set three with five kills as well. The Pirates forced an early timeout at 7-3 by FMU and scored an additional four points for the 11-3 lead. Park could do no wrong as the match went on and captured the sweep after a 25-11 win.

Gomez led Park with nine kills in the match, while Ceratti was one kill behind at eight. 15 assists came from Alvarez and Angelina Rodriguez picked up 11 for the match.

Verdino also worked hard defensively with 17 digs to lead the Pirates with 4.20 digs per set for the weekend.

Ceratti and Ung led offensively for Park with 38 and 34 kills, respectively, for an average of over four kills per set.

Peijnenburg led the blocking effort with nine total blocks, including three solo blocks.

Park will host the Park Classic on Friday and Saturday, September 6-7 in Breckon Sports Center for their next matches. WATCH HERE