MATCH STATS
- Park 3, Grand View 0 (36-34, 25-21, 25-16)
- Park finishes at 26-5; Grand View finishes at 25-4
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Box Score
The #4 seed Park University Pirates swept the #1 seeded Vikings of Grand View University to claim the 2017 NAIA national championship. After a back-and-forth battle in set one, Park pulled out the win 36-34 before taking the next two sets 25-21, 25-16.
Junior opposite Tim Johnson led the Vikings with 13 kills while senior outside hitter Pedro Cardoso contributed seven kills and four digs. Senior outside hitter Felipe Nogueira added six kills and junior middle blocker Zakir Pasha hit .400% with five kills. Junior setter Felipe Rosa dished out 36 assists. Senior libero Steve Harvey led the defensive effort with six digs.
The Pirates were led by senior outside hitter Daniel Arteaga with 29 kills on an impressive .558 hitting percentage. Freshman middle blocker Leandro Sodre hit .700% with seven kills. Sophomore opposite Oscar Teuro and junior outside hitter Victor Neves each finished with six kills, with Neves hitting .556%. Junior setter Milos Trivunic controlled the offense with 48 assists while senior libero Billy Crow had a team-high 10 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Dylan Riley came off the bench to earn five service aces.
The first set saw Grand View jump out to an early 12-4 lead before a kill by Sodre would stop the scoring run. The Vikings pushed their lead all the way to 18-10. Park capitalized off of Grand View errors to close the gap to 15-21. A kill from Arteaga followed by a three-point service run from Riley tied the score 22-22. A Pirates service error put the Vikings at set point 24-23. From here, both teams would exchange point-for-point until the score was tied 34-34. A kill from Arteaga and an error by the Vikings closed out the first set for Park, 36-34.
Park took an 8-4 lead in the second set, forcing Grand View to burn a timeout. Out of the timeout, Grand View used tough serving to tie the score at 15-15. Errors hurt both teams in the closing moments of the set as both teams would commit a combined seven errors. Tied at 20-20, Pereira led a four-point service run to set up set point, 24-20. A kill from Cardoso would bring Grand View to 21-24, but it would not be enough as Arteaga would score again to give Park the second set 25-21.
In the third set the Vikings took an 11-10 lead before Park took a timeout. The Pirates serving proved too much for the Vikings as Park’s lead was extended to 20-14. Two attacking errors in a row from Grand View gave Park a 23-16 lead. Finally, a kill by Arteaga followed by a kill from Sodre closed out the third and final set for Park, 25-16. With the win, the Park Pirates claimed the NAIA National Championship.
The Pirates took home multiple accolades as well with Oscar Tuero earning the 2017 National Invitational All-Tournament Team. Head coach Mike Talamantes won the Coach of the Year. Daniel Arteaga’s performance earned him the Tournament MVP. For the tournament, Park placed three as statistical leaders:
- Pereira lead hitting percentage with .548%
- Tuero lead kills with 5.6 per game
- Trivunic lead assists with 12.3 per game
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