Glendale rallies past Parkland in five for DII Volleyball championship

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PHOENIX – By dramatically overcoming the top-seed, Glendale has captured their first NJCAA Division II Volleyball Championship title in the history of the school’s program. Known as the Cinderella of the tournament, the Gauchos defeated the No. 1-seed Parkland 3-2 (13-25, 14-25, 25-23, 25-10, 15-12) in a forced fifth and final set after being down 2 sets on Saturday at the North Gym in Phoenix, Ariz.

Glendale entered the national championship tournament with the second fewest wins of any other participating team, but were able to comeback from a two-set deficit to claim a national crown.

The Gauchos started the final match by falling behind 5-0 to Parkland before they were able to get their first point on the board off of a service error. They were able to go on a four-point run in an attempt to even the score, but Parkland proved to be too much of a force as they got the possession back and ran with in for the remainder of the set. At one point the Cobras held a 13-point lead over Glendale at 24-11.

Unforced errors and a rotation mishap worked against Glendale in the first set. The team could not get their stride as nerves seemed to be evident. Parkland used that to the advantage to claim the first set 25-13.

The second set started out a lot like the first as the Cobras went on a 4-point run. However the Guachos played a lot more calmly and at one point were able to bring the score up to only a 1-point deficit at 10-9. But again the Cobras showcased their top-seed talent and were able to take the second set by a score of 25-14.

Championship play really came through in the third set as both teams battled to get to 25. Glendale was able to take their first leads of the game by changing possession six different times. Both teams found themselves all tied up 11 different times. The most dramatic came down to a 23-23 tie where Glendale then took the lead 24-23. A fourth set was forced after the Gauchos were able to put the last point away and claim the third set 25-23.

Glendale caused the Cobras to fall apart in the fourth set. Each team started out head-to-head as possession switched back and forth. However Glendale went on a huge scoring run and would not allow Parkland to get more than 10 points. Despite efforts from called time-outs to try and calm down the Cobras, they were not able to gain the momentum needed and Glendale evened the set-score and took the game into a final determining set.

With 75 percent of the gym filled with red in support of Glendale, leading into the final set, the atmosphere proved to be in the Gauchos favor. Despite efforts from Parkland to switch possession and take the lead as both teams found themselves tied eight different times, the last being 10-10. After that the game pointed in Glendale’s direction and they went on to take the lead and eventually claim the match. Glendale took the final set 15-12.

The Gauchos had a back and forth overall season by only going 19-13 in the season and 8-8 in their conference. But a standout performance in the national tournament landed them a spot to compete for the championship title.

The No. 10 placed team started out the tournament by sweeping the No. 7 Kansas City Kansas 3-0. But then had two back-to-back 5-set matches. However they defeated No. 2 Central- Columbus (3-2) and then the No. 6 defending national champions Cowley County (3-2) to land them a spot to play for the tournament trophy and end the 27-game championship.

Glendale’s appearance in the national-contention tournament is the first for the school and the volleyball program, therefore the win also lands the Gauchos in the record books.

The Gaucho victory proved a season comeback and upset for Division II. Parkland remained the powerhouse school for the whole 2014 season. They claimed the No. 1 spot in the national polls eight out of the nine weeks released, dropping to No. 3 only once in the Oct. 8 poll when they lost to Illinois Central. They only tallied two losses in the season and upon entering today’s game were on a 25-game winning streak—the longest streak of any other team in the division. They also were first in the division for kills (2408) and assists (2135). Parkland competed for the national title in 2013 but lost to Cowley County.