The No. 9 nationally ranked Park University men's volleyball program traveled to St. Louis, Mo. for a Friday evening match with University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis. The Pirates put together three nice sets for the sweep, 25-19, 25-22, 25-13.
Park hit their second highest hitting percentage of the season at .443 in the sweep, and they now move to 16-4 on the season with a 12-3 Heart of America Athletic Conference record. UHSP was held to a .139 hitting percentage, and they fall to 9-16 on the year with a 5-12 conference record.
Park looked to be in control in set one and only trailed briefly at 2-1, but once they took the lead, they kept it for the remainder of the match. A couple of 3-0 runs by the Pirates built up a five-point lead at 17-12 off of two big blocks by
Moises Ortiz and
Nicolas Tenius. A service ace by
Leonardo Maldonado was the deciding blow that gave Park set one, 25-19.
UHSP garnered an early 6-2 lead out of the gate, but it was all taken back with a 4-0 run by Park to make it 6-6 with Maldonado adding two kills in that span. It was tied 8-8, but a 7-1 run by Park gave them a six-point lead. Some late life by the Eutectics would not be enough, as they settled for a 25-22 loss to Park in set two.
An early 11-1 scoring run caused a timeout at 13-4, but it would not stop Park's momentum as they continued on the same run to an 11-point lead, 15-4. Of Park's 12 kills in the set, eight different Pirates registered a point to power through UHSP 25-13.
Three Pirates were in double-figure kills, Tenius, Maldonado, and Figueroa. Tenius led the pack with an 11 kill performance and a .473 hitting percentage, while Maldonado and Figueroa each contributed 10 kills.
Maldonado and
Alessandro Gozzi led Park with two service aces each, while it was an impressive blocking night from Figueroa with five total blocks.
Ortiz and
Mihailo Ivanovic were both matching Figueroa with five total blocks, and both middles had identical six kill nights.
Caleca offered 36 assists and five digs, while Gozzi led Park with 12 digs.
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