The No. 6 nationally ranked Park University women's volleyball program swept their 2023 NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship Opening Round matchup with University of the Cumberlands(Ky.), 25-17, 25-15, 27-25.

The Pirates are 4-0 in their four consecutive opening rounds at Breckon Sports Center and have a lengthy win-streak at home of 80 matches in a row spanning since the start of the 2019 season.

Park is 31-2 on the season and extend their win-streak to 27 matches. Cumberlands, the Mid-South Conference Tournament Champions close out their season at 24-11.

The Pirates hit .310 for the match and held the Patriots to .190 for the match. The lowest hitting percentage of the match came in set one for the Patriots at .028 compared to Park's .243. It was 12-11 Park through the first third of the set, which marked the start of a 4-1 run that capped off by a Barbara Almeida solo block for a 16-12 lead. A kill by Malaina Hensley, two double blocks by Izabella Ceratti and Debora Bernardi, and an Allie Burkhalter service ace extended the lead to 22-15 lead. At this stage, there was no stopping Park as they went on to the 25-17 win brought on by a Bernardi kill.

It was an efficient performance by Park in the second set with 15 kills and only two errors on 29 total attempts for a hitting percentage of .448. It was a steady supply of offense from the senior outside hitter and 2023 Heart First Team All-Conference member Hensley, who slammed four kills in set two and finished with a team-leading 14 kills and a double-double with 10 digs. Cumberlands kept up with Park and trailed 12-11, but the Pirates would go on a four-point run to regain the reigns at 16-11. Grecia Ung was menacing to the Patriots on the serve and collected two aces in that span.
Another four-point run by the Pirates put the game out of reach at 22-13. Bernardi once again got to enjoy a set-point kill for a 25-15 win.

The third set was a phenomenal set with both teams emptying the tank with their season on the line. 13 ties took place along with five lead changes, to be expected in a championship opening round.
Again just two attack errors were committed by Park in the third set and they earned 19 kills. Give much credit to Cumberlands who had 20 kills and five errors, and matched Park with a .283 hitting percentage. Six kills rained down in the third set by Ung who finished her day with 11 kills. Park was trailing late as Cumberlands led 23-22 and after both teams traded points, the Patriots were sitting on set point at 24-23. Almeida and Marino came up with a huge block to tie it at 24-all. Cumberlands reclaimed the lead 25-24 next, but then Ung delivered two consecutive kills to put Park up 26-25. The final point was captured by Park's Aly Anderson who's defensive play on a diving dig turned into the winning point after the Patriots could not return her over bal for the 27-25 win.
Marino, the 2023 Heart Setter of the Year had an excellent showing with 35 assists.

Bernardi was just shy of 10 kills with nine, while Almeida and Ceratti contributed six and five kills.

It was a good defensive effort by Park in Irene Verdino and Ceratti with 13 digs apiece.

Hensley has built up quite the career at Park and has over 1,000 digs in her career at 1,090 after today.

The Pirates will await their pool play assignment to be released Sunday, November 19 at 5pm.

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