Audrey Parks is closing in on 1,000 kills for her Chugiak career. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report
Chugiak volleyball star Audrey Parks delivered a performance for the ages Tuesday night.
The senior outside hitter hammered 35 kills – the most in the Cook Inlet Conference since 2012 – to highlight a five-set win over third-ranked South Anchorage at Chugiak High School.
As good as Parks was hitting the ball, it was her assist on a key point late in the fifth set that saved a match point. Two points later, the fourth-ranked Mustangs secured a 22-25, 26-24, 29-31, 25-19, 16-14 victory over the perennial power.
Parks’ kills count was the highest in the CIC since Dimond’s Leah Swiss had 35 kills against South 13 years ago.
Prep Volleyball
MaxPreps rankings for Alaska
TEAM OVERALL 1) Dimond 19-4 2) Colony 22-2 3) South Anchorage 19-6 4) Chugiak 18-5 5) Soldotna 15-5 6) Nikiski 13-6 7) Cordova 6-0 8) Kenai Central 12-7 9) Wasilla 12-7 10) Monroe Catholic 17-3 Scores & Schedule
Wednesday
Wasilla 3, East 1
Thursday
Colony at Chugiak 7:30pm
Soldotna at Service 7pm
West at Eagle River 7:30pm
Cordova at Juneau 7:30pm
West Valley at Lathrop 6pm
Homer at Seward 7pm
Nenana at Glennallen 5pm
Hutchison at Galena 6pm
Parks hit .353 in the match and crushed her previous career high of 20 kills set last year against South and matched this year against West Anchorage. The 5-foot-9 leaper leads the state with 4.1 kills per set and 247 total kills as she moves closer to the 1,000 benchmark for her career.
Chugiak’s victory moved the Mustangs to 2-2 in their last four matches against South. Teagan Shiflea recorded 55 assists, Natalie Horn had 12 kills and Kendall Folk tallied five blocks for the winners, who avenged a four-set defense to the Wolverines a few weeks ago.
Horn was tremendous in the fifth set, blasting kills to make it 1-0 and 5-4 and later scoring back-to-back points to give Chugiak match point.
London Gentile had four aces, including two in a row in the fifth set to give Chugiak an 8-5 lead. The second one clipped the net.
Parks pounded a kill down the line and then served an ace to put the Mustangs in front 11-6.
Natalie Horn (right) was fab in the fifth. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report
South stormed back behind the trio of Madeline Romerdahl, Madeline Romerdahl and Brooklynn Freeman, who combined for six points during a 7-0 run that put the Wolverines up 13-12.
Danica Hacking’s kill off the block gave South match point at 14-13.
Chugiak capped the match with three straight points, thanks to defense, especially from Horn. First, she saved the ball in the net, then she roofed a South hitter and finally forced a missed touch shot on match point for Chugiak.
