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PARKVILLE, Mo. — The No. 4 Park University men’s volleyball team defeated No. 5 Ottawa University (Ariz., a sister campus of Ottawa [Kan.] University), 3-2 (25-16, 21-25, 30-28, 21-25, 15-12) in their final pool play match in Pool D at the NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship this afternoon (Thursday, April 13) at the MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex in West Des Moines, Iowa. With the victory, the Pirates have advanced to play in the national semifinals to be played tomorrow night (Friday, April 13) at 7:30 p.m.

This was the second year in a row that Park defeated Ottawa in pool play with a national semifinal berth on the line. Last year’s match also went five sets with Park pulling off the upset as the No. 7 seed and Ottawa as the No. 2 seed.

Park is now 27-1 on the season while Ottawa ends its year at to 14-9. Park’s only loss on the season was to conference rival Missouri Baptist University on March 18, snapping a 22-match winning streak.

The Pirates, the only school from Missouri or Kansas to advance to the national tournament, not to mention the only school among the top six seeds from outside of California or Arizona, will play the winner of Pool A in the semifinals — either No. 1 Benedictine University – Mesa (Ariz.), 25-3; No. 8 Georgetown (Ky.) College, 21-7; or No. 9 — St. Xavier University (Ill.), 23-5. Benedictine-Mesa and Georgetown play their final pool play match on Thursday night (7 p.m.). If BenU-Mesa wins, the Redhawks advance; if Georgetown wins, there will be a three-way tie in the pool and a tie-breaker will ensue, to be played Friday morning.

The other national semifinal on Friday, which starts at 4 p.m., will feature the winners of Pool B and Pool C — No. 2 Vanguard University (Calif.), 18-5, vs. No. 3 The Master’s University (Calif.), 19-4.

The national championship match is set for Saturday (April 15) at 5 p.m. on ESPN3.

The Pirates are seeking the sixth men’s volleyball national title in Park’s history (2003, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2017) after having lost in the national semifinals the past two years.

Park’s Mike Talamantes, in his 12th season as director of volleyball and men’s/women’s volleyball head coach, has a 269-66 (80.3%) record leading the Pirates’ men’s squad. In addition, Talamantes has 399-71 (84.9%) record as Park’s women’s head coach. His overall record at Park is 668-137 (83.0%). Under his helm, Park’s men have won three national titles (2012, 2014 and 2017), while the women’s team has won two (2014 and 2018).

Against Ottawa University (Ariz.) today, in the first set, the Spirit jumped out to a 4-2 lead before Park went on a 13-5 run to take a 15-9 advantage. OUAZ closed the gap to 17-13, but the Pirates closed out the set with an 8-3 run. Park hit .550 in the set, putting down 14 kills with just three hitting errors.

In set two, neither team had more than a two point lead until Ottawa went up 13-10. The Spirit allowed Park to cut the gap to two at 18-16, but OUAZ closed out the set by scoring 7 of the final 12 points. Ottawa turned the tables on Park in the set, hitting .414, while Park hit .241.

Set three was even closer than set two. Neither team held more than a two point lead until Park took a 16-13 advantage midway through the set. Ottawa, however, fought back to take two point leads at 19-17, 20-18 and 21-19. The Spirit were serving for set point at 24-23 before Park’s Daniel Isernhagen put down a kill to tie and send the match to extra points. OUAZ served three more set points but was halted by Park each time. The Pirates held a 28-27 advantage and serving for set point, but Ottawa put down a kill to tie. Park, though, was finally able to end the set as OUAZ had a service error followed by Park’s Nicolas Tenius putting down a service ace.

In set four, things were again close as the teams weren’t separated by more than two points until Ottawa took a 12-9 lead. The Spirit boosted their lead to four at 17-13, then to five at 20-15. Park cut the gap to 24-21 before OUAZ scored the final point. Park struggled at the net in the set, hitting just .111 with eight hitting errors, while Ottawa hit .344.

In the fifth and deciding set, the teams were tied at 3-3 before Park scored three straight points on kills by Isernhagen and Samuel Esselfie, and a service ace by Joao Friedrich. But Ottawa clawed back to tie the set at 7-7 before Friedrich put down a kill for a Park 8-7 advantage at the switch sides break. OUAZ scored the next two points for a 9-8 lead before a Park timeout. The Pirates scored the next two points for a 10-9 lead, but the Spirit were able to tie at 10-10 before a Park timeout. The teams alternated points and were tied at 12-12 before Park scored two points on a OUAZ service error and attack error before calling their own timeout. The match ended with Friedrich putting down a service ace.

For the match, Park was able to overcome an average hitting night, putting down 60 kills with 27 attack errors for a .232 hitting percentage, while Ottawa Hit .283 with 60 kills and 21 attack errors. Individually, Friedrich put down 23 kills and five service aces to lead Park. Essilfie added 18 hills and Isernhagen nine. Eduardo Faquin dished out 47 assists.

Here are the seeds/records of the teams in the tournament and results of matches from pool play:

POOL A

• No. 1 — Benedictine University – Mesa (Ariz.), 25-3 — defeated No. 9 St. Xavier University (Ill.), 3-0; vs. No. 8 Georgetown (Ky.) College, late start Friday
• No. 8 — Georgetown (Ky.) College, 21-7 — lost to No. 9 St. Xavier University (Ill.), 3-2; vs. No. 1 Benedictine University – Mesa (Ariz.), late start Friday
• No. 9 — St. Xavier University (Ill.), 23-5 — lost to No. 1 Benedictine University – Mesa (Ariz.), 3-0; defeated No. 8 Georgetown (Ky.) College, 3-2

POOL B

• No. 2 — Vanguard University (Calif.), 18-5 — defeated No. 10 University of Jamestown (N.D.), 3-0; defeated No. 7 Grand View University, 3-1. Vanguard advance to the national semifinals against The Master’s University (Calif.) at 4 p.m. Friday
• No. 7 — Grand View University (Iowa), 20-9 — defeated No. 10 University of Jamestown (N.D.), 3-0; lost to No. 2 Vanguard University (Calif.), 3-1
• No. 10 — University of Jamestown (N.D.), 21-5 — lost to No. 2 Vanguard University (Calif.), 3-0; lost to No. 7 Grand View University (Iowa), 3-0

POOL C

• No. 3 — The Master’s University (Calif.), 19-4 — defeated No. 11 Indiana Institute of Technology, 3-2; defeated No. 6 Menlo College (Calif.), 3-0. The Master’s advance to the national semifinals against Vanguard University (Calif.) at 4 p.m. Friday
• No. 6 — Menlo College (Calif.), 16-8 — defeated Indiana Institute of Technology (aka Indiana Tech), 3-0; lost to No. 3 The Master’s University (Calif.), 3-0
• No. 11 — Indiana Institute of Technology (aka Indiana Tech), 19-10 — lost to No. 3 The Master’s University (Calif.), 3-2; lost to No. 6 Menlo College (Calif.), 3-0

POOL D

• No. 4 — Park University (Mo.), 27-1 — defeated No. 12 Webber International University (Fla.), 3-0; defeated No. 5 Ottawa University (Ariz.), 3-2. Park advances to the national semifinals against the winner of Pool A at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
• No. 5 — Ottawa University (Ariz.), 14-9 — defeated No. 12 Webber International University (Fla.), 3-0; lost to No. 4 Park University, 3-2
• No. 12 — Webber International University (Fla.) — 11-7, lost to No. 4 Park University, 3-0; lost to No. 5 Ottawa University (Ariz.), 3-0

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