Barr's career night not enough in Pride's 3-2 loss to Missouri Valley

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Entering Friday night's action hoping to earn a three-match winning streak, the Clarke University men's volleyball team came up just short of that goal in a five-set defeat at the hands of Missouri Valley College in the Kehl Center.

The Vikings and Pride traded blows each set with Missouri Valley sandwiching second and third set wins between CU first and fourth set wins before MVC clinched the match in a runaway 15-6 fifth set win for full set scores of 23-25, 25-22, 25-14, 13-25, and 15-6.

Offensive efficiency was the key to victory as the higher hitting percentage team won each set as the dominant victories in the third, fourth, and fifth sets saw the winning team earn a hitting percentage over .500 including an outstanding, errorless .611 (11-18) in the fourth set from the Pride.

Four total players in the match finished in double figures for kills led by the 15 from Missouri Valley's Frederico Baptista with Georgi Vlahov adding 13 and Luca Hasse finishing at 10 kills.

The lone member of Clarke's attack to finish with double digit kills was middle hitter Zachary Barr who finished with a career-high 11 kills on 20 swings for a .350 hitting percentage while adding four total blocks for a career-high 13.5 points. Both Justin Hernandez and Stephen Lewandowski had eight kills, two blocks, and hit for over .300 on the night but the CU offensive push stalled in the fifth set as the team only managed a single kill and had six errors in the final frame.

Setter Erik Schmidt earned his first double-double of the season with 33 assists and 10 digs on the night, matching the dig total from Pride libero Nick Palatine as the tandem shared the match-high in that category.

Clarke will turn around to host Culver-Stockton College Saturday evening for a 6:00 p.m. CT scheduled first serve in the Kehl Center.