(Chandler, AZ) The Park University Gilbert men’s volleyball team played No. 7 Benedictine Mesa tough but still fell 3-0 (25-16, 28-26, 25-18) at Chandler-Gilbert Community College this afternoon.
The Redhawks were without some of their normal starters today, but still put a strong team on the floor. The Buccaneers played its best match of the season so far as it held set points in a tough set two loss.
Set one saw Benedictine come out strong winning 10 of the first 14 points, but Park almost played them even the rest of the set which built momentum for what would transpire in set two.
The Buccaneers had a 6-4 lead early in the second before BENU went on a 6-1 run to take a 10-7 advantage. The Bucs would answer with its own 7-3 run to retake the lead 14-13 and would build the lead up to 17-14 to force a BENU timeout. The Buccaneers continued maintain the lead and had two set points at 24-22 but as good teams do, Benedictine rose to the challenge and won three consecutive points to erase the two set points and put them on the brink of a second set win. But the Bucs would not go away, staving off two set points before BENU finally won the set 28-26.
The third set continued to mimic what occurred down the stretch in the second set and the two teams were tied at 15-all. But Benedictine went on a 7-2 run to take a 22-16 lead and was able to cruise home for a 25-18 final set win.
The Bucs had their best hitting percentage of the season at .068 with 23 kills, its second highest total of the season.
Individually, David Shafer led all players with 10 kills, which give him 202 kills for his career and moves him into fourth place on the all-time Bucs kills list. Jake Burdick who has moved from setter to the outside had eight kills. Tyler Yu who has moved into the setter position had a career high 18 assists and also tied libero Jeff Agcaoili for the team lead with six digs.
Next up for the Bucs is a non-conference matchup with Bethel College on Thursday, March 7 before two more conference contests against Westcliff and Saint Katherine on Friday and Saturday March 9. All three contest are slated to start at 7 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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