The No. 9 nationally ranked Park University men's volleyball program was in Canton, Mo. on Friday, March 14 to face Culver-Stockton College and the Pirates did not disappoint with a sweep, 25-19, 25-20, 25-12.

Park went to 14-3 on the season with a 10-2 Heart of America Athletic Conference record, while the Wildcats are only 1-19 and 0-10 in conference play.

The Pirates trailed 8-7 in the first set, before a 5-1 run helped Park to an 11-8 lead. This would hold u pas a kill by Veljko Stojic and a service ace by Alessandro Tolin moved Park up to a 14-11 lead. A 6-3 run would only extend the lead for Park to 19-13 before reaching a 25-19 set one score.

Park got off to a better start in the second set and led 6-2 quickly. A kill by Leonardo Maldonado and two attack errors by the Wildcats put Park up 11-5. A 7-2 run for Culver-Stockton lifted their situation to a 16-14 deficit, but the Pirates held onto the lead and closed out the set with six of the last eight points for the set two win, 25-20.

Culver-Stockton came within one in set three at 7-6, but a 9-1 run completely turned things and Park led 16-7. Within that span, Tolin had three service aces in a row. The Pirates hit over .500 in the third set at .588 and had no problems with a 25-12 win.

For the match, Park hit .343 and Maldonado led Park with 16kills and three block assists. Tolin was next in line offensively with six kills and had a deadly serve with five aces. He also led the charge defensively with six total blocks.

Umberto Caleca and Jovan Nikolic split time and the assist numbers were about even, 13 for Caleca and 12 for Nikolic.

Ignacio Pedemonte was the leader in digs with seven for the match.
BOX SCORE