Parkland defeats previously unbeaten Cowley in national title match

In a battle of two perennial powerhouse volleyball programs, the No. 3-seeded Parkland Community College (IL) Cobras took down top-seeded Cowley College 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-17 to win the NJCAA Division II National Championship Volleyball Title Saturday night at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Parkland (56-3) entered Saturday night's contest on a 38-match win streak, while Cowley was 41-0 on the season and had dropped only three sets the entire year.

The Cobras appearing in their fourth straight national title match and eighth in the previous nine years, came out hitting strong in set one and handed Cowley just its fourth set loss of the season (25-20).

Cowley, facing adversity for one of the few times this season, came out swinging in set two and evened the match at a set a piece by winning 25-20.

However, Parkland took a 10-5 lead early in set three. Cowley would answer back and pull within 16-14 but could not get over the hump as Parkland held on for the 25-21 win.

With its season on the line, Cowley scored five of the first seven points of set four. But, once again, the Cobras regained control to lead 16-10. The Lady Tigers would not quit, pulling within 20-16, but Parkland proved to be too much on this day as they scored five of the final six points to claim their first national title since 2016.

Kat Blasé, the tournament MVP, led Parkland with 13 kills and a .550 hitting percentage. Iva Halacheva and Laci Beougher paced Cowley with 17 and 16 kills, respectively.

Parkland out-hit Cowley .321 to .227 as the Lady Tigers finish an incredible season with a record of 41-1 and a national runner-up finish.