To face the No. 1 team in the country is a daunting task. To face the No. 1 team in the country who is also the defending national champions is Herculean. To face the No. 1, defending national champions in the first game in your program history is akin to climbing Mount Everest for the first time. The Park University Buccaneers (0-1) almost climbed into that rarefied air, taking Benedictine-Mesa (1-3) to five sets losing 11-25, 25-23, 25-21, 17-25, 8-15.
"What a match," said Buccaneers head coach Clay Webb. "I did not expect to take the defending national champions, the No. 1 team in the country in NAIA to five set tonight. This team showed some heart, so I was really excited to see that and I'm excited for the rest of the season."
The first set started slowly as the Bucs could never seem to find their footing or rhythm and the Redhawks took advantage winning the first set easily 25-11.
Undaunted, Park-Gilbert came back with a fire Benedictine did not seem to expect. The Bucs jumped out and kept the pressure on, keeping their nose in front until the score was 14-12. The Redhawks then went on a 6-1 run to take a three-point lead of their own and maintained it to 22-20. At this point, Coach Webb called a time out and his charges came out and immediately went on a 3-0 run which included a solo block by sophomore middle blocker Seth Golleher and a kill by junior outside hitter James Contreras. Golleher put away another kill en route to a 5-1 run which knotted the match at one set apiece as Park-Gilbert won 25-23.
The Redhawks jumped out in set three and it looked as though they had awakened from their slumber. Although the Bucs trailed for most of the first half of the set, a 6-2 run enabled them to tie the stanza at 16. From there, the Bucs continued to ride the momentum and cruised to a 25-21 third set triumph and clearly had confidence and belief.
But as all great champions do, they reach down deep and find another gear. Benedictine Mesa found that gear and it was a gear the Bucs could not keep pace with. Set four saw Benedictine Mesa jump out early and they never relinquished the lead en route to a 25-17 fourth set win.
The Redhawks carried that momentum into the penultimate set, rejecting three Buccaneer attacks in the first five points as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead and then to 12-5 advantage. The Bucs made a mini rally out of a time out to cut the deficit to four, but it wasn't enough as Benedictine finished off the match with three straight points.
Freshman setter Kyle Heaton had 32 assists to go along with 10 digs and 5 block assists in an impressive collegiate debut.
"When I recruited Ky I knew he was special," said Webb. "We are ecstatic that he's apart of our program. I am really excited to have him for four years."
Sophomore outside hitter Trent Williams led the Bucs with 12 kills, followed by Golleher and Contreras who each tallied seven putaways. Freshman libero Kale Rubin led defensively with 12 digs.
The Buccaneers will have to shake off the disappointment of this loss quickly as they host their home opener tomorrow (Jan 15) at 5 p.m. at "The Nest" as they take on Ottawa University (Ariz.) who received votes in the NAIA preseason top-10 poll.
Game Notes:
- Here are some notable "FIRSTS" in Buccaneers Men's Volleyball History
Kill: Seth Golleher
Dig: Andrew Libby
Ace: Xander Thesz
Block Assist: Xander Thesz/Deandre Wade
- Kyle Heaton assisted on 89 percent (32/36) of the Buccaneers kills tonight.
- In a match where the Bucs had issues breaking through the Redhawks defense, Seth Golleher hit .357. No other Buccaneers player hit over .100.
