Clarke Falls 3-0 to No. 15 Park Pirates

PARKVILLE, Mo. – The Clarke Pride men's volleyball team suffered its second-straight loss after No. 15 Park University swept (25-19, 25-13, 25-11) CU in the Breckon Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

CU now holds an overall season record of 6-18 and the Pride are 2-13 in Heart of America play.

The Pirates (16-4, 9-4) put up 36 kills and a .426 hitting percentage. On the flip side, the Pride had 25 kills and a .064 hitting percentage, the program's lowest since having .021 against the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy on Feb. 12.

Park's Joao Friedrich led the Pirates offensively with 10 kills. Luciano Bucci led all players with 24 assists, while Daniel Isernhagen had a team-high three blocks.

Michael Jenkins paced the Pride with 10 kills, while Tye Ojala and Montez Thompson each had five. Ojala's hitting percentage of .235 led the team, while Erik Schmidt recorded 19 assists. Thompson, Schmidt, and Stephen Lewandowski each added in a block.

Schmidt started the match with a quick kill in the first set. CU's lead was short-lived as two errors and a kill by Park's Friedrich quickly put the Pirates on a 3-0 run. The Pride responded with a 3-0 run of their own in similar fashion with points earned on two errors and a kill by Thompson to even things back up at 4-4.

Clarke tacked on kills by Thompson and Jenkins and brought things within one (13-12) but were unable to overcome the deficit as Park maintained their lead throughout en route to winning the set 25-19.

The Pirates jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the second set after kills from Friedrich and Isernhagen, coupled with three aces by Nick Palatine. Despite the deficit, Clarke continued to fight but was unable to get any closer than seven points down before falling 25-13.

The third and final set featured a quick 2-0 run to get things started. Clarke fought back-and-forth with Park and trailed 7-9, but the Pirates embarked on a 9-1 run to lead it 18-8. Kills by Gabriel Soares, Caio Alves, Felipe Chagas, and Friedrich proved to be the difference, as the Pirates closed out the set on a 7-2 run.

The Pride will return to action next weekend when it faces the Wildcats of Culver-Stockton on Saturday in Canton, Mo. Match time is set for 2 p.m.