Hosting Park Center Monday evening, the Park Wolfpack clearly had all their volleyball skills down.

Fierce hitting, passing, blocking, setting, digging were all there for the Wolfpack. And it showed in a three-game sweep of the visiting Pirates with Park winning 25-18, 25-18, 2516.

What also showed was Park’s consistent inconsistency. In each of the three games the Wolfpack raced out to sizeable early leads, only to allow the Pirates to make runs and close the gaps.

“We played through adversity, because there were times where we weren’t playing our best volleyball and they didn’t let it just accelerate into a loss,” said Park head coach Amy Johnson. “They figured out what they needed to fix and they fixed it and put on the pressure when they needed to.

“That’s the mental side of the game that we have to work on,” Johnson added. “We have the physical side down, we’ve got the skills down, we’ve got to get the mental side of the game down.”

“I think yes we do need to work on them getting runs on us,” agreed outside hitter Emma Slusser of the Wolfpack. “But I also think we do a very good job of coming together as a team after each point, getting together and staying positive and making sure we know what to work on next point, every point and keep working on that.”

Park improved to 5-3 on the season. Park Center fell to 3-5.

“I think we did well adjusting on what the other team was doing and making sure that we weren’t just staying to play our own game but also adjusting to what they were doing,” said Park senior hitter Audrey Sease. “We stayed positive the whole game, fixed our errors and made sure we played our game and not play down to their level.”

After opening the season with three straight wins, Park struggled a bit last weekend, going 1-3 in the Aerie Challenge at Apple Valley Friday and Saturday. The Wolfpack lost to Centennial 2-0 and to Stewartville 2-1 on Friday. On Saturday Park defeated Caledonia 2-0, then dropped a 2-1 decision to Edina.

Park went to 3-0 on the season with a three-game sweep at Mahtomedi Tuesday, Sept. 7, winning three close matches, 25-15, 2523 and 25-21.

Park opens Suburban East Conference play at No. 6 East Ridge Tuesday, Sept. 21.

Park’s Audrey Sease (8), Addy Glide (23), Ava Katlack (24) and Emma Slusser (25) celebrate a winning point against Park Center Monday. Photo by John Molene