SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Second-ranked Parkland volleyball improved to 16-0 on the season, 1-0 in the M-WAC, with a straight-set sweep at No. 13 Lincoln Land Community College. Winning its seventh match against a ranked opponent this season, the Cobras extended its set winning streak to 47 straight set victories.
Box Score
Much the same as the majority of the 47-set winning streak, the Cobras held the Loggers at arm's length for the first two sets with wins of nine and 10 points. Hitting .283 overall, the second set proved to be Parkland's most dominant, dishing out 17 kills on 37 swings. While Lincoln Land gave the Cobras its closest set since a 25-22 victory over St. Claire (MI) on August 25, the last set of their second match of the season.
One of four remaining unbeaten NJCAA Division II teams, Parkland won its first conference match of the season behind an elite performance from freshman outside hitter
Ryleigh Warfel. The Tri-Valley High School graduate led the Parkland attack with a season-high 18 kills on 35 swings while committing just one error. The seventh time this season that Warfel has reached double-digit kills, supplemented her attack with eight digs, three blocks and a service ace.
On the season, Warfel leads the team with 144 kills and is hitting an impressive .381 this season. The kills rank seventh in the NJCAA entering Wednesday's slate of action, while the hitting percentage ranks 18
th.
Setting Warfel up tonight, and throughout the season, was freshman setter
Rachel Verdun with 34 assists. Also adding in 19 digs against Lincoln Land, Verdun earned her sixth double-double of the season to match Warfel for the team lead. Despite playing in 10 and 12 less sets than the two setters ranked ahead of her, Verdun owns the third-most sets in the country so far this season while her 11.56 assists per set ranks fifth.
Backing the Parkland's attack was a 12-block performance defensively, led by sophomore middle blocker
Maddie Allen's eight stuffs. Allen also gave Lincoln Land a different look offensively, knocking down five of her nine swings for a .556 hitting percentage.
Up next, the Cobras will return to tournament action this weekend when they travel to the Kirkwood Tournament for a pair of matches on Friday, September 7, and Saturday, September 8. Among the four opponents will be three ranked teams, as Parkland will face No. 7 Highland, No. 10 Johnson County (KS) and No. 15 Central (NE).
