(Mesa, AZ) The Park University Gilbert men’s volleyball team (1-10) dropped its non-conference match against No. 21 Olivet Nazarene University (15-3) this afternoon at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Ariz. 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-22).
Despite the 3-0 score, the match was relatively competitive on the score sheet. The Bucs hit .200 with 22 digs and five blocks against a much taller team in the Tigers. Park Gilbert only had three more attack errors the ONU but was out hit 42-30 in kills.
ONU showed why it is a ranked team in the first set by hitting .545 with 14 kills to only eight putaways for Park Gilbert.
Park Gilbert made some adjustments and equaled the number of kills Olivet Nazarene had, but ONU was cleaner with only two errors to six for Park.
The Buccaneers have to feel as though they should have won the third set it was a see-saw battle throughout which saw them take a 22-20 lead and force a time out from the Tigers. The Tigers would come out and win the next five points in a row to take the set and the match. The Bucs forced eight errors from the Tigers in the final frame, but they also had 16 kills, while the Bucs reduced its errors to five but only had 10 kills.
Ben Turcinec and Nico Gutierrez led the way for Park with nine and eight kills, respectively. Turcinec hit .263, while Gutierrez hit .222. Jake Burdick (15) and Hunter Miller (10) led the team in assists.
The Bucs return to conference play on Sunday, March 12 as they take on No. 3 Benedictine Mesa at Bell Bank Park at 12 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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