The No. 23 seeded Park University women's volleyball program entered the 2025 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Opening Round on Saturday evening in Breckon Sports Center to a high energy atmosphere on Claude English Court. The Tigers of Dakota Wesleyan University were a formidable opponent starting off the match with a 2-0 lead, Park came back to take the Tigers to a fifth set, but Dakota Wesleyan advances to Sioux City, Iowa over Park, 19-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 8-15.

For Park, they close out their 12th NAIA National Tournament appearance in 13 years in the opening round with a 19-10 overall record, while Dakota Wesleyan moves to their third NAIA final site appearance in the last five years. The Tigers defeated Park for the first time in program history and are now 19-11 going into pool play in Sioux City. 

Park had eight five set matches this year, the most since Head Coach Michael Talamantes' 2nd season at Park in 2012. That year the Pirates had nine five setters. In 2025, Park were 2-6 in these matches, but were able to take some of the top teams from the Heart of America Athletic Conference and the NAIA to five sets, including Northwestern College (Iowa), MidAmerica Nazarene University, Grand View University, Missouri Baptist University, and now Dakota Wesleyan. 

Dakota Wesleyan hit .203 for the match compared to a .185 for the Pirates. In the opening set, the Tigers had the upper hand after a 4-0 run for a 9-4 lead. The Dakota Wesleyan service game became a noticeable difference early in the first set. Back-to-back kills by Heart 1st Team All-Conference member Indi Zetic got some of it back, but the Tigers stil led by five, 16-11. A service ace and a long rally that sided with the Tigers made it 20-12. Dakota Wesleyan had a firm grip of the lead the rest of the set, ending 25-19.

The Pirates would get to the lead first in set two off of a Tiger attack error and Daniela Gomez had a couple kills early and gave Park a 6-5 lead off of the soft touch. Isadora Dias and Zetic were called upon often and helped the Pirates dig their heels in on the Tiger attack, but Dakota Wesleyan did what was necessary to hold onto the slim lead. The set was broken open though by a 5-0 run by Dakota Wesleyan to make it 19-12. Some miscues by the Pirates and long rallies that tended to side with the Tigers continued to be a difference. That did not deter the Pirates though and all of a sudden with a 5-1 run, Park was only down two after an Angelina Rodriguez kill to force a Dakota Wesleyan timeout, 23-21. The Tigers were able to secure the last two of three points though for the 25-22 set two win. 

The momentum began to shift, as the Pirates often rise to the occasion in pressure moments. In the NAIA opening round it was no different, with an emphatic kill by Dias to cut the Dakota Wesleyan lead to 4-2. The Pirates' Dias and Elisa Dalla Pozza were making plays at the net and the Pirates moved into an 8-6 lead. Zetic then gave Park a three-point lead on a big time kill to force a Tiger timeout, 9-6. The Pirates led by four a couple different times as the match continued, including a a heads up play by Silvia Albani and a double block by Pozza and Gomez, 13-9. Bailey Turner the next play extended the lead to five with a service ace, 14-9.  The Pirates looked like they would safely move on to set four with a 4-0 run for a 20-11 lead off of kills by Zetic, Dias, and Gomez; but the Tigers came all the way within a point with an 8-0 run, 20-19. The Pirates continued to deliver clutch play after clutch play though with the season on the line with kills from Rodriguez and two kills to end the set by Zetic, 25-22.

The score was tied seven times in route to a 9-9 tie in set four. Gomez and Zetic lifted the Pirates again to a 14-11 lead with strong strikes, and after a Dakota Wesleyan timeout, Zetic again returned with a kill to make it 15-11. There were some serious rallies taking place in front of Tiger and Pirate fans and the most impressive rally of the match ended with a Dakota Wesleyan point to come within three points. Park held on to a two point lead and thundering kills by Gomez and Dias got Park up 21-17 and queued a Tiger timeout. Park went on a 4-1 run to close out this match with the entire rotation getting involved to send this to a fifth set, 25-19. The Pirates had their most kills of the evening with 19 in set four and Park hit an even .300.

Big runs by Dakota Wesleyan and a .348 hitting percentage was hard to overcome in set five. Two match altering blocks helped the Tigers arrive at a 5-1 lead and the Pirates called timeout to regroup. A 7-1 run would prove to be too much for the Pirates to come back from and the Tigers punched their ticket to the NAIA final site, 15-8. 

Can't ask too much more from Zetic with 25 kills, 21 digs, and hitting .262 in the match for the double-double. Albani joined Zetic with a double-double as the other 1st Team All-Conference setter picked up 54 assists with 12 digs. 

Dias and Gomez were in double-digits offensively as well with 14 and 12 kills, respectivley. Gomez was only two digs off of a double-double with eight for the match. 

Zetic led Park with seven service aces, but another difference maker was the 14 service errors for Park compared to six for the Tigers.

There was a blocking disparity as well with 17 block assists for Dakota Wesleyan, while Park only had four. 

Jullia Alvarez, Rodriguez, and Turner all were putting in a great match defensively with 15, 14, and 10 digs; respectively.

Park, the Heart Conference Tournament Runner-Up, gave a great fight in front of the a full Breckon Sports Center and left it all out on the court to put a book end on 2025.
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