The No. 1 overall seeded Park University men’s volleyball program have remained perfect throughout the historic 2026 campaign and fended off the No. 3 Cougars of Saint Xavier University (Ill.) in four sets to capture the 2026 NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at Alliant Energy PowerHouse, 24-26, 30-28, 25-22, 25-21.
The Pirates secured their first undefeated season as a program and have extended the program win-streak record to 35-0 as well. Saint Xavier moved to 31-4 on the year and like Park were unblemished in their respective conference on the year in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Both teams took conference regular season and tournament championships. For Park, this is the 6th NAIA National Tournament Championship won as a program (2003, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2026).
This is Park’s first NAIA National Championship since the NAIA moved men’s volleyball to a championship status sport in 2019. Since 2019, Park is now the 3rd program to have a perfect season concluding with a Red Banner (Grand View University - 2021, The Masters University - 2025).
As a team Park hit .252 to the Cougars’ .156. Both teams defensively were excellent at the net. Saint Xavier early on demonstrated their blocking ability and closed out the match with nine blocks, but the Pirates by and large held the advantage throughout the tournament in this category and had 14 blocks to make life difficult for Saint Xavier. Moises Ortiz formed a wall up front with 11 blocks, Adrian Figueroa and Umberto Caleca were contributors as well with six and three, respectively. Ortiz has done this all year and leads the NAIA in blocks per set.