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The teams played in East Central's second match of the season at the Johnson County, Kan., Tournament Aug. 28. Parkland won that night, 25-23, 14-25, 25-11, 25-23.
The teams matched up again at the Illinois Central College Tournament Oct. 24. Parkland swept that day, 25-9, 25-19, 25-16.
"We've seen Parkland two times this season," said East Central Head Coach Brad Bruns. "They're a great team. There's a reason why they're ranked as high as they are. Having seen them twice, we know what we need to do. We're just going to work hard in practice to gear ourselves to get ready for them."
At the Illinois Central College Tournament, Parkland was playing some of its best volleyball of the season. The Cobras started that tournament with a thrilling five-game win over Illinois Central Oct. 23 in a match broadcast locally.
After beating Lake Land Oct. 23, the Cobras came out Oct. 24 sweeping both East Central and then national No. 1 Kishwaukee College to end the tournament undefeated.
"The last time we played them, our passing was a little off," said Bruns. "I don't think we gave them a game worthy of what we would normally give them."
Parkland's performance that day helped the Cobras ascend to the No. 1 position in the final national poll.
Parkland lost in four games to Illinois Central in the District J championship match, but Parkland came back to win the District K championship by sweeping Lincoln Land.
Overall, the Cobras are 13-5 against teams in this year's national tournament field.
"You've got to give them respect," said Bruns. "There's a reason they are ranked where they are. They're one of the toughest teams we're probably going to face up there, but it all depends on who shows up and plays their best. All we can do is make sure we get ready to play our best."
Parkland is led in hitting percentage by sophomore right-side hitter Paige Lay, who is 21st nationally in hitting percentage at .394. Lay, a 5-9 sophomore from Normal, Ill., has ripped 482 kills this season.
Anyone concentrating too much on Lay might overlook Alyssa Elmore. But concentrating on Lay would be a mistake. Elmore, a 6-0 sophomore middle hitter from Pawnee, Ill., has ripped 312 kills at a .392 rate to rank 25th nationally.
The last time East Central played Parkland, the Lady Falcons struggled with serve receive and had trouble getting quality passes to setter Kasey Kirchhofer. While the Cobras don't have anyone in the national rankings for aces, the Lady Falcons know that they will have to do better in the national tournament to have a chance.
When the Lady Falcons attack, it's highly likely that Molly Elderbrook, a 5-5 sophomore libero from Burlington, Wis., will be in the way of the attack. Elderbrook ranks 14th nationally in digs per game at 5.43.
And Parkland is confident in its offense. Sophomore Jeni Sykes of Racine, Wis., is second in the nation in set assists per game at 10.15. She has 1,451 assists this season.
"We haven't seen that many teams who have a setter as aggressive as their setter," Bruns said.
Kirchhofer, a freshman from Hermann, is seventh in that category at 9.53 assists per game. She is closing in on the school's single-season record (since the program was restarted in 2007) of 1,307, set by another Hermann grad, Alyssa Speckhals, last season.
Like East Central, Parkland runs a 5-1 offense meaning that the Lady Falcons will have to remember when Sykes is on the front row and can leave her feet to attack the ball.
The Cobras are led on the bench by first-year Head Coach Cliff Hastings. He actually is the team's third head coach within a year. Mike Trame stepped down after helping Parkland finish third in last year's national tournament.
Hastings also serves as director of Prime Time Volleyball Club.
Parkland has connections to this area. Washington High School graduate Erika Brez played two seasons at Parkland, moving on to the University of Tennessee after completing her eligibility at Parkland in 1997.
One of Brez's teammates at Washington and Parkland, Julie Langendoerfer, came back to play for East Central during her sophomore year.
Previous Meetings
Much of East Central's studies heading to Wisconsin will focus on the one game it won against Parkland Aug. 28 at Johnson County, Kan.
In that game, East Central hit .462 with 14 kills and two errors in 26 attempts.
In the match, sophomore Stephanie Heim (Logan-Rogersville) had a big match with 15 kills, one set assist, three service aces, eight digs and one block assist.
Freshman Natalie Davis (Lafayette) also hit double digits in kills with 11 while hitting .318. She added one dig, one solo block and four block assists.
East Central was able to put down 10 service aces in the match, but also made 10 service errors. Heim and sophomore Julie Ohlms (Lutheran St. Charles, State Fair Community College) each had three aces in the game. Ohlms had four kills and added two set assists, two solo blocks and three block assists.
Kirchhofer ended with 36 set assists to go with one kill, nine digs and two block assists.
In the second match Oct. 24, East Central hit .012 as a team. Ohlms led the way with six kills and added four digs and a block assist.
"We're at 100 percent strength wise going into the national tournament," Bruns said. "I don't think they've seen every weapon we've got in our arsenal. I think we'll give them a different game than last time."
The unknown in Thursday's match could be freshman Aleisha Joyce (Carthage).
"The last time we played them, AJ came in during the second game," Bruns said. "She has grown a lot in just the last couple of weeks since she's been back. She's playing confident right now. She had a great regional tournament. She's ready to go and they really haven't had a chance to see her."
She had four kills in the first meeting, but did not have a high attack rate. In the second match, she had five kills in two games in her return from a Grade II ankle sprain. If a healthy Joyce can play the type of game she has produced all season, that could be a big positive for the Lady Falcons.
"Anything can happen at the national tournament," Bruns said. "If we play our best, I don't think there is a team we can't at least compete with or even beat."
