GLENDALE, Ariz. - Park University Gilbert dropped a pair of Friday matches to begin the Labor Day weekend, both in three sets, falling 25-17, 25-22, 25-13 to Dakota State University (S.D.) and 25-16, 25-19, 25-23 to Montana State-Northern.
Dakota State (2-1) was able to get by the Buccaneers by hitting .316 and Park U Gilbert struggled offensively, in the match, registering 24 kills with 17 errors. The Bucs did out-perform the Trojans at the net with six blocks, including four from Autumn Wood, while both Kayla Wieserman and Sabrina Garces were in on three each.
Defensively, Asha Harris and Mackenzie Seitz shared the back-row duties with seven digs each. Wood ended the match with the team lead in kills, with eight, but the Buccaneers fell to big runs in all three sets, including a third-set run for Dakota State to end the match, as the Trojans outscored the Buccaneers 12-2 over the final 14 serves. Dakota State was led by a pair of players with double-digit kills, as Hannah Jellema had 11, and Samantha Zell finished with 10.
In the night match, both teams struggled offensively, and Park totaled two more kills than Montana State-Northern, but errors on offense sunk the Buccaneers, who fell to 4-4 on the year, while MSUN improved to 5-3.
Wood had seven kills for the Buccaneers and Kendra Zuckerman added six, while Montana State-Northern had a match-high 10 kills from Rylee Burmester. Seitz ended the match with 21 digs for the Buccaneers, who had a chance to extend the match late in the third set, clinging to a 23-21 lead on a kill by Zuckerman. MSUN ended the match on a 4-0 run.
Park U Gilbert's Labor Day weekend of volleyball continues Saturday, at 10 a.m., against host Arizona Christian, followed by a noon match with SAGU-American Indian University in Glendale. Saturday's matches will air on ACU's portal in the Stretch Internet family of networks, at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/acu/.
Sunday, the Buccaneers meet Montana State-Northern for a second time, inside The Nest at noon. That match will air on the Buccaneer Sports Network at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/parkbuccaneers.
