PARKVILLE, Mo. - Park University captured its third-straight 3-1 win and its 11th-straight overall, knocking off Missouri Valley College 3-1 (30-20, 30-21, 25-30, 30-26) Wednesday at Breckon Sports Center.
Park (22-1, 8-0 MAMVIC West) also earned an outright MAMVIC West regular-season championship with the win, while Missouri Valley fell to 5-16 and 1-6 in the league.
The Pirates started hot, opening on a 12-7 run, including a 7-1 run after MVC took an early 6-5 lead.
The Vikings struck back, getting within two, 16-14, but an Erick Albuquerque kill late made it 21-15. Ryan Stafford recorded an ace to make it 27-19, and a block ended the game, 30-20.
Albuquerque made it a five-point game early in the second set with a kill to go up 7-2, and back-to-back blocks put Park up seven mid-way through the game, 13-6. Stafford and Dragomir Katanic went back-to-back with kills later, putting the Pirates up 10, 23-13, and Park closed the game despite being outscored 9-7 over the final 15 serves, 30-21.
Park stumbled in game three, falling behind by as many as four before rallying back, but the Vikings turned a two-point, 27-25, lead into a 3-0 run, slimming Park's match advantage to 2-1 with a 30-25 win.
The Vikings fought in game four, going on an early 4-1 run to tie the final game at six, but Park maintained a two-point lead through most of the game, going up late on a Stafford block, 25-23, and 26-24 on a kill by Henry Uribe.
Albuquerque managed to widen the gap to three with a kill, setting up game point at 29-26, and the Pirates forced a Missouri Valley error to close the game, 30-26.
Park ends the regular season Tuesday in Parkville on Senior Night, taking on Graceland University at 7 p.m.
