EAST PEORIA, Ill. – No. 1 Parkland College Volleyball (21-1) suffered its first loss of the season, a 2-3 (
25-21, 21-25, 23-25,
25-20, 12-15) setback to No. 5 Illinois Central College (11-1).
Set one was tight at the start, but after a 5-5 tie, the Cobras built a six-point lead, 19-13. The Cougars pulled back to within three at the end but could get no closer.
In set two, ICC took a quick lead and extended it to eight, 9-17. Parkland fought back, pulling to within one, at 18-19, but the Cougars ended the set on a 3-6 run to tie the match, 1-1.
After an 11-11 tie in set three, ICC began to inch ahead. As the two rivals battled back-and-forth, Parkland got back to within one, 16-17. The Cougars then scored four-straight, going up 16-21, but a Cobras 6-1 run tied it at 22. ICC never gave up the lead, and scored two-straight, breaking a 23-23 tie, and taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth, Parkland jumped to a 7-3 lead and maintained a 3-4 lead throughout. With the score 21-18, the Cobras took 4 of the final 6 points and evened the match at 2-2.
Breaking a 7-7 tie in the deciding fifth set, ICC took three-straight to jump ahead 7-10. Parkland pulled to within one, 10-11, but could never get any closer. The set and match ended when the Cougars took 4 of the final 6 points.
Two Cobras,
Halle Everett (18 kills, 16 digs, 2 aces) and
Summerlyn Smith (58 assists, 12 digs), emerged from the hard-fought match with a double-double, with Smith producing a career-high for assists.
Arika Richardson (17 kills, 6 digs, 8 blocks) was just behind Everett in kills, and attained a .405 hitting percentage against stiff competition.
Jayden Sortor (12 kills, 8 blocks) and
Hailey Sperling (12 kills, 2 blocks) split another 24 kills.
On the defensive side,
Kayla Brandon (26 digs) and
Brittney Litton (25 digs) combined for 51 digs. Everett,
Isabella Classen (15 digs), and Smith were also heavy contributors to the team total of 109.
Richardson, Sortor, and
Katie Kaiser (5 kills, 4 blocks) were strongest at the net, leading the team to a total of 12 team blocks.
Up next, Parkland travels to Canton, Ill., to compete in the Spoon River Triangular on Saturday, March 13. The Cobras will face Spoon River CC at 1:00 pm and, immediately following, John Wood CC at 3:00 pm.
