Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. When watching the Park University Gilbert volleyball team (4-4), a fan may have to wonder which version of the team they will see, even within the same match. Today in its first match, Park Gilbert showed both sides of the coin as it fell in five sets to Carroll. In their second match, the Bucs looked like the team they want to be in a straight set sweep of Montana State-Northern. With the day two split, Park Gilbert hopes it can see more of the Dr. Jekyll version of itself from match two rather than the Mr. Hyde which cost them in match one.
Match 1 – Carroll College 3, Park Gilbert 2 (22-25, 21-25, 25-23, 26-24, 11-15)
One of the overriding themes for the Buccaneers this year has been their ability to dominate the offensive side of the scoresheet. But their undoing has been that along with the high kill numbers has been an inordinate number of errors. This was once again the case against the Pioneers.
The Bucs lost two tight first sets and if you looked at the putaway numbers you might wonder how they were behind. The Bucs had 32 kills to only 24 for the Pioneers, but on the other side of the ledger, the Bucs also had 20 errors to only nine for Carroll.
Then in set three, it looked as though the Pioneers were going to sweep the Buccaneers right out of the building, holding a 23-17 lead. But after a time out Dr. Jekyll returned and an improbable comeback ensued. Eight consecutive points won the set for the Bucs and they had momentum on their side.
In the fourth set the Buccos looked as though they had things under control jumping out to a 10-2 lead. But Carroll slowly worked its way back into set. The Bucs had a similar 23-18 lead and the Pioneers attempted a similar comeback from the ragged edge of disaster. Coming all the way back to knot the score at 24, The Buccaneers turned to its most seasoned veteran in Miranda Bacon who blasted a kill to get them to set point. Then it was another of the Bucs fabulous freshman Mallory Turner who sealed the stanza with a kill to send the match to a fifth and deciding set.
The Buccaneers were 8-0 since the last time they lost a five-set match back in their inaugural season of 2019. The Bucs trailed in the fifth set yesterday to the college of Idaho 10-7 and coming out of a time out went on the 6-0 run which led to a victory. Today, the Bucs found themselves trailing again by the same margin and out of another time out went on a 4-0 run to take an 11-10 lead. But the tables were turned on the Bucs today as Carroll called a time out and went on a 5-0 run to end the match and the streak.
Park Gilbert put this match in the record books as they had the second highest total in school history in kills (68), attacks (211) and digs (106).
Individually, there were five Bucs who had double digit kills. Bacon led the way with 15, followed by Brooke Beresford (season high) and Turner (career high) with 11. Railey Druxman and Maggie Scranton (career high) each had 10. Druxman posted her third consecutive double-double as she added a career high 21 digs.
Jenifer Lauer posted her second consecutive double-double and the ninth one in her career with 25 assists and 17 digs. Hattie Patton tied her career high for digs with 28 which is one off the school record.
Match 2 – Park Gilbert 3, Montana State-Northern 0 (27-25, 25-16, 27-25)
On paper, this match looked as though it would be another tough one for the Bucs. The Skylights came into the match undefeated on the season at 4-0 and was 3-0 in the tournament having beaten Embry Riddle (3-0), Ottawa (Ariz.) (3-2) and College of Idaho (3-1).
But Dr. Jekyll came to play in this match as the Bucs swept MSUN 3-0. The Bucs were once again dominant on the offensive end, outhitting the Skylights 50-31 in kills and 128-96 in attempts. The difference this afternoon was the elimination of errors. Both teams had 17 errors for the match.
The first and third sets were tight with the lead exchanging hands four times and MSUN even held two set points in the opening frame. But the Bucs came up with from Bacon and Druxman to erase those points and then a service ace from Melissa Blockey and another Druxman putaway sealed the set.
Set two saw the Bucs dominate from the start, jumping out to an 11-1 lead and never looking back as they took the second set by nine.
The third set was another back and forth affair with the Bucs seeming taking control with 24-20 lead and at the end before the Skylights added a few gray hairs to the Bucs faithful by winning four consecutive points to tie things at 24-24. Head Coach Clay Webb's charges stayed composed and finally finished the match on their third match point with a kill from Beresford.
Druxman posted her fourth consecutive double-double with 12 kills and a team high 11 digs. Beresford is setting in as she had eight kills, nine digs and three aces. Sophomore Megan Hicks added seven kills and four blocks in her first start of the year. Bacon tacked on another seven kills (hitting .333) with three blocks.
The Buccaneers finish the OUAZ Invitational 3-1 as they have one more tournament to get through before starting conference play. Next week, Park Gilbert once again travels to the west side of the valley to participate in the Arizona Christian Labor Day Festival. The Buccaneers will take on Arizona Christian, Montana-Western and No. 10 University of Providence.
