Park University men’s volleyball team, ranked fifth in the conference, wiped out the Graceland University Yellow Jackets in a three-set sweep Thursday, March 1, at the Breckon Sports Center. Park led Graceland 25-15 in the first set, 25-23 in the second and 25-22 in the third, ending the nonconference game with the second sweep in a row for the Pirates.
Junior setter Andrea Maggio and freshman outside hitter Felipe Santos each had nine kills followed by Hiago Crins, freshman middle blocker, who had seven kills. The Yellow Jackets’ Brandon Kampshoff had 12 kills to himself.
The first set started with the Pirates capturing a 7-2 lead over the Yellow Jackets, but then the Yellow Jackets started to mount a comeback to bring the score within two of the Pirates and for a moment it looked like they had it. The Pirates, however, kept them at bay and pulled out a 25-15 win for the first set.
The second set had a lot of back and forth scoring for both teams. The teams were tied during the set a total of nine times. In the middle of the set the Yellow Jackets had a lead of three, making the score 19-16, but after a kill by Maggio the Pirates came back to win the set 25-23.
The third set was very similar to the second with both teams scoring back and forth, providing a very competitive atmosphere in the Breckon Sports Center. The Pirates and the Yellow Jackets tied the game 10 times in total during the third set, but the Pirates always ended up in the lead. After an attack error by the Yellow Jackets’ Georgi Georgiev, which was blocked by Park’s Mario Lucas, junior outside hitter, and Crins, the Pirates pulled away and won the third and final set 25-22.
The next men’s volleyball game will be on March 14, at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas at 7 p.m.