Pride fall in three sets to No. 11 Missouri Valley

MARSHALL, Mo. - In their only road match over a span of 11 matches, the Clarke University men's volleyball team couldn't pull off an upset as they dropped a 3-0 match to No. 11 Missouri Valley on Friday night.

The Pride were outhit in total kills and hitting percentage as the Vikings won the sets 25-16, 25-15, and 26-24 behind a 44-29 kills advantage and a .337 to .128 percentage advantage.

Two members of the Vikings finished with double digit kills as Simon Joly led all players in the match with 13 kills and just two errors for a .423 hitting percentage while adding eight digs. Med Ilias added 11 kills and 10 digs for a double-double but had a higher amount of errors with seven for a final hitting percentage of .182.

For CU, Michael Jenkins had a strong night despite the loss with eight kills on 19 attempts and only two errors for a .316 hitting percentage while adding six digs and a block on the night.

Both middles in Zachary Barr and Stephen Lewnadowski combined for nine kills with Barr finishing at five and Lewandowski adding four as they also both had two blocks apiece with Lewndowski's both being solo and Barr haiving one solo and one block assist.

Clarke men's volleyball will now start a homestand of nine-straight matches at the Kehl Center starting on Sunday when they host Culver-Stockton College for a 12:00 p.m. CT first serve.