CHARLESTON, W.V. – The No. 2 seed Parkland volleyball team advanced to the 2018 NJCAA National Semifinal with a straight set sweep (25-14, 25-18, 25-19) of No. 7 seed Grand Rapids on Thursday evening. The sixth straight semifinal appearance for the program, Parkland will face No. 3 seed Johnson County on Friday, November 16, at 5:30 p.m. central time.
 
In its Friday Semifinal against Johnson County, the Cobras will look to avenge one of their two losses this season. The Cavaliers won three of four sets against Parkland back on September 7 in Kirkwood, Iowa. The winner of Friday's rematch will earn a spot in Saturday's NJCAA National Championship match at 4:30 p.m. central time.
 
Sweeping Grand Rapids for the third time this season, the Cobras hit .333 behind setter Rachel Verdun's 28 assists, while holding the Raiders to a .137 hitting percentage. Keying the defensive stronghold was a stingy front row that recorded six team blocks and disrupted numerus other Raider attacks. The back row was steadied by freshman Brooke Norder with 13 digs, while Maggie Sorenson added in eight digs of her own.
 
Leading the Cobras on Thursday night was a powerful performance from freshman outside hitter Ryleigh Warfel. The Downs, Illinois product recorded seven kills between the first two sets, and then exploded for a blistering eight kills on nine, errorless swings in the final set.
 
Joining Warfel in creating an efficient attack was freshman middle Dakota Harmon with six kills, while outside hitter Amanda Greening added five and Verdun kept the Raiders off balance with five kills of her own. Katelyn Riffle and Maddie Allen chipped in four and three kills, respectively.
 
The opening set started with an early 4-1 run by the Raiders. Following Warfel's first kill of the evening, Maggie Sorenson went back to serve and promptly rolled off 10 straight points to take control of the first set. During the double-digit run, the Cobras received an ace from Sorenson, a dump from Verdun and two kills by Harmon. Grand Rapids cut the lead to five, 14-9, only to have the Cobras push four straight points across, started by a kill from Allen. Helping close out the set was Warfel with three more kills.
 
After the two teams traded the first four points, Grand Rapids went on their longest run, 7-0, of the match to open up a 9-2. Coming out of a timeout, Parkland responded by winning six of the next seven points, ended by an ace from Anita Jenkins to draw within two points. The Raiders responded with a kill, only for the Cobras to come back with four straight points of their own, the first two off a kill from Warfel and a Verdun ace. The two sides traded the lead multiple times over the next 10 points, until Warfel served five points on a 6-0 run to take a 23-17 lead. A kill by Maddie Allen finished off the set, 25-18, shortly thereafter.
 
Finishing off the sweep, the Cobras again took control with an extended scoring run after the two sides alternated scoring for the first 12 points. Leading 7-6, Brooke Norder went back to the service line and added six points to the Parkland advantage, acing two serves to go along with two Warfel kills. From there, the Cobras would slowly push the lead out to as much as nine points, benefiting from two Greening kills, to lead 21-12. Grand Rapids made one final charge, a 5-0 run late in the set, but two more Warfel kills put away the Raiders for good.