CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The second-ranked Parkland volleyball team picked up its season-best 17^th straight win with a straight set sweep (25-8, 25-16, 25-19) of Frontier on Sunday afternoon. Pacing the Cobras to its 33^rd win of the season was freshman setter Rachel Verdun with 21 assists, five kills, five digs and four blocks.
 
Sweeping its 29^th match of the season, and fifth straight, the Cobras hit .438 for the match, including a blistering .538 success rate in the opening set that saw 15 kills and just one attack error.
 
Ranking fourth in the country in total assists on the season, Verdun added 21 to her season total in just two sets played, while also contributing Parkland's attacking and defensive efforts. An efficient five for seven on her attacks, Verdun kept the Bobcat defense off balance with Verdun dumping the ball over after two touches for four of her kills. Defensively, Verdun tied her season high in blocks (4) while adding in a handful of digs.
 
The opening set began with a back-and-forth battle through the opening 16 points, with Parkland holding a 9-7 lead. However, on the backs of strong serving by Brooke Norder and Maggie Sorenson, the Cobras exploded for a 16-1 to close the match including Sorenson's 11-0 run to end the match. Leading the offensive attack was four kills from both Rachel Verdun and Gabby Wessels.
 
The Cobras fell behind early in set two, three times trailing by six points, but cut the deficit to one point, 10-9, behind a 5-0 serving run from Wessels and a pair of kills from Warfel. Parkland and Frontier traded points until Norder broke a 14-14 tie with a 7-0 service run aided by four kills and a block. From there, the Cobras finished off the second set by winning four of the last six points, capped off by a Maddie Allen slide for the set-winning kill.
 
In the third set, the Cobras turned to hitters Abby Burnett and Amanda Greening and middle blocker Dakota Harmon for 12 combined kills to lead the team in the final set. Frontier kept the set close in the early going, but a 4-0 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Burnett, created the separation the Cobras needed. The Bobcats drew within two points, 18-16, before Parkland stretched the lead back out with a 6-2 run and closed the match with a pair of kills from Harmon.
 
Up next, Parkland will return to the court at 4 p.m. central time to conclude its nine-match homestand when it faces Lincoln Trail. The Cobras will travel next weekend to the Des Moines, Iowa for the DMACC Tournament next weekend.