(Mesa, AZ) The Park University Gilbert men’s volleyball team finished its home stand with the northern California schools with a hard fought loss to UC Merced 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23) at Bell Bank Park. The Bucs fall to 1-9 overall, 1-6 in the conference. The Bobcats up their record 7-8, 4-2 in conference play.
The match came down to just a few key points in each set as the numbers on the stat sheet where essentially even.
The first set was neck and neck with neither team having larger than a two-point lead until the end of the set when the Bobcats took a 23-20 lead. Merced had 12 kills and nine errors in the set while the Bucs had 10 kills and five errors. A bad set and a ball handling error hurt the Bucs cause down the stretch as they dropped the first set 25-22.
The next two sets were even closer. The second set saw the Bucs with 10 kills, but they also committed eight hitting errors. While the Bobcats also had eight errors, they also had three more kills which made the difference in the set. The Bucs trailed by four before a 6-1 run gave the Bucs a 23-22 lead. Then three consecutive Buc errors handed the set to the Bobcats.
Park Gilbert held a slim lead for most of the third set leading 20-17 and looking as though they would push the match to a fourth set. But a 5-0 UCM run with four kills erased the advantage and gave the Bobcats the lead. Park Gilbert would tie the match back up at 23 before a Bobcat kill and block would put the set and match away.
The match stats show just how close this these two teams played. Merced had six more kills (41-25) but also had five more errors (23-18). The Bucs had a higher hitting percentage (.185-.182) and more blocks (7-5), while the Bobcats had three more digs (36-33). Both teams had eight service errors, while the Bobcats added two aces.
Nico Gutierrez led the teams with 12 kills, while David Shaffer had nine from the right side and hit .375. Hunter Miller and Jake Burdick combined for 34 assists and Tyler Yu had 13 digs. Kade Irvine posted four blocks to lead both teams.
The Bucs have a scrimmage against South Mountain tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at Bell Bank Park before hosting Olivet Nazarene in a non-conference match Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. and then taking on the No. 3 team in the country in Benedictine Mesa on Sunday, March 12 at noon.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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