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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
The Parkland volleyball team is 48-2 this season and begins play on Wednesday night at the NJCAA Division II national tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. The Parkland volleyball team begins its pursuit of a fifth NJCAA Division II national title at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The second-seeded Cobras (48-2) play either 15th-seeded Mesa (Ariz.) (19-11) or 18th-seeded Mott (Mich.) (27-6) in a second-round match on Wednesday night.
➜ 2. Win on Wednesday and the Cobras play a quarterfinal match at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, with the semifinals set for 4 p.m. on Friday before the national championship match starts at 6 p.m. Saturday.
➜ 3. Addie Beekman (421 kills), Brooklyn Holdener (396 kills) and Shay McMillen (339 kills) are Parkland’s top offensive options, with Hailey Warfel (936 assists) and Ashlee Freeman (639 assists) directing the offense. All five are Illinois natives.
Libby Bodine gives the Parkland volleyball team a strong defensive presence.
Numbers game: 1,011
digs Libby Bodine has made this season for the Parkland volleyball team. The 2023 Mahomet-Seymour graduate and defensive specialist leads all NJCAA D-II volleyball players in this category and is only the third player in Parkland history to surpass 1,000 digs in a season, joining Stacey Proehl (1,201 in 1988) and Kristine Anderson (1,075 in 2005).
Brad Underwood and Illinois made their season debut in the AP Top 25 on Monday.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Illinois vs. Alabama men’s basketball. In Brad Underwood’s first seven seasons at Illinois, only his 2017-18 and 2022-2023 teams won their first four games. We’ll see if this season’s team can hit that mark Wednesday night.
➜ 2. Illinois at Rutgers football. Pat Bryant is 172 yards away from becoming the 10th Illini to reach 2,000 receiving yards in his Illinois career. He probably gets closer to that milestone on Saturday.
➜ 3. Parkland volleyball at NJCAA D-II national tournament. Cobras coach Cliff Hastings carries an absurd 783-67 career record — that’s good for a .921 winning percentage — into his team’s opening match on Wednesday night.
Unity girls’ basketball coach Mike Donovan.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with first-year Unity girls’ basketball coach Mike Donovan. Donovan and the Rockets opened the season on Tuesday night against Iroquois West in Fisher as part of the Bunnie/Falcon Tip-Off:
➜ 1. My favorite sports team is … the Dallas Cowboys.
➜ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Bill Parcells, Bill Self and Nick Saban.
➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … the sound of silverware rubbing against teeth.
