Fray Luis Fajardo Arteaga had 17 kills against SAU on Friday night.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Park University men’s volleyball team started day one of the Lindenwood Tournament off with a bang by defeating No. 2 ranked Hope International in four games but lost to No. 7 ranked St. Ambrose in five games.

The Pirates currently stand at 2-1 on the year and will take on No. 1 ranked California Baptist tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. on the campus of Lindenwood University and will take on No. 3 rated Cardinal Stritch at 5:00 p.m.

For the second straight game, freshman Zach Penolio led Park in kills against Hope International with 18 and a hitting percentage of .341. Erick Albuquerque also had a stellar game with his 15 kills, while freshman Luis Zepeda also had 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .409.

Park had to fight back to beat the Royals losing game one, 30-24, but the Pirates responded by winning game two 34-32 in a battle.

In game three Park won, 30-22, and finished off Hope, 30-27, in game four.

Freshman middle hitter, Wilfredo Lopez also had double-digit kills with 11 and an amazing hitting percentage of .714.

Freshman setter Felix Horn ran the show offensively and defensively with his 12 digs and 52 assists against the Royals of Hope International.

In game two against SAU, junior outside hitter Fray Luis Fajardo Arteaga had 17 kills and a hitting percentage of .256. Also in game two Luis Zepeda, Lopez and Albuquerque all had 10 kills.

Park also had 10 service aces against St. Ambrose. Park won game one against SAU, 30-27, but dropped game two, 30-28.

In game three, Park dominated the game winning, 30-20, but Ambrose fought back to win game four, 30-25. In a suspenseful game five, SAU took down the Pirates for their first loss of the season, 15-12.

-PARK-