Pride sweep Kansas Wesleyan in return home

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Following a stretch that kept them off of their home floor for match action over a 24-day stretch, the Clarke University men's volleyball team earned their third win in their last five matches with a 3-0 sweep of Kansas Wesleyan University on Friday night in the Kehl Center.

A back-and-forth opening set saw the Coyotes go on a 5-1 run to break a 13-13 tie and lead 18-14 before a 6-0 CU run on the serve of Zachary Barr put the Pride back in the lead at 20-18, but KWU would stay within those two points then force Clarke to avoid set point twice at 24-23 and 25-24 as the extra points set would get all the way to 31-29 for the CU set win, capturing a little match momentum.

Clarke would go on to win the second and third sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-20 to finish with a hitting percentage advantage of .245 to .130 as a team with Barr and his middle partner Tanner May both hit over .400 with Barr going 4-for-6 with an error for a .500 match then May had 10 kills with just three errors on 16 swings for a .438 with the duo combining for three blocks.

On the pins, Justin Hernandez (13), Eduardo Hernandez (8), and Anthony Ramirez (8) produced strong nights for setter Benjamin Reiser's second-highest assist total of the season at 37 while CU added 32 digs as a team led by Eduardo Hernandez's 11 digs for a new career-high for the junior with libero AJ Matsumoto adding eight digs and back row defensive sub Trey Vescoso producing five digs.

No member of the Kansas Wesleyan attack had double digit kills as Ryan Wagner finished with a team-high nine kills and three block assists for 10.5 points on the night while Zayin Martinez added eight kills on 21 attempts for a .238 hitting percentage.

Clarke men's volleyball will dip into non-conference play for the second-straight Saturday when Augustana College visits the Kehl Center on Saturday afternoon for a 2:00 p.m. CT scheduled first serve.