Allie Nichols was one of three Park players to record double-digit kills last week against Grand View.

PARKVILLE, Mo. – Park University will host its first triangular in more than 10 years Wednesday at Breckon Sports Center, welcoming the University of Saint Mary and Avila University to Parkville for matches beginning at 4 p.m.

Park (1-3) will open the event against Saint Mary, marking the second-straight season that Park will open the year against the Spires. Last season, Park defeated USM in Leavenworth, 3-1. Saint Mary will stay on the court for the night’s second match, beginning at 6 p.m., taking on Avila University.

Avila and Park will close the triangular at 8 p.m., with the first and third matches available online through live video at www.park.edu/sportslive.

The Pirates enter Wednesday’s triangular looking to snap a three-match losing skid after dropping their final three matches in the Grand View Invitational over the weekend in Des Moines, Iowa. Park opened the tournament with a five-set win over Missouri Valley College before falling to Evangel University in three sets on Friday evening.

Saturday, Park fell to Grand View, the tournament’s host, in five, before a four-set loss to College of Saint Mary.

Mariana Vogado led the Pirates offensively in the tournament, putting down 60.5 points and averaging 2.88 kills per game. Vogado recorded double-digit kills in all four tournament matches and was named to the all-tournament team. Freshman Jordyn Anderson also had a big weekend for Park, averaging 2.29 kills and recording seven blocks, ranking second through the weekend behind Ashley Robinson, who had 10 blocks in four matches.

Defensively, Ashley Reinert led the charge for Park, averaging 2.69 digs per game, followed by Vogado, who also had an outstanding defensive performance in the four-match invitational, averaging 2.35. Crystal Cole also averaged nearly two digs per set, 1.94, but her most important contribution came at the setting position, where she passed out 8.41 of the team’s 9.41 assists per game.

The Pirates’ 1-3 record isn’t reflective of the team’s competitive level, over the weekend, with seven of the squad’s 11 dropped sets coming by three points or less.

Unlike the Pirates, both of Park’s opponents will be playing for the first time this year, opening the 2010 season under first-year head coaches. Conan Salanoa will roam the USM sidelines for the first time on Wednesday, as will Krista Newman for Avila.

Both opposing head coaches have NCAA Division I experience, with Salanoa coming to USM from UMKC and Newman having worked at Chicago State. All time, the Pirates are 9-2 against the University of Saint Mary and 9-3 against Avila. Wednesday’s match is the 12th in the all-time series between the Spires and Pirates and the 13th between Park and Avila since the 1996 season.

Park will return to the road after the triangular, traveling to Haskell Indian Nations University on Sept. 8, at 7 p.m., in Lawrence, Kan.