Pride win in four sets over Avila to finish out road trip

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Playing their final non-conference match of the 2026 season, the Clarke University men's volleyball team earned their second-straight win to the tune of a 3-1 victory over Avila University on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles were able to take the first set, going to extra points to earn a 29-27 victory but the buck would stop there for the Pride as they rattled off three-straight set wins to win the match with consecutive margins of victory that went from six to eight to 10 for scores of 25-19, 25-17, and 25-15.

Clarke's win came behind a career performance from senior outside hitter Eduardo Hernandez as he tied his career-high with 14 kills while also producing nine digs and an ace for a 15-point day behind what ended up being an 18.5-point performance from middle Tanner May, who had 12 kills along with five digs, two aces, four solo blocks, and a block assist to create a two-man tandem that combined over half of CU's kills and just over exactly half of the team's 66 points scored in the match.

Defensively, the Pride had three other players with five or more digs including eight from Kevin Suarez then five apiece from both Benjamin Reiser and Micah Dancy with Reiser adding a team-high 24 assists splitting the setting duty with Nolan Amdur, who also had 18 assists and three digs for CU.

Amdur also had four kills to be amongst a group that included Dancy's three kills, Noah Whalen adding four kills, Trey Vescoso also having four, and Dustin Kuner combining with May in the middle to also have six kills in three sets.

Clarke men's volleyball will remain on the road for two more matches next Friday and Saturday when they travel to Western Iowa for rematches against Dordt and Morningside, starting the trip with a Friday, Mar. 27 match against the Defenders at 7:00 p.m. CT in Sioux Center, Iowa.