The No. 6 nationally ranked Park University women's volleyball program was defeated by No. 11 Columbia College on Friday night in 2023 NAIA Women's Volleyball Pool Play presented by Marriott South Sioux City Riverfront and Riverside Technologies Inc. Park was swept in the match, 18-25, 21-25, 16-25.

Park ends the 2023 campaign at 32-3 and entered the match with a 28-match win streak. The Cougars are the winners of Pool F and are now riding an 11-match win streak. The 2023 American Midwest Conference Tournament Champions bump up to 32-6 and will play No. 3 Eastern Oregon University at 8pm in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

The Pirates move to 21-8 in their national championship pool play matches all-time. The series record between these two programs favors Columbia 6-25 after tonight.

The first set was a battle at the start but the Cougars slowly but surely gained ground on Park. The Cougars had two separate three-point scoring runs to take a 7-3 lead on Park. Columbia soon reached a seven point lead at 15-8, at which point Park rallied with a 4-1 scoring run off of two kills by Malaina Hensley and one kill from Debora Bernardi. That would be the last bit of traction for Park though, as Columbia held on to the seven-point spread 25-18. Columbia had 16 kills on only three errors for a .289 hitting percentage, while Park had 14 and five of the same for a .180 hitting percentage to begin the match.

The Cougars maintained the energy in set two with a 5-0 run to begin the set. Down 8-1 in second set, Park was in dire need of a lift. A 5-2 scoring turn helped accomplish just that for Park with Izabella Ceratti and Grecia Ung, joining Bernardi and Hensley with kills in that span. The senior Hensley was called upon heavily in set two with two consecutive kills to put Park back in a decent position at 11-8. Hensley led Park with 10 kills for the match and contributed six digs as well. Soon to follow, two attack errors and a double block by Bernardi and Marino put Park within one at 12-11. Park overtook Columbia for the first time in the set at 16-14 on a five-point scoring run, their largest of the match. From this point on, both teams were tied four different times, but a four-point spurt by the Cougars sealed the match 25-21.

In the final set, Park took control of the lead at 6-4, which involved a 5-1 scoring run. Immediately in response though, Columbia went on a 6-2 offensive to force a Michael Talamantes timeout at 10-8, Columbia. Out of the timeout another three points were claimed by the Cougars to draw the final timeout from Park at 13-8. Columbia had their most kills of the match in the third set with 17 and hit their highest percentage at .448. All of this was in route to their 25-16 win for the sweep.

Park hit .146 compared to the Cougars' .264. It was an uncharacteristic night against a very stacked Columbia team, as Park had their lowest number of kills with 34 and lowest hitting percentage since October 24 against Benedictine this season.

Park had their season low in service aces and total blocks with one and two, respectively. Columbia matched Park with four service errors, but edged Park with three service aces and nine total blocks.

Marino was recognized this year as Freshman of the Year in the Heart of America Athletic Conference as well as the Freshman of the Year in the AVCA NAIA Midwest Region. Tonight, she stood out again with a double-double on 32 assists and 14 digs. She had two double-doubles in her first experience at nationals and earned 18 double-doubles in 2023.

Bernardi, Ung, and Ceratti were next in line offensively behind Hensley with eight, seven, and six kills respectively.

Irene Verdino led Park with 15 digs, while three other Pirates were in double-figures in digs, including Marino, Ceratti, and Ung.

In Park's 11 straight appearances to the NAIA final site, this is the fourth time the Pirates were stopped short from advancing past pool play (2013, 2015, 2020, 2023).
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