BOONE, Iowa – Winning its 19^th and 20^th consecutive matches, the No. 2 Parkland volleyball team defeated a pair of ranked opponents, No. 19 Des Moines Area Community College (3-1) and No. 11 Hawkeye Community College (3-0) on Friday at the DMACC Tournament. Freshman outside hitter Ryleigh Warfel led the team with 19 kills in the two wins
 
With the two wins over ranked opponents on Friday, the Cobras improve their record to 12-1 against teams ranked in the NJCAA weekly poll. On Saturday, Parkland will face its highest ranked opponent of the season in No. 3 Coffeyville.
 
The Cobras block was responsible for much of the success in the opening match of the day, racking up 17 team stuffs in a 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-14, 25-22) win over host Des Moines Area Community College. One of eight teams in the country averaging more than three blocks per set, the Cobras averaged 4.25 blocks per set against the Bears. Leading the Cobras at the net was freshman middle blocker Dakota Harmon who tallied her second double-digit blocking performance of the season with 11 stuffs. Joining Harmon at the net, setter Rachel Verdun added a season-high seven blocks while sophomore Shelby Nunamker put the roof on six more DMACC attacks.
 
Offensively, sophomore opposite side hitter Katelyn Riffle paced the Parkland attack with a blistering .545 hitting percentage on 22 swings to lead the Cobras with 13 kills. On the other side of the court, freshman Gabby Wessels added 11 kills to go along with 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Setter Rachel Verdun aided the two hitters, along with the rest of the attack, with 45 assists that ranks second most this season for the freshman.
 
In its afternoon sweep (25-19, 25-20, 25-13) of No. 11 Hawkeye, freshman Ryleigh Warfel and sophomore Shelby Nunamaker led the Cobras offensively in route to the straight set sweep. After tallying seven kills in the morning match, Warfel came back with 12 more in the afternoon at a .308 hitting clip while also adding in four aces and nine digs. Keeping the Hawkeye defense off balance, sophomore middle blocker Shelby Nunamker added nine kills on just 12 swings (.667 hitting percentage). The nine kills were the most by the second-year middle blocker since she recorded 14 against Central on September 8.
 
Defensively, Parkland overcame Hawkeye's attempt to send the ball away from freshman standout Brooke Norder – ranked fifth in Division II in digs – with eight different Cobras contributing to the 49 total digs. While Norder recorded her second fewest digs (11) in a match where she played at least three sets, the Parkland defense remained sturdy as Warfel tallied nine digs, Maggie Sorenson added eight, setter Rachel Verdun added seven and Gabby Wessels chipped in six digs.   
 
Up next, the Cobras will face No. 3 Coffeyville at 8 a.m. on Saturday followed by a 10 a.m. match against MCC-Longview to wrap up the tournament.