No. 8-Pirates Fight Off Eutectics

The Eutectic men's volleyball team was back at home on Tuesday night hosting the Park University Pirates (Mo.)(17-5, 9-4 HEART) for a Heart of America Athletic Conference (HEART) contest. After a 3-0 loss at Park's home court back in February, the UHSP team was looking to earn its first-ever program win over the Pirates, who are currently ranked eighth in the NAIA. The Eutectics' forced three close sets – earning the most points they have ever scored against the Pirates – but the Pirates headed home with another straight-set win: 25-23, 25-18, 25-21.

Both teams defended well, but the Eutectic blockers had a great night at the net, notching 10 blocks in the three sets compared to the Pirates' seven. Service errors were a problem for both teams, with the Pirates serving up 11 to UHSP's 14. The Park team racked up 30 digs compared to UHSP's 17, and ultimately were more efficient in hitting, putting down 19.2% of their attacks to the Euts' 11.8%.

The Eutectics came out strong in Set 1, winning five points in a row on Connor Behymer's serve to go up 7-2. The Pirates, however, chipped away at the UHSP lead, eventually taking it over at 13-12. The Euts would tie it at 13, 14, 15, 19, and 20 but could never get ahead. The Purple and Gold tied it up again at 22 after back-to-back kills from Dickson Colado (assisted by Cole Cwiklowski) and Grant Hoover, causing a Pirate timeout. The visitors returned to the court to win three of the next four points and earn the 25-23 set victory.   

Again, the UHSP team had a strong start to the second set, taking advantage of Park errors to go up 7-3. The Pirates eventually found their footing, taking five of the next six points with kills and blocks to tie the score at 8 apiece. A block by Cwiklowski and Marcus Parker followed a dump kill by Cwiklowski to regain the Purple and Gold lead at 10-8 , but the Pirates then rattled off seven points in a row with Eduardo Sabi on the service line. The Eutectics strung together a couple of two- and three-point scoring runs to get within a point at 17-16, but the Park team had a strong finish, earning the final five points in a row off attacks, an ace, and a block to win the set at 25-18.

The third set, again, looked good for the Eutectics at the start, as they got up 4-1 after a Cwiklowski-to-Hoover kill. But, it wasn't long before the Pirate attackers kicked into high gear, winning another five in a row to take an 8-5 lead. The Eutectics worked to close the gap, earning three in a row with a Colado kill (from Cwiklowski), followed by a triple block (Cwiklowski, Parker, and Hoover), followed by and a Pirate error to go ahead 16-15. There were three more ties, as the visiting team chased the Euts and then eventually won four in a row off four UHSP errors to take a 21-19 lead. Despite two more Eutectic kills (Colado and Hoover), the Pirates emerged victorious, earning the last two points of the match off a kill and an ace at 25-21.

Cameron Werner led the Euts at the net with six block assists. Cole Cwiklowski finished with 22 assists, while Dickson Colado and Grant Hoover each put down nine kills.

The Eutectics are now 17-9 overall and 5-7 in the HEART. This weekend, they will host the No. 4- and No. 5- ranked teams in the NAIA – both from Iowa: Grand View University (16-5, 10-3) on Friday at 7 p.m. and William Penn University (18-2, 11-2) on Saturday at 12 p.m.