The No. 9 nationally ranked Park University men's volleyball program had another tough match lined up at home on Friday against (RV) Morningside University, but the Pirates got back to their form with a sweep of the Mustangs, 25-17, 27-25, 25-18.
The Mustangs in their first season as an associate member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference is 4-5 so far in the Heart with a 9-8 regular season record, while the Pirates bump up to 11-3 and 7-2 in the Heart.
The Pirates got off to a near perfect start in the match with a .545 hitting percentage and with five blocks in the first set, the Mustangs were held down to a .087 hitting percentage. Up the middle,
Mihailo Ivanovic for Park got four blocks, including two solo blocks to set the tone in the opening set. With it tied at 12-12,
Leonardo Maldonado got Park the lead with a kill and then two service aces in a row by
Carlos Ramos put Park up 15-12. Kills by
Nicolas Tenius and Ivanovic, and two blocks by Ivanovic and Maldonado gave Park a 7-0 run to lead the Mustangs 19-12. The Pirates stayed in control for the 25-17 set one win.
Set two was tied 12-12 again, but this time the Mustangs were much closer to Park down the stretch and even led Park with a 3-0 run 17-14. A service error and a couple of bad sets pushed Park ahead 19-18, but seven more ties would take place and two more lead changes as Park secured an exciting finish to set two, 27-25.
Park got to the lead early in set three at 8-3, but the Mustangs countered with a 5-0 run to tie the set at 9-9. A kill and service ace by Maldonado gave Park a little separation at 12-10, at which point the Pirates went on a 5-2 run to force a Morningside timeout at 17-12. Three kills before the match closed by Park's middle blockers, Ivanovic and
Moises Ortiz was enough to capture the sweep of Morningside, 25-18.
Morningside had their best hitting percentage in set three with a .353, but only hit .169 for the match, while Park was at .329.
Maldonado led Park with 10 kills, but it was a balanced night with Tenius picking up nine kills and Ivanovic and Ortiz both contributing eight kills.
11 service aces for the Pirates gave them a big advantage, Maldonado led the charge with five, while three other Pirates in
Alessandro Gozzi,
Veljko Stojic, and Ramos each rained down a pair of aces.
Umberto Caleca had a solid match with 38 assists, two digs, and a block, while Gozzi had the most digs with seven for the Pirates.
Ivanovic led Park with four total blocks, while Maldonado and Ortiz each had two blocks as well.
Park will be at home again against Dordt in Breckon Sports Center at 1pm on Saturday.
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