Park University Women's Volleyball kicked off the 2026 season on August 21, 2026, under new head coach Erin Cooper. The Pirates traveled up to North Sioux City, SD, for the Siouxland Invitational and went 1-2 in three matches, but picked up Erin Cooper's first win as Park head coach with a four-set victory over #25 Viterbo University in the second match of the tournament (13-25, 30-28, 25-23, 25-21). The Pirates lost the first match in a hard-fought battle against Nelson University (TX) in five sets (14-25, 25-15, 25-20,19-25, 10-15), and the only match of the day on Saturday, August 22, against the College of St. Mary, also in five sets (21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 6-15).
See more details for each match below.
Match One: Nelson University (TX) Vs. Park University (August 21, 2026)
The
Pirates lost a nail-biter against Nelson University in the first regular-season match of the 2026 campaign. The Pirates fell in five sets (14-25, 25-15, 25-20,19-25, 10-15),
including dropping the last two sets after jumping up in front with two set wins in the first three sets.
Set one was a battle for the first 14 points, but Nelson took over, going on a massive run that put the Lions up 15-10 and in the driver's seat. The Lions went on another run late in the first set, winning 10 of the last 12 points, working off of 14 kills in the first set to get the advantage going into set two (25-14).
The Pirates forgot about the set one loss and stormed into set two behind four kills from Isadora Dias, sailing out to a 10-3 lead and forcing an early Nelson timeout. Park wouldn't let the lead go, as they matched any challenge the Lions put in the Pirates' way. Isadora Dias recorded eight total kills in the set two win, and Indi Zetic followed her lead with six kills of her own, with the dangerous attack duo giving the Pirates a dominant 25-15 set two win.
Nelson tried to quiet Park early in set three after dropping the last set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead off of two Taylor Felux service aces and a couple of Park mistakes. However, this Park team would fight back and tie the game up at 6-6, and fought for each point until the set reached 20-20. After that, Park made sure set three ended up a win. Park won the last five points of the set, highlighted by back-to-back Sophia Rodriguez kills to start the rally, and a kill from Indi Zetic won the set (25-20).
After dropping the last two sets, the Lions roared back in set four to make sure there would be a set five. The Lions jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and never relinquished the lead. The Lions led set four from start to finish, with just one tie at 1-1, and a kill from Savannah Bergman forced the match in set five.
The first 14 points of set five were played point for point, resulting in no team having back-to-back points and a 7-7 tie. Back-to-back kills from Savannah Bergman and Mackenzie Smith forced Park to take a timeout at 9-7. However, Nelson would capitalize on Park's mistakes to win six of the last nine points and steal the win away from the Pirates in five sets (15-10).
Indi Zetic was incredible, recording 25 kills on a .345 attack percentage, and Isadora Dias added 16 kills on a .342 attack percentage during a match in which the Pirates had a good .289 hitting percentage as a team. Dias added 14 digs to go with her kills, as Claire Bingham led the team with 20 digs.
Match Two: Viterbo University (Wis.) vs. Park University (August 21, 2026)
Park University Women's Volleyball got its first victory of the 2026 season in a big way. First-year Pirates head coach Erin Cooper and her team knocked off #25 Viterbo University in a statement win in the first weekend of the year. The Pirates needed just four sets (13-25, 30-28, 25-23, 25-21) to knock off a ranked Viterbo team and put the rest of the NAIA on notice.
The match started slow for the Pirates, as Park worked itself into a hole in set one, down 19-12, before Viterbo turned up the heat and won six of the last seven points to give the V-Hawks a dominant 25-13 set one win. However, that was the last time Viterbo would win a set in the match.
Viterbo had the 18-16 lead in set two, but Park didn't give up, winning six of the next seven points to pull ahead 23-19. A kill from Indi Zetic put the Pirates a point away from closing the set, but the V-Hawks tied it back up at 24-24 and even took the one-point advantage before a strong kill from Visnja Canak tied it back up at 25-25. Viterbo was once again one point away after taking the 28-27 lead, but Park didn't give in. A kill from Trinity Iverson tied set two back up; a massive service ace from Claire Bingham gave the advantage back to Park, and Isadora Dias ended it with a kill on the next point to win a long set two (30-28).
Set three could be described in three words: an absolute dogfight. The V-Hawks and Pirates would go nearly point for point, with neither team recording a run longer than three points. That was until Isadora Dias had something to say. Park took a 17-16 lead when Isadora Dias took over. Dias recorded three straight kills to turn a 17-16 lead into a 20-16 lead, and added another kill a few points later. Four of the last eight points came off the hand of Isadora Dias, as she helped give Park a 25-23 victory for a 2-1 set advantage.
The fourth set is the last set Park needed. Five different players recorded at least one kill in the fifth set, and Park would close out the four-set win 25-21.
Visnja Canak was sensational, totaling 15 kills on an attack percentage of .345 and added 14 digs to go with it. Isadora Dias added eight kills, and Elisa Dalla Pozza recorded nine kills of her own. Sara Fernandez Villaverde recorded 24 assists, and Claire Bigham led the team with 18 digs.
A major win for Park early in the season, as head coach Erin Cooper puts her name in the win column for the first time as a Pirate.
Match Three: College of St. Mary vs. Park University (August 22, 2026)
The Pirates dropped their first match of the season against College of St. Mary in five sets (21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 6-15). Park started hot in set one, jumping ahead 3-0. After maintaining a 5-3 lead, the Flames would win 11 of the next 14 points to jump ahead 14-8. However, the Pirates didn't go away quickly, as they'd rally to win seven of the next eight points to tie the set back up at 15-15. After going point for point, the Flames got three straight points to turn the score from 18-18 to 21-18. That was enough to pull ahead late and record the 25-21 victory in set one.
It took the Pirates a few points to shake off set one and focus on set two, as the Flames ran out to an early 4-0 lead. However, after tying the game at 8-8, the Pirates won 10 of the next 12 points, including seven in a row due to strong kills from Isadora Dais, India Zetic, and Elisa Dalla Pozza, and a couple of mistakes from the Flames. All the Pirates had to do was go point for point the rest of the way, and a kill off the hand of Silvia Albani closed out set two (25-19).
Set three was a battle from start to finish. The Flames never recorded more than two points in a row, and Park had one five-point rally that made the difference. Indi Zetic and Isadora Dias were both huge for the Pirates in set three, recording nine kills combined. Three service aces and too many mistakes from the Flames gave the Pirates a 2-1 set lead going into set four.
The Flames reignited in the fourth set, turning an 8-6 deficit into a 17-11 lead, forcing a Park timeout during the stretch. Park couldn't come back, and the Flames evened the match at two sets apiece and forced a fifth set.
The fifth set turned out to be all College of St. Mary, as the fourth-set momentum carried into the fifth set, with the Flames winning 10 of the last 12 points to close out a fifth-set victory (6-15).
Visjna Canak (10 kills) and Indi Zetic (16 kills) both finished with double-digit kills, but the Pirates had just a .116 attack percentage in the match. Park finished with 14 blocks as a team and 61 digs, but couldn't get the win.
