After a disappointing loss on Tuesday to Embry Riddle, the Park University Gilbert volleyball team got some good news on Thursday. Benedictine Mesa knocked off Embry Riddle to bring the regular season title of the Arizona Division back into play. The bad news? The Bucs had to play the same red hot Redhawks team coming off their biggest win of the season.
Park Gilbert not only answered the bell, it did it in style, beating Benedictine Mesa 3-1 (17-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-20). With the win the Buccaneers move to 13-6 overall, 12-3 in the Cal Pac, one game back of Embry Riddle with three matches to go in the regular season. The Buccaneers have won eight of their last nine matches with the win and completed the first season sweep in the history of this rivalry by either team.
The Bucs dropped the first set 25-17 as the Redhawks played a solid set with 14 kills and only four errors as they hit .323. Park returned the favor in set two it not only outhit BENU, it forced them into more errors as the Redhawks hit -.065.
The third and fourth sets were much tighter as the Bucs jumped out to as much as an eight-point lead in the third set before BENU slowly worked its was back into the set to tie it at 22-all. Then, two kills by Amanda Jonovich and a ball handling error on Benedictine gave the Bucs a 2-1 lead.
The fourth stanza saw a see-saw battle early in the set before the Buccaneers started to pull away midway in the set. The Buccaneers worked the lead to as big as a six-point margin before finishing the match with a five-point 25-20 win.
Jonovich led the way as she has done most of the year, with 19 kills and hitting .317. She also had three service aces and seven digs. Kendra Zuckerman had her best match of the year with 10 kills and hitting .318. The 10 kills are the most in a match for Zuckerman since she had 10 versus Arizona Christian in November of 2019.
Miranda Bacon and Elizabeth Clemit each had eight kills. Bacon added five digs, while Clemit had six blocks including three solo stuffs.
Annika Wallace set a career high with 45 assists, which tied Melissa Blockey for the second highest assist total of the year behind Jenifer Lauer's 58 dimes versus Trinity International.
The Buccaneers will host the last three matches of the season as they make one final play for the Cal Pax Arizona Division crown. They will play Marymount California (Nov. 4, 6 p.m.), Westcliff (Nov. 5, 6 p.m.) and Saint Katherine (Nov. 6, 1 p.m.) for the second time this season. The Thursday and Friday games will be played at the Arizona Region Volleyball Facility and Saturday's contest will be held at the Inspire Courts in Gilbert.
