The No. 6 nationally ranked Park University women's volleyball program has been paired with University of the Cumberlands for the 2023 NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship Opening Round on Saturday, November 18 in Breckon Sports Center.

This is the fourth consecutive NAIA opening round match the Pirates have hosted at Breckon Sports Center and the Pirates are 3-0 in those matches.

Team Overviews

Park is coming off a successful 2023 Heart of America Athletic Conference campaign and are the reigning 2023 Regular Season and Conference Tournament Champions. Park has been ranked within the Top 10 the entire season and are 30-2 entering Saturday.

The Patriots of Cumberlands hail from Williamsburg, Ky. and are out of the Mid-South Conference. They are the only member of the MSC to punch their ticket to a 2023 NAIA opening round site as the conference tournament champions. This is the first appearance in an opening round for the Patriots and they are riding a three-match win streak to head up their 24-10 overall record and 9-3 conference record.

Last year, the Pirates also competed with a fellow MSC opponent in the Phoenix of Cumberland University (Tenn.), who they swept in straight sets.

2023 Individual Honors

Cumberlands was honored with four First Team All-Conference performers in Kendall Arnold, Juliet Banks, Allyson Grava, and Sara Zampedri. Their Second team All-Conference members also represented well with Kara Gipson, Danielle Jackson, and Savanah Jolly.

Three Patriots were awarded with some individual hardware, including the MSC Player of the Year Grava, the MSC Freshman of the Year Zampedri, and MSC Coach of the Year honors went to Kathryn Park.

Like the Patriots, Park has many conference standouts to mention as well, including Michael Talamantes' Heart Coach of the Year award, Mateus Martins' Assistant Coach of the Year award, and Arianna Marino's Freshman and Setter of the Year accolades.

The Pirates also match the Patriots with four First Team All-Conference selections in Marino, Debora Bernardi, Grecia Ung, and Malaina Hensley.

Outside of that, the Pirates were also bolstered by second and third team all-conference members, Izabella Ceratti on second team, and Barbara Almeida and Irene Verdino on third team.

Grava, the senior outside hitter for the Patriots, had an impressive year for conference player of the year honors, including 13 double-doubles and a match with 28 kills against Lindsey Wilson College. Cumberlands defeated LWC three times this season including once in the MSC Tournament Championship, 3-2. The Pirates were able to see LWC once this year and beat them 3-1 as well.

Team Statistics

	Park (Mo.)	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Kills per set	13.21	12.94
Hitting Percentage	.230	.237
Assists per set	12.28	12.13
Service Aces per set	1.86	2.20
Digs per set	17.71	17.70
Blocks per set	2.18	1.33
Win Streak	26	3

 

Player Leaders

	Park (Mo.)	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Kills per set	Grecia Ung | 3.13	Allyson Grava | 3.93
Hitting Percentage	Debora Bernardi | 3.80	Kara Gipson | .376
Assists per set	Marino | 10.34	Kendall Arnold | 10.28
Service Aces	Grecia Ung | 60	Juliet Banks | 64
Digs per set	Irene Verdino | 4.39	Juliet Banks | 4.71
Block Total	Debora Bernardi | 104	Danielle Jackson | 79

 

Ticket Prices

Adults: $5
Students: $3
First 150 Park Students with Park ID: free (compliments of Park Student Services)
Military: $2
Alumni: $2

Game Day Links

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NAIA Championship Website