Savannah Weishaar
Reporter
Fall sports are well underway and off to a good start this year at Parkland College.
The golf, volleyball, and men’s and women’s soccer teams have all started their seasons with a bang. Parkland’s volleyball team has been doing especially well this season with an impressive record of 26-1 ranking them 4th in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II league. The team has a 10 game winning streak since their first loss against No. 3 ranked Johnson County on Sept. 7th. However, not all 26 wins have been a walk in the park, the Cobras have faced ten and beat nine fellow ranked opponents. The team consists of 11 freshmen and six returning players. Two of these freshmen are nationally ranked for digs and kills. Ryleigh Warfel leads the team with kills with 213 ranking her 14th nationally, while Brooke Norder leads the team in digs with 382 ranking her 2nd nationally. Norder was also named the AVCA Two-Year College Player of the Week on Sept. 12. Parkland will play for two more wins this upcoming weekend on the 30th at 12:00 and 4:00 PM.
Along with the volleyball team, the men’s soccer team has been extremely successful as well with a record of 6-1-1. The team has beat two nationally ranked opponents. On Aug. 26 they had a major upset vs. No. 7 ranked St. Louis beating them 4-3. Then, on Sept. 7 they defeated the 13th NJCAA DI rank and team rival Illinois Central 3-2. Freshmen Yu Sasaki scored two goals in the second half of the game to get the Parkland win. Sasaki leads the team with nine goals ranking him 6th in the division. Sophomore Zach Gowlett was responsible for the assist to Sasaki for the win and leads the NJCAA division with 10 assists thus far. The Cobras whopping 34 goals for the season puts them at a tie for 8th in the division. The team has a chance to improve their record and rankings further with a home game on Sept. 29 at 3:00 PM vs. John Wood.
On the other hand, the women’s soccer team has had a bit of a rough start with a record of 2-6. The small team of 16 suffered from injuries in the beginning causing them to reschedule their first game of the season. The team then continued to beat Hawkeye and Heartland in early September. Sophomore Ali Hosey had a hat trick, scoring three goals vs. Hawkeye. Hosey also leads the team in goals with a total of four on the season. During the Heartland game, sophomore Mayra Sosa scored off of a free-kick in the final two minutes to beat them 1-0. Since then, things have gone down hill for the Cobras with a three game losing streak. The team has suffered a couple of hard losses, in particular, the 2-1 loss vs. No. 5 ranked Lewis and Clark. The Cobras were the second team to score on Lewis and Clark this season and the first team to hold them to less than three goals in a game. The two teams will most likely meet again for a rematch in the playoffs later this season. Until then, the team has a home game Sept. 29 at 1:00 PM vs. John Wood and could use student and faculty support.
Last but not least, the golf team is off to an impressive start as well. The team won the Mid-West Athletic Conference for the second year in a row on Monday, Sept. 17. Parkland swept the competition by 17 strokes, finishing the match with a score of 339. Sophomores Jalen Hodges and Brandon Rowe had noteworthy performances. Hodges earned Co-Medalist honors with a score of 71, while Rowe was named All-Conference with a score of 73. The team travels to
Millikin on Sept. 30 for their next match.
Keep reading the Prospectus for future updates on these teams throughout their season.
Team and individual stats were taken as of Friday, Sept. 21.
Reporter Savannah Weishaar is a member of the Parkland Women’s Soccer team.
