ROAD TESTED

By Brandon Petersen

Westcliff Men's Volleyball wrapped up a demanding cross-country road swing Saturday with a pair of losses at the Park University Invitational, falling in a five-set heartbreaker to Morningside before dropping a four-set match to No. 8 Park later that evening in Parkville, Missouri.

The tougher of the two results came earlier in the day, when the Warriors let a 2–1 lead slip away against Morningside in a tightly contested 3–2 loss. Westcliff opened the match by edging the Mustangs 26–24 in the first set, responded to a narrow second-set defeat with a convincing 25–18 win in the third, and appeared poised to close things out.

Instead, Morningside regrouped and took the final two sets, 25–22 and 15–12, capitalizing late as the match tightened. The Mustangs were at their sharpest in the fifth set, hitting .571 with just two attacking errors to seal the comeback.

Tiago Silva continued his strong early-season play, posting 10 kills on a .533 hitting percentage while anchoring the net with five solo blocks and five block assists. Lukas Pusvaskis led Westcliff with 11 kills, while Andrin Broder and Tom Dempsey added steady contributions on the outside. The Warriors finished with 53 digs and stayed competitive throughout the five-set battle but were unable to finish when it mattered most.

Later in the day, Westcliff faced a difficult turnaround against host Park, the No. 8-ranked team in the country, and fell 3–1 in a match that reflected both the quality of the opponent and the cumulative toll of the weekend.

Park controlled the tempo early, taking the first two sets 25–16 and 25–22 before Westcliff showed its resilience with a 27–25 win in the third. The Pirates answered decisively in the fourth, however, pulling away 25–13 to close the match.

Rodolfo Biegelmeyer led Westcliff with 14 kills, while Gabriel Pizza added 13 and Tom Dempsey hit .429 on seven kills.

Pizza surpassed 1,000 career kills in the defeat.

Tiago Silva once again made his presence felt at the net, finishing with six total blocks, but Park's efficiency proved difficult to overcome, as the hosts hit .376 for the match and committed just 14 attacking errors.

The two losses came at the end of a grueling stretch for the Warriors, who played five matches in three days after traveling across the country to open the season. Westcliff leaves Missouri at 3–2 overall, having already picked up wins over multiple teams receiving votes in the NAIA rankings and tested itself against elite competition early.

"Today gave us a chance to get more guys involved and see who's ready to step up," Westcliff head coach Alex Griffiths said. "Playing Park exposed some areas we need to clean up, and that's part of the process. We believe in failing forward -- learning from it, owning it, and getting better because of it. Today was productive. This isn't about winning early; it's about being at our best when the season matters most."

The road trip will now continue for the Warriors, who begin every season with one of the toughest NAIA schedules in the country.

Up next will be an Arizona three-step with three tough opponents awaiting in OUAZ (RV), Park-Gilbert and Benedictine Mesa (No. 10), starting Feb. 6^th.