by Brooke Orcutt, Park Assistant Sports Information Director

PARKVILLE, Mo .- Breckon Sports Center has been a buzz the last two days in hosting the 2008 NAIA Men's Volleyball National Tournament with the second day of pool play taking place.

Fans at the men's National Volleyball Tournament have been witness to the excitement, high energy and aggressive play exhibited by the players in the first day of pool play. Day one of the tournament resulted in lots of bruises, scrapes and abrasions as the players have been leaving it all out the court. Their efforts haven't gone unnoticed, as fans have piled into Breckon Sports Center or caught the games on www.naia.org to watch the live feed.

Day one of pool play resulted in the No. 1 Park and No. 2 California Baptist clinching semi-final berths, with the other four teams still fighting to advance on.

Frederick and Seniors Join 100 Club

Park University head coach Cory Frederick and the 2008 senior class hit a mile stone in the second game of pool play on Thursday night with a three-game sweep over Cardinal Stritch for their 100^th career win. Frederick is 100-16 in four seasons at Park and has compiled a .862 winning percentage in that time.

Frederick is the third coach in Park history to compile 100 wins, but is the winningest coach in percentage. The most wins for a Park men's volleyball coach goes to Ronda Miles, who coached from 1993-1996, and compiled 186 wins. Second in line in the win column is Bertil Wamelink, who recorded 121 wins from 1997-2003. Wamelink closed his tenure as Park head coach by winning the Pirates' first national title in the 2003 tournament.

"The 100^th win is not that big of a deal for me personally, but it was really for our team and especially our seniors," said Frederick. "At the beginning of the season, we knew we had a chance at hitting 100, but that meant we had to win 27 games, which is not an easy task to do with our schedule."

Park got to the 20-point mark up 20-14 in the third game against Stritch, and the Pirates returned the lead to six after a short Stritch rally, as Pulliam scored from the left side to go up 26-20. The lead stretched to 28-20 with another Pulliam point, this time on a solo block, and the Pirates finished with a six-point win to make 100. "It was just absolutely wonderful," said Frederick. "Our success is not due to our individual talent, it's because we have a great team and I can't say enough about how great this group is."

Pirate senior setter J.P. da Silva is one vital member of the 2008 senior class at Park and is honored to be a part of such a special group. "We have been through a lot together and we have 100 reasons to celebrate, but I am really hoping for 102," said da Silva. "It just feels so good to be a part of."

While the 100 wins was exciting, da Silva and team are focused on taking things one game at a time. "We had four goals to accomplish this year and we can cross three of them off that list," said da Silva. "Our team will be focusing in on the third and getting to that fourth match, and hopefully Sunday night we'll celebrate the accomplishment of our four goals."

A lot of the 100 win hype has been focused in on the 2008 senior class, but Frederick thinks the 100 wins is just as important to the underclassmen. "Reaching that goal really sets the tone for the future of our men's volleyball program at Park," said Frederick. "I believe that they understood what we were trying to achieve and what a huge accomplishment it truly is at this level."

In order to accomplish their fourth and final goal, a national title, Park will have to get through St. Ambrose in the 4:30 p.m. semi-final match.

Defending a Title - Cal Baptist Atop Pool B

The Lancers may be the No. 2 seed in the tournament but are putting up big time numbers and are the statistical leaders for individual games after day one of pool play. The deadly, 6-3 duo of Donald Baliaba and Adiel Tiedjob put down impressive numbers in yesterday's games. Baliaba came up with 28 kills in yesterday's win over No. 5 Lindenwood and teammate Tiedjob also had 28 kills in the win over No. 4 St. Ambrose.

Senior setter Eric Plunkett recorded 61 assists against Lindenwood, the most of the day and Corey Spence dug up 19 digs against St. Ambrose to lead all players.

The Lancers are also playing to keep a streak alive, entering the tournament with 18-straight tournament wins and running the total to 20 with their pool play wins on Thursday.

California Baptist will await the winner of Cardinal Stritch and Missouri Baptist for the 7 p.m. semi-final match.