The No. 8 nationally ranked Park University men's volleyball program defeated first year NCAA Division II opponent, Rockhurst University on Friday night, 25-23, 24-26, 23-25, 25-19, 15-13.

The Pirates soar to 8-0 and got their first road win of the season, while Rockhurst moves to 3-7.

 The first set was marked by a big 4-0 run to help the Pirates overtake the Hawks, 19-16. Murillo Silva and Adrian Figueroa earned kills, while Moises Ortiz and Jovan Nikolic ganged up for a block.  Despite the Hawks getting it all the way to 24-23, the Pirates' Figueroa knocked down the opening game's final kill, 25-23.

A 9-1 run in the second set for the Hawks set up their 26-24 set two win. Both sets two and three ended with 3-0 runs by the Hawks to seal two-point victories. In set two Park only hit .194, their lowest of the night, compared to .409 by the Hawks. In set three, both teams were excellent, .556 for Rockhurst and .476 for the Pirates.

Park stayed on the offensive and two important kills by Silva started a 3-0 run for a 14-11 lead in set four. Park was in business and held an 18-15 lead before sealing the deal with seven of the next 11 points for the 25-19 win. The Pirates had three straight blocks, two solo blocks by Silva and a double-block by Umberto Caleca and Ortiz to shutdown set four, 25-19.

Park had to battle down 7-4 in the fifth set, which is not normally a team can easily come back from. The Pirates and Hawks traded service errors, but the Pirates benefited from another solo block by Ortiz and then a kill by Figueroa to come within a point, 8-7. The senior and 2025 First Team Heart All-Conference member, Mihailo Ivanovic came through with a big kill and then two Haw attack errors turned the lead over to the Pirates, 11-10. The set would be tied three more times, but then Silva and Leonardo Maldonado took Park to another level with kills for the comeback win, 15-13.

The Pirates did not falter in the fifth set and hit .643, while the Hawks were at .294 in the set. Park impressively was at .398 for the match to a .300 hitting percentage for the Hawks.

Silva had 24 kills in the match and contributed six digs and three blocks.

Figueroa with 19 kills was next in line, also with six digs and three blocks.

It was an outstanding night for Park's middles, Ivanovic with seven kills and three blocks, and Ortiz with five kills and seven blocks.

Jovan Nikolic led Park with 38 assists and Caleca helped his team win as well with 15 assists.

Overall Park's 17 service error number gave the advantage to the Hawks, but Rockhurst had 14 service errors themselves with two more service aces than Park with seven.

Park is on the road tonight against Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa at 7pm. WATCH
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