Cobras Win 23rd Straight Conference Crown

Women's Volleyball sweeps trio of conference matches

The second-ranked 小猪视频官网Volleyball team clinched its 23rd consecutive Mid-West Athletic Conference Championship Saturday with a sweep of No. 16 Lincoln Land, and then added two more sweeps with wins against Lewis & Clark and John Wood. The three wins move the Cobras' overall record to 41-2 on the season.
 
Having won each M-WAC title since the conference's inception in 1996, the Cobras have won the conference title outright in every year except 2003. In 2003, 小猪视频官网shared the crown with John Wood. The 6-0 record against conference foes this season marks the 15th straight undefeated regular season against M-WAC opponents.
 
On Wednesday night, the Cobras clinched the top seed for the Region 24 tournament with a win at Illinois Central. The Cobras will host the regional semifinal on Wednesday, Oct. 31.
 
In the three straight-set victories on Saturday, the Cobras hit an impressive .419 on the afternoon while also posting 33 blocks combined on the three conference rivals. Individually, freshman setter  tallied two double-doubles, giving her 14 on the season, outside hitter  knocked down 28 kills and middle blocker  led the team with 13 blocks.
 
No. 2 小猪视频官网3, No. 16 Lincoln Land 0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-21) --  

In their conference-title-clinching victory beginning the day, the Cobras were dominant in both its attack game (.324 hitting percentage) and defensive efforts (14 blocks). Offensively, the Cobras hit .324 as Verdun kept the Loggers guessing with five Cobras recording five or more kills. Opposite side hitter  led the team with nine, while middle blockers Shelby Nunamker and Harmon added eight and seven, respectively.
 
In addition to her seven kills, Harmon also led Parkland's block with seven stuffs, while Nunamker and Riffle each added in five more. Freshman libero  held down the back line with 22 digs, while Maggie Sorensen (12),  (14), and Verdun (10) also reached double figures.
 
No. 2 小猪视频官网3, Lewis & Clark 0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-16) --  
 
小猪视频官网again overmatched its second opponent of the day, winning by at least nine points in all three sets against Lewis & Clark. After a seven-kill and serve-block performance in the morning victory, Harmon was again featured in the win over the Trailblazers with 10 errorless kills, tied with  for the team lead, and six blocks to lead the team. Verdun recorded her second double-double of the day with 40 assists and 11 digs to go along with five kills.
 
No. 2 小猪视频官网3, John Wood 0 (25-14, 25-8, 25-8) -- 
 
The Cobras wasted no time dispatching John Wood in their final match of the day, outscoring the Blazers by a total of 75-40. Orchestrated by setter  36 assists, the Cobras hit .515 in the match. Greening led the efficient attack with 22 swings, converting 17 of the attempts for a kill on a .727 hitting percentage. The 17 kills set a new season high for the freshman. On the opposite side, Abby Burnett added in eight kills, while Nunamker and  each recorded six kills.
 
Holding its opponent to single digits in two of the three sets, the Cobras defense recorded 11 team blocks, highlighted by middle blocker  seven stuffs and 17 digs by .
 
Up next, 小猪视频官网Volleyball will wrap up the away portion of its regular season schedule next weekend, Oct. 19–20, back in Springfield at the Lincoln Land Tournament. The Cobras will face Waubonsee (Ill.) and Kansas City (Kan.) on Friday before battling Neosho County (Kan.) and No. 8 Grand Rapids (Mich.) on Saturday.

[ by Chad Beyler]