PARKVILLE, Mo. — The Park University volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon in a five-set thriller to Columbia College in the American Midwest Conference tournament title game at Breckon Sports Center.
The Cougars (37-3), winning with scores of 22-25, 14-25, 25-22, 25-13, 15-9, claimed their ninth AMC tourney title in the past 12 years, earning the second AMC automatic bid and their sixth straight visit to the NAIA tournament later this month.
The Pirates (29-1), ranked No. 1 in the country at the time, has the other AMC automatic berth after winning the league regular-season title. Park, who has appeared in the AMC tournament title game for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.
After playing for a third straight league tournament championship, the Pirates said that maybe a loss wasn’t the worst thing.
Dale Grobasch/Special to the Citizen
Park’s Danna Gomes sets a ball during the American Midwest Conference championship game on Saturday, Nov. 10 at the Breckon Sports Center in Parkville, Mo.
“I’m glad it happened,” Park coach Mike Talamantes said of Park’s first setback since last season’s NAIA quarterfinal setback on Dec. 1, 2017. “I know that sounds funny, but Columbia’s a good team. We’ve had such a great run that we kind of needed someone to push us and wake us up.”
“It always sucks losing especially after winning so many games in a row, but I mean I’m a little happy we lost because it’s better to have our first loss now than at nationals,” said junior Maren Roper, a Platte County High School graduate.
It took the No. 4 Cougars some time to settle in and make that push after the Pirates took the first two sets. Columbia then stormed back to hand Park three consecutive set losses. The Pirates had lost only five sets up until Saturday, two of which came from Park’s 3-2 Senior Night victory over Columbia on Oct. 18.
“We started out great,” Talamantes said. “It’s just … You win every single match, sometimes it’s hard to keep 18-19-20-year-old kids motivated, so I think this one will very much get their attention.”
It sounded as if that was the case.
“It was a wake-up call,” sophomore outside hitter Nada Meawad said. “It’s a good opponent. It wasn’t an easy game, so I think we’ll work harder and motivate ourselves.”
As usual, Meawad, who was announced before the title game as the AMC Player of the Year for a second straight season, led the Park attack with 18 kills. She also posted 14 digs.
Senior Danna Gomes handed out 47 assists, while junior Celina Monteiro posted 16 digs and junior Paula de Oliveira recorded seven blocks.
Kiersten Anderson led the Cougars with a game-high 18 kills. Manuela Vargas handed out 45 assists and Taynan Souza registered 15 digs.
Next, Park rests and returns to the practice gym ahead of the NAIA tournament.
The Pirates are the No. 2 overall seed and automatically advanced to the national championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. Pool play starts on Tuesday, Nov. 27 and bracket play runs through Saturday, Dec. 1.
Grand View (Iowa), a member of the Heart of America Athletic Association, is the lone undefeated team at 32-0. They enter the tournament as the new No. 1-ranked team in the country.
Columbia, Park, Central Methodist and Missouri Baptist are the Missouri teams in the field.
With a loss under their belts, the Pirates should have motivation to better their quarterfinal appearance from a season ago.
“This gives us a motivation to not let up and keep playing our game. So thank you for beating us, Columbia,” said Roper, an honorable mention AMC honoree who contributed five kills and two blocks on Saturday.
The goal, as it has been with this program, of course, is to win a national championship. It would be a first since 2014. And as the squad prepares for that next shot, they’ll do so with the ‘14 banner hanging inside of Breckon Sports Center.
“Since we all got here it’s been our target,” Meawad said. “It’s not even getting a ring, it’s trying to get that national title. It means more hard work to get this title again. We have to get another title.”
And, quite possibly, the season’s first blemish on Saturday could be the start to another banner.
“It’s very difficult to do,” Talamantes said. “That’s what I told them, they shouldn’t hang their heads. It’s very hard to do what they’ve done in the first 30 matches.
“They have a lot to be proud of and in two weeks, you’ll see a different team.”