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PARKVILLE, Mo. — A day after opening play by going 1-1 in pool play, Park University’s women’s beach volleyball team began the single-elimination bracket play portion of the NAIA Women’s Beach Volleyball National Invitational Tournament in Panama City Beach, Fla.

In the opening round match, No. 5 Park University was upset by No. 6 Webber International University (Fla.), 3½ -1½ , ending what was a great season for the Pirates with a 17-3 record. Park’s 5s pair of Mafalda Bras and Laura Danezzi provided the Pirates lone victory against the Warriors.

WEBBER INTERNATIONAL 3½, PARK 1½

• No. 1 — Webber International defeated Park (Giovanna Bello and Debora Bernardi), 2-0 (21-16, 21-19)
• No. 2 — Webber International defeated Park (Jullia Alvarez and Szonja Stollar), 2-0 (21-12, 21-19)
• No. 3 — Webber International defeated Park (Melissa Knaut and Carla Pons Sales), 2-0 (21-17, 21-13)
• No. 4 — Park (Maria Ramos and Patricia Ubeda) – match not completed as WIU had locked up the overall victory
• No. 5 — Park (Mafalda Bras and Laura Danezzi) defeated Webber International, 2-0 (21-11, 22-20)

Park’s pairs records on the season:

• Bello / Bernardi, 12-5
• Alvarez / Stollar, 14-6
• Knaut / Pons Sales, 16-4
• Ramos / Ubeda, 15-4-1
• Bras / Danezzi, 15-4

It was the second straight trip to the national tournament for the Pirates. Park was the only school in the tournament not within a few hundred miles of an ocean – all other participating teams are based in California, Florida, Oregon and Arizona. Park is also the only school in the country to have qualified all three of its volleyball teams (men’s indoor, women’s indoor and women’s beach volleyball) in their respective NAIA national tournaments the past two years.

The national semifinal pairings, to be played this afternoon:

• 2 p.m. — No. 1 Westcliff University (Calif., 19-3) vs. No. 3 Vanguard University (Calif., 19-5)
• 4 p.m. — No. 2 Corban University (Ore., 20-5) vs. No. 6 Webber International University (Fla., 18-4)

The semifinal winners will meet in the championship match on Saturday (April 22) at noon.

For the uninitiated, in beach volleyball, five two-person teams compete against their respective counterpart (No. 1 vs. No. 1, No. 2 vs. No. 2, etc.) simultaneously. Each match is a best-of-three with the first two sets to 21 points and the third set (if needed) to 15 points (all sets must be won by two points). The school that is victorious in the majority of the matches against their opponent wins.

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