Pride bounce back to end road trip with 3-0 win over UHSP

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Getting back in the gym just over 12 hours following their Friday night match, the Clarke University men's volleyball team were able to get back into the win column with a 3-0 clean sweep over University of Health Sciences and Pharamcy on Saturday.

The Pride earned set wins by five or more points in each set as they were able to turn around their offensive game between last night and this morning to finish with a .311 final team hitting percentage as the outside hitting combination of Tye Ojala, Timothy Meyer, and Justin Hernandez combined for 28 of the team's 40 kills with Ojala and Meyer working on the left side and Hernandez patrolling the right side.

Ojala led CU with 11 kills on 27 swings with just three errors as Hernandez led the trio in the efficiency category with a .381 hitting percentage with only one error on his 21 swings to finish with nine kills while Meyer had eight kills that he accumulated in the first two sets.

Setter Erik Schmidt and libero Nick Palatine both had strong days in their respective stat categories with Schmidt totalling 30 assists for his second-highest amount in a three-set match while Palatine had a stellar 17 digs for his season-high in any length of match this year.

Secondary attacking had strong matches as well with lower kills totals as Stephen Lewandowski and Michael Pettke combined for six kills on 13 swings with only one error as Lewandowski had the bulk of those kills with five and Austin Silva added four kills on six swings with only a single error from the back row.

Clarke men's volleyball will get back on the road for their non-conference match next Tuesday against Viterbo before returning to the Kehl Center for Heart matches next Friday and Saturday.