Paige Baker knew that every point won could be mean the end of a tight third set against Northwood University.
A set victory would mean that the Point Park volleyball team would win the match. The end result was a 36-34 victory, the longest set in Pioneer history, and the first time that a game required more than 30 or more points since Oct. 4, 2011.
“We’re no stranger to close sets and comebacks, but that long of a game is special,” Baker said. “It felt so good to be the team who came out on top that set, and I think it really showed our relentlessness and passion for the game to be able to get the win.”
The victory was part of a perfect 4-0 weekend at the Clearwater Christian Tournament Invite, which brought the Point Park record to 19-10 overall. In addition, the Pioneers have now won 20 consecutive matches at the invite. The last loss was Oct. 8, 2010.
“Just being able to go down there year after year is amazing, and everyone at Clearwater Christian is so inviting that it really makes us feel welcome,” said Baker.
Point Park first traveled to Clearwater early Wednesday morning with the confidence of receiving votes towards the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) for the first time since the last season’s preseason poll when it was ranked 22nd.
The Pioneers then had a five set victory against Florida College where they trailed 2-1. They won the fourth game 25-12 and then took the fifth set 20-18, needing more than the required 15 points to win.
On Saturday, Point Park wrapped up its matches defeating host Clearwater Christian College 3-0 and Ave Maria University 3-1.
Roxanne Grundmeier was pleased to pull through the weekend and noted that the team did learn something.
“They weren’t our best matches,” Grundmeier said. “We have a lot of individual talent, but we realized we all need to work together to be even more successful as the team we were a few weeks ago.”
The Pioneers have been on the road for eight consecutive matches, but will return home to play three matches at the Student Center Gym, with two coming this week. Point Park hosted Bethany College Tuesday and will host Brescia University in a Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) match Sunday.
The match against Brescia also serves as the annual Volley for Vision where fans can pledge a flat donation or a donation for each dig the Pioneers have with all of the proceeds going to the Team Cassie Fund, a non-profit charitable fund of the Pittsburgh Foundation named after Point Park head coach Mike Bruno’s daughter, who was born with Retinopathy of Prematury [ROP] and is legally blind.
Baker is excited to be a part of that event, and also glad to be back playing home matches.
“Road matches and traveling are difficult for any team to endure, so three home contests will be awesome,” said Baker. “We play really well in our gym and having all our fans there for support again will be great.”
