Park University women’s volleyball team to open play at NAIA National Tournament
PARKVILLE, Mo. — Park University’s women’s volleyball team will open pool play tomorrow afternoon (Thursday, Dec. 1) in the NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship Tournament at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
Park, 27-5 on the season and the Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season co-champion, is the No. 13 seed in the tournament (and NAIA-ranked No. 13 team in the country). Park has a “rest day” today (Wednesday, Nov. 30) in pool play. The Pirates will begin play in Pool D tomorrow at 1 p.m. against No. 21 seed Hastings (Neb.) College (20-13) on Court 2. Park will conclude pool play against No. 4 seed Concordia University (Neb., 24-5) on Friday (Dec. 2), at 1 p.m. on Court 2. Both Hastings and Concordia are members of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, which has seven teams in Sioux City.
Park has won 24 of its last 26 matches, including 20 sweeps. The Pirates opened the year with three straight wins, then lost a trio of matches in an early season trip to North Sioux City, S.D., including two to high-seeded teams in the national tournament — No. 3 seed Midland University (Neb.) and No. 8 seed Northwestern College (Iowa), both GPAC members. Park’s other losses came to No. 11 seed and Heart of America Athletic Conference rival MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan., twice) and Dordt University (Iowa) of the GPAC.
This is the 10th consecutive season the Pirates have advanced to the final site of the NAIA national tournament. Park was the national runner-up last season, losing in the national title match a year ago in a five-set thriller to Missouri Baptist University.
The Pirates, the national champs in 2014 (with an undefeated 40-0 record) and in 2018, have a 34-11 record in the national tournament since 2013 (Park’s first year in the tourney). Overall, the Pirates sport a 318-43 (88.1%) record since 2013.
The winners of all eight pools advance to the national quarterfinals on Saturday, Dec. 3. After an off-day on Sunday, Dec. 4, the national semifinals will be Monday, Dec. 5, with the national championship match on Dec. 6.
In addition to Park, other Missouri/Kansas schools to advance to the final site:
- No. 7 Missouri Baptist University (30-3) in Pool G — vs. No. 18 Columbia (Mo.) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.; Rest Day on Thursday; vs. No. 10 Viterbo (Wis.) on Friday at 7 p.m.
- No. 11 MidAmerica Nazarene University (29-1) in Pool F — Rest Day on Wednesday; vs. No. 19 Southern Oregon on Thursday at 7 p.m.; vs. No. 6 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) on Friday at 7 p.m.
- No. 18 Columbia (Mo.) College (27-10) in Pool G — vs. No. 7 Missouri Baptist on Wednesday at 7 p.m.; vs. No. 10 Viterbo (Wis.) on Thursday at 7 p.m.; Rest Day on Friday
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