The No. 1-ranked Park women’s volleyball won the Heart of America Conference tournament Monday, March 8, and will be playing in the NAIA National Championship this season.

The champions did not drop a set and had a clean sweep against each of the three teams they played in the conference tournament.

On Tuesday, March 2, the team played Clarke University in the opening round of the conference tournament. The teams played three sets with Park winning each with the scores 25-19, 25-16 and 25-21.

With 37 kills on the night, senior outside hitter Nada Meawad had 12 kills, and senior opposite hitter Noura Meawad had 13 kills. Along with these attacks, Park’s serving was at an 82 percent efficiency and digging was at 79 percent which were large components of the winning sweep.

On Friday, March 5, the team faced MidAmerica Nazarene University in the semifinal round. The Pirates again swept all the sets, this time with scores of 25-14, 25-18 and 25-15. Similar to the Clarke match, the team had 47 kills overall and once again had excellent efficiency with their attacks, as well as digging and serving.

Monday, March 8, Park University faced No. 2-ranked Central Methodist University to battle for the HOA conference championship. Once again, Park came out of the game with a winning sweep with the scores of 25-14, 25-19, 25-16.

This is the first season the Park women’s volleyball has played in the Heart of America Conference, moving out of the American Midwest Conference from previous years. After much success in the old conference, Park brought that competitive success into the new conference, winning their first HOA conference championship.

Park University women’s volleyball conference champions have secured a bid to the NAIA National Championship and will play to win another ring beginning April 17 in Sioux City, Iowa.