(Mesa, AZ) It was senior night for the Park University Gilbert Volleyball team and all of the seniors, all 15 of them, saw action in tonight’s contest against Pacific Union College (2-19, 1-17 Cal Pac). This meant, no Amanda Jonovich, no Annika Wallace, no Railey Druxman or Mallory Turner. It was also no problem as the Bucs swept the Pioneers 3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-11) at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Ariz. This senior class has now won 67 matches in four seasons, which includes a truncated 2020 campaign when they only played 13 matches.
Park Gilbert (21-8, 14-4 Cal Pac) upped its winning streak to seven matches and its consecutive set winning streak to 21. The Bucs broke the record of 15 consecutive sets won set back in year one yesterday, and extended it tonight. This season the Buccaneers have also won 12 consecutive sets to go along with the current record.
Once again the Bucs shared the wealth as Elizabeth Clemit, Makenna Busse and Brooke Beresford each had 10 kills Busse led the team with a .571 hitting percentage, while Clemit was right behind at .562. Eight different Bucs recorded a kill tonight and six of them hit .270 or better.
Melissa Blockey led the group of setters with 19 as Blockey Jenifer Lauer(11) and Tiffany Maxey (4) all saw setting action tonight.
The Bucs also used three different liberoes in each set as Hattie Patton, Gabriela Morales and Jessi Medlin all donned the opposite colored shirt this evening. Morales led the group with six digs, while Medlin posted five and Patton four, her lowest output on the season, but she only played one set.
The Bucs had 45 kills as a squad to only 20 for PUC, and hit .280. The Bucs had three more attack errors, but it did not have an adverse effect on the final outcome although the second set was much tighter than the head coach Shawn Close would like to see.
In the only close set of the match the Bucs seemingly were in control, holding leads of 14-9, 19-14, 21-16 and 24-21. But each time the Buccos seemed to have the set in hand, the Pioneers made a run. They tied it at 14, and at 24-all before a kill by Clemit and a PUC attack error sealed its fate.
With the win, the Bucs tie Saint Katherine at 14-4 in conference and take over third place due to the tiebreaker which is sets lost in conference play. The Bucs have only lost 12 sets (in the matches they lost) and have swept all 14 of their victories in conference. Saint Katherine has lost 21 sets in conference this season so far. As long as Park remains in a tie with Saint Katherine, they will hold the tiebreaking edge.
The Buccaneers finish with its in-state rivalry games as Embry Riddle comes to Bell Bank Park on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. Then the Bucs will be the road team in Bell Bank Park as they take on Benedictine Mesa in Fieldhouse A at 6 p.m.
Park Gilbert is trying to tie its series record with Embry Riddle (they trail 4-3) and keep BENU from tying the series record with them (Park owns a 6-5 advantage).
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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