CHARLESTON, W.V. – No. 2 seed Parkland volleyball advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Quarterfinals with a 25-8, 25-11, 25-7 sweep of No. 15 seed Northern Virginia in Thursday's opening round. The Cobras will take on No. 7 seed Grand Rapids later today at 4:30 p.m. central time.
 
The quarterfinal matchup against Grand Rapids will be the third meeting between the two Midwestern schools this season. The Cobras swept both of the previous two meetings, a neutral site victory on September 1 and a home win on October 20. The winner of this evening's quarterfinal will be play in the National Semifinal on Friday, November 16, at 5:30 p.m. central time.
 
A total team effort, the Cobras used all 18 players in the straight-set victory. Offensively, freshman Ryleigh Warfel led the team with seven kills, while classmates Amanda Greening and Hannah Benson added in five, behind 21 assists from setter Rachel Verdun. Aiding the attack was a strong service game, as the Cobras served up 11 aces, including three from sophomore Ellie Stone. On defense, Dakota Harmon led with four blocks, while Verdun had a team-high eight digs.
 
The Cobras got their tournament started with a swift 17-point victory in set one, aided by early errors by Northern Virginia. Leading 4-2 after kills from Maddie Allen and Warfel, Warfel went back to serve and strung together an 8-0 run. After a point by Northern Virginia ended the run, Greening started another Cobra run, this time a 6-0 spurt, that also featured an ace from sophomore Anita Jenkins and kills from Greening and Allen. Hannah Benson and Warfel each added in a pair of kills to close out the set.
 
After the Nighthawks scored the first point of set two, Parkland again went on a run, this time 4-0, off the serves of Brooke Norder including a service ace by the freshman libero. After Northern Virginia drew back within two points at 6-4, two Greening kills and two Nighthawk attack errors pushed the lead out to six. The Cobras used five service aces to pad their lead the rest of the way, three straight aces from Ellie Stone and then two from Maggie Sorenson, before kills from Gabby Wessels and Dakota Harmon clinched the set.
 
In the final set of the sweep, the Cobras never trailed, with the only tie coming in at 2-2, and used a 7-1 run early in the set to take control. Highlighting the run was a pair of kills from setter Rachel Verdun. Leading 10-5, Sidney Heck and Hannah Benson scored kills as part of another mini 4-0 run to push the lead out to 14-5. After pushing the lead to double digits, Maddie Yocks served eight straight Parkland points, including back-to-back aces and three kills from Warfel. Norder finished off the final set with her second ace of the day.  
 
Through the opening four matches of the day seed lines have held serve with No. 3 Johnson County and No. 6 Lincoln Land advancing along with Parkland and Grand Rapids.