East Peoria, Ill. - All eyes will be turning to Ramsey Gym on Thursday night, as the 10th-ranked ICC Volleyball program (21-9) battles with its rivals and third-ranked Parkland Cobras (36-1) for the 49th all-time meeting in the rivalry's history. 

HOW TO FOLLOW THE MATCH
LIVE IN-MATCH UPDATES (Twitter)
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BLUE OUT + PACK RAMSEY GYM
The match is a "Blue Out + Pack Ramsey Gym" night to encourage attendance for fans, students and otherwise to, simply, pack Ramsey Gym. The team is planning to don its blue uniforms, as the blue out would be to match the team. 

ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
#10 ICC is coming off a weekend tournament at Des Moines Area, where they took on three nationally-ranked teams in all but one of their matches. 

ICC's weekend got off to a bit of a rough start versus the weekend's highest-ranked opponent in #6 Iowa Central. Their best set came at the start, with a match-high 8 kills, and a 25-19 set win. From there, it was the Tritons that ran the table. Three consecutive sets of a +.200 hitting percentage, while the Cougars ranged from -.043 to -.250. Despite the loss, the Cougars' front row was certainly a balanced attack, with Raquel Frakes (6 kills), Emily Allison (4 kills), and Gracie Schultz (4 kills) all within two such attacks of each other. ICC would ultimately drop the match in four sets, with set scores of 25-19, 6-25, 12-25, and 15-25.

Meanwhile, the Cougars had no time to lament on the loss, as awaiting them in the very next time slot was #9 Kirkwood. It was a hotly contested match, with no set being decided by more than eight points (25-17 ICC in the 3rd). While the first match did not see ICC eclipse double-digit kills in any set, the Kirkwood match was a completely different story. The Cougars rattled off no worse than 13 kills in each set, featuring a hitting percentage as high as .429 in the opener. The Cougar front row held their counterparts to a .267 hitting percentage (first set), including forcing a match-high nine errors in the second set. ICC attacked with fury against the Eagles, with four players (Emily Allison - 12, Hope Allen - 11, Hannah Tellor - 11, Gracie Schultz - 11) all in double figures for kills. Allison was one dig shy of a double-double, adding nine digs to her 12 kills. The Cougars would leave this one with a 4-set, Top-10 win, with set scores of 25-23, 27-29, 25-17, and 25-22.

An early-morning first serve against Ellsworth didn't phase ICC, as the Cougars would roll to a straight-set sweep (25-17, 26-24, 25-9). While ICC did commit six errors in each of the first two sets, they rebounded nicely with an error-free final set. While the double-digit type stats weren't necessarily where they'd been the night prior, the balanced attack was. Four players found themselves within three kills of each other, and ICC's Emilys, Cronkhite and Allison that is, combined for 27 digs. 

The Cougars weren't out of it just yet, as another quality opponent in #11 Hawkeye stood in their way of finishing the weekend. What a thriller this one was. The set margins were no bigger than six points. Two of the sets required 'extra points'. Two players got double-doubles (Hope Allen, 16 kills - 16 digs) and (Emily Allison, 13 kills - 13 digs). Not to mention, Emily Cronkhite also went after a career-high 33 digs in the 5-setter. McKinley Daniels had 35 assists in the finale, while also having led the Cougars in assists versus Ellsworth. The win over Hawkeye avenged a loss to the RedTails just over a week prior. It puts ICC on a three-match win streak heading into Thursday's battle.

ABOUT THE COBRAS
#3 Parkland has only played three true road matches prior to Thursday's match with #10 ICC. Among those three, the Cobras only dropped one set, coming in a 3-1 win over Lincoln Land on September 14th. 

The Cobras won the NJCAA Division II National Championship this past season, winning their last 38 matches of the 2021 slate, capped by defeating then-#1 Cowley in the title match, 3-1. 

Parkland has won 46 sets in a row, featuring a front row attack with no lower than a .284 hitting percentage over their last eight matches. Kat Blase and Kayla Pacha are two the Cobras' most reliable pieces to that front row, with the duo combining for 685 kills, good for 3.6 kills per set. Blase also leads the front row charge defensively, with 196 total blocks (28 solo). 

Keep an eye out on the Cobras' service game as well, as their top three individuals in aces are within 13 such serves of each other.

SHE SAID IT - QUOTES FROM COACH HEFFREN:
On potential intimidation of numerous high-quality stats for the Cobras
"Stats are one thing, but it's how you actually play on the court that's the biggest thing."

On referencing the Cougars' five-set win over the Cobras in the spring of 2021
"We refer back to it, but any team can be beaten on any given day."

On what sticks out about Parkland's front row, and what name(s) stick out
"They like to use their middle, Kat Blase. She's a very good player."

On how to best surmise the (3-1) weekend at Des Moines Area
"I thought we played very well this weekend. We had four challenging matches. For us to go (3-1) this past weekend, we're pleased with that."

On playing good volleyball at the right time, leading into a match versus a quality opponent
"Everybody's starting to step up and understand what their roles are. Just for the girls' mindset. If they're playing consistently and playing well against good teams, then they should have that confidence."

If ICC were to win, what would they have done well?
"We're going to have to play good defense and serve aggressively."

SERIES HISTORY
As mentioned, Thursday's match will be the 49th volleyball match in the ICC-Parkland rivalry series. A matchup with quite the history, the two first met in September of 1984 on a neutral site, with ICC taking the first-ever meeting, 3-0. 

Flash forward to last season, and the Cougars were swept by Parkland in Champaign (BOX SCORE). Meanwhile, the Cougars did take a five-set thriller in the last meeting in East Peoria during the 2020-21 season (BOX SCORE). 

ICC has come out victorious in seven of the past 10 meetings inside Ramsey Gym. 

Lastly, of Parkland's 16 wins in the series history, 11 have been via a sweep.