FULLERTON, Calif. – The Park University Gilbert men's volleyball team split a pair of matches with Saint Katherine and Hope International on Friday as they continue their four-game California road swing. The Buccaneers defeated Saint Katherine 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-12) in the morning, before dropping their match with Hope International 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-23) in the evening. With the split, Park Gilbert moves to 5-8 on the season and has one more match remaining on this road trip tomorrow morning against Cal Pac foe Westcliff.
In the opener, the Buccaneers were led by Trent Williams and Seth Golleher with 11 and 7 kills respectively. Williams hit .300 for the match, while Golleher hit a gaudy .500. Freshman setter Kye Heaton dished out 28 assists while adding 2 kills and 8 digs to his game resume. Libero Kale Rubin led the way defensively with 10 digs.
The first two sets were tight, but the Bucs had seven more kills in those first two sets combined to help secure victory. Park Gilbert was able to cruise home as the third set went quickly 25-12. The Buccaneers committed 13 service errors which also enabled the Firebirds to stay in those first two sets.
In the second match, the Bucs struggled to sustain anything off their side outs, and the Royals slowly pulled away to win sets one and two. The Bucs were able to build a little momentum at the end of the second stanza which carried over to the third set where the Bucs were able to take a lead early in the set and maintain it all the way to 21-18. After a Royals timeout, they went on a 7-2 run to win the match with a 25-23 third set triumph.
Williams and Golleher were the attack leaders once again with 10 and 6 kills respectively. Heaton had 25 assists and Rubin dug 11 balls. Xander Thesz and James Contreras both pitched in with 5 kills each for the Bucs who hit a respectable .222 for the match. Unfortunately, the Bucs allowed the Royals to hit .402.
Park Gilbert will attempt to even things out to finish the road trip against Westcliff tomorrow morning starting at 11 a.m. locally.
