The No. 9 nationally ranked Park University men's volleyball program was in Breckon Sports Center on Saturday afternoon for a matchup with Dordt University. The Pirates made the most of home court advantage with a sweep of the Defenders, 25-22, 25-21, 25-15.
Dordt is another associate member to the Heart of America Athletic Conference, but the Pirates and Dordt have met during the former, AMC/GPAC/Heart combined conference days for men's volleyball. Park is 11-0 against Dordt with the last meeting in 2021.
Park improves to 12-3 on the season with an 8-2 Heart record, while the Defenders are holding their own in the new conference at 4-6 and 10-7.
All things considered, Dordt had a good start to the match, keeping up with the Pirates up to a 10-10 tie. A service error by Dordt brought on an opportunity for a run, as
Moises Ortiz and
Umberto Caleca combined for a block and then Stojic got the solo block to make it 13-10. Both sides had three service errors, but after a block by the Defenders and an attack error by Park, Dordt tied it at 15-15. A pair of kills by Park's Caleca and Stojic forced a Dordt timeout at 21-18. Kills by
Nicolas Tenius and Maldonado, along with some errors by Dordt sealed a 25-22 set one win for the Pirates.
It was off to the races for the Pirates in set two with a 6-0 run to make it 9-3 in the early going, including back-to-back blocks by Ortiz to force a Dordt timeout. A couple of runs by Dordt helped them get back to a 16-13 deficit, at which point the Pirates called a timeout to talk things over. It was good timing and an ace by Tenius began a 6-0 run to make it 20-14 for Park. Maldonado and Stojic combined for three kills in that span as well. The Defenders may have gotten a 3-0 run to make it closer to end the set, but the 6-point lead held up in the end and Park won 25-21. Maldonado got the wheels turning for the Pirates' offense with five kills in the second set.
The Pirates were not wasting time in the third set, as five service aces by Maldonado helped Park get to a 7-0 start. For the match Park had 10 service aces to only one for the Defenders. Both teams were in double-figures with service errors, 15 for Park and 13 for Dordt. Big runs continued for the Pirates and they scored another five unanswered points after service error by Park to make it 12-1. Dordt got back in rhythm, but another two kills by Stojic pushed Park back up to a 10-point lead, 16-6. A 5-0 run by Dordt got them back into it at 16-11 to force a Park timeout. Again, the Pirates responded well out of the break, and kills by Ortiz, Ivanovic, and a solo block by Ivanovic pushed the lead to 20-13. Ivanovic came back after a Dordt error with a big kill to make it 22-13 with another Defender timeout upcoming. It would be to no avail though as the Pirates quickly executed the sweep on a 25-15 win on a kill by Stojic.
The Pirates were at .342 for the match in attack percentage, hitting a consistent .346, .346, and .333 for the three sets.
Maldonado co-led Park in kills with nine with Tenius, but had 15 points for the match with six service aces. He was one kills off of a double-double as well with 10 digs.
Ivanovic and Ortiz were the next Pirates in kills with eight and six, respectively. Ortiz had three total blocks to lead Park and Ivanovic was one back at two total blocks.
Caleca was the go to in assists with 32 for the match, while
Alessandro Gozzi was the only other Pirate with multiple service aces and a six-dig performance.
 Park travels the short drive over to Ottawa, Kan. on Wednesday to continue Heart action at 7pm against the Ottawa University Braves.
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