Colorado Springs, Colo.- In the final week of the NJCAA Division II Volleyball poll, Parkland College (Ill.) defeated previous No. 1 Kishwaukke, landing them the No. 1 spot in the nation. Cowley County Community College (Kan.) jumps up to No. 2 and Illinois Central College holds at No. 3.
Parkland (32-4) defeated previou No. 1 Kishwaukee College (3-0) and No. 3 Illinois Central (3-2) last week, along with Danville (3-0), Lake Land (3-0), and No. 20 East Central (3-0) to earn the top spot this week. Three players, Lucy Coleman, Paige Lay and Brittany Monken, are averaging above three kills per set this season with Molly Elderbrook averaging 5.49 digs per set, ninth in the nation. Parkland will battle Kishwaukee again on Oct. 31 for the third time this season, they lost on on Sept. 6 (2-3) before defeating them last week.
Cowley (25-4)jumps three spots to No. 2 this week after going 4-0 last week, defeating Butler (3-0), Seminole State (3-0), Friends JB (3-0), and Neosho (4-0). Freshman Roselandy Acosta leads the Tigers with 3.52 kills per set, while Michelle O'Dell leads defensively with 6.03 digs per set. They will finish out their regular season this week taking on Fort Scott tonight and Northern Oklahoma-Enid on Friday.
Illinois Central finished their regular season 26-7 after defeating previous No. 1 Kishwaukee (3-0), No. 20 East Central (3-0, and Lake Land (3-0) and dropping a five set match to previous No. 4 and regional rival Parkland (2-3). Sophomore Yiting Cao's team leading 3.74 kills per game ranks her seventh in the nation. The Cougars will wait to see how their competition does this weekend before seeding in two weeks.