CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 4 Parkland volleyball finished an undefeated weekend as hosts of the Parkland Tournament with straight set wins over
Owens (25-15, 29-27, 25-16) and
Rend Lake (25-7, 25-9, 25-13) on Sunday. The six wins this weekend run the Cobras overall record to 32-1, and extends their current winning streak to 16 straight matches to equal its winning streak to start the season.
Winning 18 of its 19 sets this weekend, the Cobras averaged 13.8 kills per set on a combined .328 hitting percentage, and served up 49 aces. Defensively, Parkland recorded 2.8 blocks per set and held their opponents under 20 points in 16 of the sets. Individually, freshman
Ryleigh Warfel led the team in kills with 47 and a .337 hitting percentage. Aiding Warfel was
Rachel Verdun's 163 assists on the weekend, boosting her NJCAA-leading season total to 868, while libero
Brooke Norder added 100 digs on the weekend to bring her season total to 487, second best in NJCAA Division II.
In its opening match against Owens, the Cobras were led by three Cobras with double-figure kills as the team hit .282. Finding consistent success on the outsides thanks to 46 assists from
Rachel Verdun,
Ryleigh Warfel (13),
Gabby Wessels (12) and
Katelyn Riffle (10) combined for 35 kills in the match. Warfel also added in 17 digs to record her 11
th double-double of the season, matching Verdun for the team lead this season, and tied Maggie Soresen with four aces in the match.
Brooke Norder again steadied the Cobras' back line with 29 digs, the 21
st time she's reached double figures this season.
The Cobras kept the pressure on offensively in their second match with their second highest hitting percentage of the season. Hitting an efficient .444 for the match, with just four errors, the output was the best since hitting .474 against Oakton back on August 26. The dominant performance extended to the service line, as the Cobras aced 11 serves.
Individually, the Cobras again had multiple outside hitters reach double figure kills, as freshman
Amanda Greening (12 kills) and sophomore
Sidney Heck (10 kills) benefited from sophomore setter
Ashley King's 38 assists. Balancing out the offense was opposite side hitter Abby Burnett with nine kills and middle blocker
Dakota Harmon with seven kills. The 11 service aces were dished out by
Anita Jenkins (3),
Maddie Yocks (3),
Maranda Day (2),
Ellie Stone (2) and
Ashley King (1). Freshman
Hannah Benson led the blocking efforts with four stuffs to tie her season high.
Up next, Parkland volleyball will have a week off from competition before hosting two matches next Sunday at home. The Cobras will play Frontier at noon central time followed by Lincoln Trail at 4 p.m.
Parkland Tournament Results:
Friday, September 21
Vincennes (IN): W, 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-15)
Rock Valley (IL): W, 3-1 (25-9, 21-25, 25-11, 25-4)
Saturday, September 22
#12 Muskegon (MI): W, 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-22)
McHenry (IL) W, 3-0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-12)
Sunday, September 23
Owens (OH): W, 3-0 (25-15, 29-27, 25-16)
Rend Lake (IL): W, 3-0 (25-7, 25-9, 25-13)
