Park volleyball advances to semifinals of NAIA tourney

The Park University women’s volleyball team advanced to the semifinals of the NAIA national tournament on Friday in Sioux City, Iowa.

Park beat Southern Oregon 25-23, 25-10, 22-25, 26-24 in the quarterfinals and improved to 34-1 on the season. Park had beaten the College of Idaho 25-18, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19 to get to the quarterfinals. Park will play Midland (Neb.) on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Columbia College is also in the semifinals, on the other side of the bracket. Columbia beat Hastings (Neb.) in straight sets on Friday and then Dordt (Iowa) in four sets. Columbia will play Viterbo (Wis.) at 11 a.m.

Postseason football: Benedictine is set to play Saturday in the NAIA national semifinals against Kansas Wesleyan. The winner advances to the final set for Dec. 15 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

In NCAA Division II play, Emporia State of the MIAA will play Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday in the Corsicana Bowl in Corsicana, Texas. Missouri Western faces Southern Arkansas in the Agent Barry Live United Bowl in Texarkana, Ark.

Meanwhile, Missouri University of Science & Technology will play Minnesota State on Saturday in the Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs.

Soccer: It will be an all-Missouri final for the NAIA men’s soccer championship Saturday in Irvine, Calif. Missouri Valley will square off against Central Methodist.

Missouri Valley came up with the winning goal in the 79th minute and beat William Carey (Miss.) 2-1 in the semifinals on Friday night. Central Methodist also picked up a late goal in its 2-1 win over Madonna (Mich.).

This story was originally published November 30, 2018 at 8:47 PM.