The Park University women's volleyball program was in Breckon Sports Center on Saturday for Senior Day against Central Methodist University. The Eagles and Pirates went back and forth, but the fifth set was taken by Central Methodist for the win, 25-15, 21-25, 25-14, 20-25, 19-17.

Park celebrated it's senior class before the match, consisting of Angelina Rodriguez, Serena Arruda, Jullia Alvarez, Maria Pim, Luna Martins, Filipa Machado, Giulia Colombo, Clarisse Ferreira, Daniela Gomez, and Maria Araujo.

The Pirates go down to 15-7 on the year with an 11-4 Heart of America Athletic Conference record. The Eagles move up to 18-7 on the year, but are still a game back from the Pirates in the Heart standings at 10-5. 

Park came out firing with a 5-1 start in set one. The Pirates hit .480 with 12 kills and zero errors for a .480 hitting percentage. Park held the Eagles to just a .167 of the same in the first set and got more separation as the set went on with a 4-0 run to make it 17-10. The Pirates closed it out 25-15 with a kill by Rodriguez. 

The Pirates started off strong again in set two with a 10-6 lead. The Pirates held to the slim advantage at 19-17, but a 5-0 run with a Park timeout in the middle turned the dynamic for the Eagles. Both sides exchanged a service error and then a Eagle kill ended it 25-21. 

A 4-0 run by Park helped them get to an early lead, but then a 5-0 run by Park flipped the switch for the Pirates 12-4. The Pirates hit their second highest percentage of the match at .278 and Park stayed on the offensive for a 25-14 set three win  with Gomez and Rodriguez registering the last three kills for the 25-14 win.

A 3-0 run by the Eagles gave them a 7-4 lead in set four. Park kept it close and overcame the Eagles with a 3-0 run to make it 15-14 and it continued to be close all the way up to 18-18. At this point though the Eagles outscored Park 7-2 for the 25-20 win. 

It was all even at 2-2 going into the fifth set and we had seen big swings by both sides. The momentum stayed with Central Methodist in the end though. The score was tied four times in teh early going and the Pirates worked a two-point lead at 10-8. After a timeout at 12-9 by the Eagles, they started to get something rolling with a 3-0 run to tie it at 12-12. Park had the Eagles in a compromised set point three times, but a 3-0 run at 17-16 won the match for the Eagles, 19-17.

Overall Park hit .240 to the Eagles' .212.

The senior and freshman combo of Rodriguez and Indi Zetic was a sight to see, as they led Park with 18 kills each. Gomez was right in that mix too with 16 kills. Zetic and Gomez earned double-doubles with 21 and 13 digs, respectively. 

Silvia Albani has been no stranger to double-doubles and secured 53 assists and 14 digs in the match. Alvarez had a great defensive game with 20 digs. 

Isadora Dias was a presence up front with four solo blocks and two block assists in the match.

Meanwhile, Zet led Park with five service aces and Rodriguez put up a nice number with three aces as well.