CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – For the eleventh time in the past thirteen years, and the eighth consecutive year, the Parkland College volleyball team played in the Final Four of the NJCAA DII Volleyball National Tournament. This time, No. 2-seed Cobras (33-1) faced No. 3-seed Iowa Central CC (21-3) and came away victorious, with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-17) sweep.
 
With the win, Parkland will now play in the DII National Championship Match for the seventh time in the past eight seasons. The Cobras will face No. 4-seed Johnson County CC (26-2) which upset No. 1-seed Illinois Central in the semifinals. The championship match will take place tomorrow, Thursday, April 15, at 6:30 pm, and is available to watch on the NJCAA network.
 
 
In set one of the semifinal match, Parkland trailed by three or four points multiple times in the early stages, but at 16-19, the Cobras won 9 of the final 12 points to take a 1-0 lead.
 
It was all tied, 13-13, in set two, when Parkland rattled off six-in-a-row to build a 19-13 lead. Iowa Central pulled to within 4, at 20-16, but could get no closer as the Cobras scored 5 of the last 6 points.
 
In set three, Parkland never trailed, leading 12-7, 16-10, and 23-16 before finalizing the sweep.
 
 
Halle Everett (17 kills), who had a .484 hitting percentage, and Hailey Sperling (16 kills, 2 blocks) who had a .500, combined for 33 of the Cobras' 47 kills in the match.
 
Kayla Brandon (12 digs), Isabella Classen (10 digs, 2 aces), and Brittney Litton (8 digs) controlled the back line, while Jayden Sortor (3 blocks) and Katie Kaiser (2 blocks) were most effective at the net.
 
Summerlyn Smith (45 assists, 2 aces) and Classen each had a pair of aces.