Men's Volleyball stops No. 7 Cardinal Stritch but can't get by No. 1 St. Ambrose in St. Charles

Rob Cordero averaged nearly 10.5 assists per game in Park's opening two matches at the 2012 Lindenwood Invitational in St. Charles.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Second-ranked Park University put an end to No. 7 Cardinal Stritch University's seven-match winning streak to begin the 2012 Lindenwood University Invitational, downing the Wolves in four sets, but the Pirates weren't able to complete a day-one sweep against top-ranked Saint Ambrose University, falling to the Bees in straight sets at Lindenwood's Hyland Arena in St. Charles.

Park (4-1) stretched its winning streak to four matches in its first match of the day, getting 48 assists from Rob Cordero, who set up three double-digit offensive performers, led by Zach Penolio's 17 kills, 15 more from Matheus Roham and 10 more from Paul Bilanzic.

Defending NAIA Libero of the Week Kalani Rose captained Park's defensive effort with 15 digs in the win over Cardinal Stritch (10-3), which went on to beat Hannibal-LaGrange University after falling to the Pirates 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19.

Cordero tacked on 25 more assists in a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Saint Ambrose a few hours later, setting up a trio of offensive leaders - Bilanzic, Roham and Matt Rogers - who each finished with six kills. Rose finished the loss with seven digs, as Saint Ambrose improved to 9-0 by also beating Missouri Baptist University.

Park's weekend continues with three matches on Saturday, beginning at 11:30 a.m., when the Pirates take on Saint Xavier University, followed by a 3:30 match against tournament-host Lindenwood that will be streamed live at www.lindenwoodlions.com. The Pirates finish the weekend at 5:30 p.m., taking on Clarke.