REVERSE SWEEP

By Brandon Petersen

The No. 8 Westcliff men's volleyball team picked up a pair of wins Friday at the 2025 Park Invitational to stay unbeaten on the season at 3-0.

The first win was a tidy 3-1 victory over Kansas Wesleyan that was nearly a sweep.

Rodolfo Biegelmeyer and Tom Dempsey were fantastic for the second straight outing, finishing with 14 and 15 kills, respectively.

"The match had highs and lows," Westcliff head coach Alex Griffiths said. "We would like to improve out services pressure before the weekend finishes."

The big win Friday came over Morningside in Game 2, when the Warriors, down 2-0 and on the ropes, came storming all the way back to claim a stunning reverse sweep.

"It was great to see the grit from our team to be down 0-2 and comeback to win, even down 10-14 in the fifth," Griffiths said. "It shows we have returned to the grit we had last year. Our middles played a great role in our attacking along with Tiago, following with 13 blocks to help."

Gabriel Pizza absolutely took over, finishing with a game-high 20 kills to complement eight digs on the defensive end. Pizza hit .316 on 38 balls and turned in five aces at the line.

Dempsey finished with 11 kills and five digs, and Biegelmeyer was true on seven kills, and picked up five digs.

Pawel Tuz (six digs) returned to the lineup and was his usual extraordinary self, setting up teammates for an eye-popping 45 assists.

"It was great to have Pawel return to the court after his bad injury," Griffiths said. "Our new focus as a time is "LIMBO" points. How fast can we rally from an error, or do we let in bleed into the next few?"

Meanwhile, Connor McCann provided some big points to finish with seven kills, and Tiago Silva added seven more.

Down to match point in the Game 5, the Warriors finished off five straight winners to capture the comeback.

Griffiths was quick to credit several role players who were invaluable in the win.

"Nikos Kalagsadis coming in and helping us turn around momentum in Set 3 was huge," she said. "Lukas Pusvaskis hitting .500 and Jacob Bulosan with the six straight finishing serves to bring us back in the game. 

"Their roles were pivotal. Even though they didn't get a lot of time, they were big reasons why we won."

Thus far, 2025 has treated the Warriors well, but the road gets more difficult Saturday.

First up at 10 a.m. is a showdown with Ottawa.

Then at 2 p.m. the Warriors face host Park.

That will be a national Top 10 showdown as the Warriors are currently the NAIA's No. 8 rated team, and Morningside is No. 6.

You can stream the game Saturday here: https://www.heartconferencenetwork.com/parkathletics/

Get your popcorn ready.