Lebanon, Tenn.-- Cumberland women’s volleyball gears up for their first NAIA National Tournament appearance in program history set for 1:00 pm Saturday afternoon against Park University.

Park will host Cumberland after ending their season ranked No.13 in the NAIA and a second place finish at the Heart of America Conference Tournament. The Pirates posted a perfect 17-0 record at home this season with a 26-5 overall record. The Pirates have a balanced offensive attack led by outsides Malaina Hensley with 327 kills, Debora Bernardi with 300 kills, and Thaynara Jesus with 284 kills. Hensley is fifth in the national for kills and sixth in the nation for kills per set with 3.08.  Park's setter Julia Alvarez has 1,055 assists this season, 21st most assists nationally. Libero Irene Verdino has 432 digs this season, placing her ninth in the nation. 

Cumberland is led by First-Team All Conference members Harlee Kate Reid and Hazel Konkel, who play a pivotal role in the Phoenix offense and have contributed much to the success of the season. Reid leads the team with 308 kills and has the second highest count of digs with 214. Konkel was named the MSC Freshman of the Year and is second on the team in kills with 269 on a fantastic .435 attack percentage. She also leads the team in blocks with 108 total, 32 of which were solo. 

Second-Team All Conference member Nicole Bott will play an important part in running the court as a setter for the Phoenix, as she currently leads the team with 584 assists. She averages 5.46 assists per set and has also picked up 194 digs. Bott also leads the team with service aces at 46 on the season. 

The opening round match will be streamed for free on Park’s website at https://www.heartconferencenetwork.com/park/. Live stats for the game will be posted here: https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wvball/2022-23/boxscores/20221119_hkxt.xml.