Pirates get past Jimmies at NAIA national tournament
Apr. 23—Jimmie men's volleyball ran into a Brazilian wall Thursday at the NAIA national tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.
Park University, Missouri — a team with nine varsity athletes hailing from the South American country out of 16 — produced 14 1/2 total blocks in a 3-0 sweep over the Jimmies in pool play, ending Jamestown's season at 21-3 overall.
Joao Friedrich, a 6-foot-3 freshman outside hitter from Joinville, Brazil, tallied a match-high 12 kills and four blocks — including two solo stuffs — as the Pirates are moving on to Friday's national semifinal play. Hiago Crins, a 6-foot-10 senior middle from Paranapanema, Brazil, was equally disruptive, sprinkling in five kills to go along with five total blocks, including eight block assists.
The Pirates (21-5), seeded fifth in the tournament behind No. 4 Jamestown, hit .280 at the net, with Brazilian players Felipe Guirau and Gabriel Soares adding eight kills each into the mix.
The Jimmies hit .048 at the net in the match, tallying 24 attacking errors in 84 attempts. Derek Owens, a 6-7 freshman middle, contributed the most to UJ's 28 kills all told, sending eight shots to the floor at a kill rate of .333.
Jamestown's freshman setter Derek Correa turned up 25 assists.
The Jimmies were playing Park for the second time in their two-year history as a program. Jamestown fell 3-1 to the Pirates in Parkville, Missouri, in February of 2020.
Along with its nine athletes from Brazil, Park's varsity roster further breaks down with four Americans and one player each from Italy, Spain and Serbia.
Jamestown has played to a record of 32-5 in its two seasons with head coach Riley Salmon at the helm. Thursday's loss snapped a 15-match winning streak dating back to Feb. 19.
Jamestown opened national tournament pool play on Tuesday with a 3-0 sweep of Georgetown College, Kentucky. The Jimmies won the first-ever Great Plains Athletic Conference men's volleyball tournament, which was held at Harold Newman Arena on April 9-10.
Park University (Mo.) 3, University of Jamestown 0
UJ 23 17 17
PU 25 25 25
UJ — Kills: Derek Owens 8, Samuel Jackman 7, Caylor Cox 5, Tanner Woods 4, Clark Steele 2, Austin Jacob 1, Zack Meyer 1. Assists: Derek Correa 25, Jacob 1, Cox 1. Aces: Woods 2, Cox 1. Digs: Cox 7, Braden Neumann 6, Correa 1, Jackman 1, Meyer 1, Steele 1. Blocks: Jacob 3, Owens 2, Woods 2, Jackman 2.
PU — Joao Friedrich 12, Felipe Guirau 8, Gabriel Soares 8, Felipe Chagas 6, Hiago Crins 5, Mateus Martins 1, Luciano Bucci 1. Assists: Bucci 32, Martins 3, Petar Zivkovic 3, Friedrich 1. Aces: Bucci 1, Friedrich 1. Digs: Martins 6, Bucci 6, Soares 5, Guirau 4, Friedrich 4, Crins 1, Zivkovic 1. Blocks: Friedrich 4, Crins 5, Guirau 2, Chagas 1.5, Zivkovic 1.5, Soares .5
Records: Park 21-5. Jamestown 21-3.
