Pride seniors deliver for Senior Day win over Culver-Stockton

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Turning around quickly following their Friday night match, the Clarke University men's volleyball team earned a Saturday afternoon win over Culver-Stockton University at the Kehl Center in four sets for a 3-1 final.

Prior to the start of the match, Pride men's volleyball recognized the trio of Tanner May, Michael Pettke, and Eduardo Hernandez for the team's Senior Day ceremony as all near the end of their time at CU after May transferred in 2024-25 and Pettke and Hernandez had been part of the Clarke men's volleyball program since their freshmen season of 2023.

To the match, Clarke was able to earn set wins in the first and second by scores of 25-22 and 25-16 before the Wildcats extended the match with a third set 25-21 win before the home team sent the seniors off in style with a comfortable 25-18 fourth set to clinch the win.

More than just the pre-match ceremony, the seniors had plenty of moments throughout the match, first with Pettke getting to start despite deciding to retire from the sport due to injury to get a proper send off, then May and Hernandez starred on the court, finishing with the top two kills totals on the team, starting with May's career-high and match-high 18 kills on 24 swings for a .667 hitting percentage while also adding three aces, a solo block, and four block assists for a 24-point performance.

Along with May's performance out of the middle, Hernandez was the primary producer on the outside, finishing with nine kills and a .227 hitting percentage while also adding two aces, a block assist, an assist, and seven digs, tied for the second most digs on the team.

With the seniors nearing their exit, they were joined by a trio of freshmen that had similar production to each other as Micah Dancy, Nolan Amdur, and Dustin Kuner all had six kills, with Kuner leading the match at six block assists, Dancy finishing with five digs and three block assists, and Amdur producing four digs, two block assists, and an assist.

CU setter Benjamin Reiser had a productive match as well with 42 assists and 10 digs for his second double-double of the season while also adding three kills, four block assists, and an ace for a season-high six points with libero Lachlan Donnelly producing seven digs before suffering a fourth set injury for Kevin Suarez to finish out the set with three digs and an assist of his own.

Clarke men's volleyball will host one more match to conclude their 2026 season when they welcome Mount Mercy University to the Kehl Center on Tuesday, Apr. 7 for a 7:00 p.m. CT scheduled first serve between the Pride and Mustangs.