Vikings Defeat Park In Hard-Fought Contest

Men’s Volleyball | Tue, Mar. 15, 2022

Des Moines, IA – The Grand View men’s volleyball team returned to the win column on Tuesday night with a hard-fought and thrilling four set victory over No. 15 Park University. The Vikings and Pirates dueled it out on the court, but it was the Vikings who came away with the win by scores of 25-22, 25-15, 19-25 and 27-25.

Set 1: Grand View University 25 l Park University 22

After Grand View and Park traded the opening 12 points, the Vikings went ahead, 8-6, on consecutive kills by Leonardo Annichini (SO/Verona, Italy) and Gabriel Ferreira which forced a timeout from the Pirates. Grand View stretched its lead out to four points through the middle stages when Daniel Wong (SO/Campbell, CA) got in on the action to put the score at 19-15. Park was able to pull within two points at the 24-22 point, but the final score came on Pirate attack error to give Grand View the set win.

Set 2: Grand View University 25 l Park University 15

In the second, the Vikings claimed an early lead with some aggressive offensive play and on another kill from Annichini the score was set at 8-4. A few moments later, Park cut it down to a one-point contest, however, the Vikings immediately responded with a 5-0 run. Grand View used that momentum to propel itself to the set win and closed it with three consecutive kills by Daniel Galili (FR/Shomrat, Israel), Annichini and Ferreira.

Set 3: Grand View University 19 l Park University 25

The third set saw the Vikings fall behind in the early goings after a 3-0 run by Park set the score at 4-9. The Pirates increased their lead all the way up to six at 11-17, but a small run by the Vikings got it back down to 14-17 and forced a Park timeout. Ultimately, a Grand View comeback was not meant to be had as the Pirates won six of the following eight points after the timeout, which lead to a 19-25 set loss for the Vikings.

Set 4: Grand View University 27 l Park University 25

Another tough start for the Vikings was the story in the beginning of the fourth set as they faced a 4-8 deficit. Park stayed out in front through the middle stages with its largest lead over Grand View coming at the 14-20 mark, which forced a timeout from the Vikings. The timeout proved to be useful as the Vikings were able to flip the script on the Pirates. Following the break, Grand View rallied and eventually took the lead when it won nine of the next 10 points. During that span, the Vikings scored…