CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 2 Parkland volleyball swept through its District J semifinal match on Wednesday night against visiting Frontier (25-13, 25-5, 25-8) inside Donald Dodds Athletic Complex. The Cobras (52-2) will play Lincoln Trail in the District J Championship on Saturday, November 3, at 2 p.m. central time in Godfrey, Illinois.
 
Awaiting Parkland in the District J Championship will be No. 5 seed Lincoln Trail after they defeated No. 4 seed Lewis & Clark in five sets on Wednesday. The District J winner will advance to NJCAA Division II Nationals in Charleston, West Virginia, November 15-17. The Cobras placed fourth at last year's tournament after winning back-to-back National Championships in 2015 and 2016.
 
After sweeping the Bobcats at home on September 30, Parkland again handed out a straight-set sweep on Wednesday evening behind a .389 hitting percentage. Redshirt sophomore Shelby Nunamaker led the team with seven kills, while Rachel Verdun dished out 17 assists and the team combined for eight blocks.
 
Freshman outside hitter Ryleigh Warfel and Shelby Nunamaker got the Cobras going in set one, scoring five points to help open up a 6-2 lead. After Parked increased its lead to 11-4, Frontier went on a 6-1 run of their own to draw within two points at 12-10. However, consecutive kills from Katelyn Riffle and Maddie Allen followed by consecutive blocks got the Cobras back on track, spurring a 13-3 run to finish the set including a pair of aces from Maggie Sorensen.
 
Warfel and Nunamaker were again the catalysts for an early, 5-1 run by the Cobras to start set two. After Frontier drew within three at 7-4, Warfel and Gabby Wessels teamed up for a 15-0 scoring run to mount a 22-4 lead. Nunamaker got the run started with two kills and solo block, and then aided Verdun on a second block. After Wessels came in to serve for Warfel, and quickly added an ace, Parkland strung together six more points on four kills, including two from Amanda Greening. Frontier ended the run with their fifth point of the set, only to have the Cobras reel off four more in a row capped off by an ace from Anita Jenkins.
 
In the third set, Wessels and sophomore Sidney Heck powered a .571 Parkland attack percentage with 10 of the team's 14 third-set kills. Both Cobras outside hitters were efficient in their attacks, hitting an errorless .857 and .800, respectively. Directing the efficient attack was setter Ashley King with 12 assists in the final frame.