The atmosphere and energy inside Hodges Fieldhouse didn't feel like any normal regular season contest.

And that only helped fuel the second-ranked Iowa Central volleyball team.

Playing in front of a rowdy and large crowd here Friday night, the Tritons swept No. 1 Parkland. Scores were 25-23, 27-25 and 25-15.

With the tournament featuring two games going on at the same time, the court was split into two. That didn't keep the Iowa Central (10-0 overall) fans from making noise.

"We would have loved to have had it set up for one match at a time," Iowa Central head coach Sara Horn said. "But it just didn't work. With how we were able to do it, though, it was really awesome. You could tell the crowd was helping our girls out. We felt that pressure against Ellsworth earlier this week of playing in front of a home crowd, and I think Parkland felt it (Friday night)."

Katilyn Steffes and Jori Hajek each had 16 kills, with Steffes adding four blocks and 17 digs. Alesha Johnson recorded 40 assists, Baylyn Johnson 28 digs and Bailey Dugan 11 digs. Hajek also had 14 digs and a serving ace.

Brooke Dobson chipped in nine kills, Angel Baylark eight and Haley Alharithy five.

"This was a big win for our girls and our program," Horn said. "Parkland is an incredible program that is consistently in the Top-3 and competing for the national title. I've never beat them in my coaching career here, so I know this will be one I'll remember for a long time."

This past spring at nationals, Parkland knocked off Iowa Central to advance to the championship game. The Cobras would fall to Johnson County in the finals. Iowa Central is also scheduled to meet Parkland again next week in a tournament.

"It's a big win for our program, that's for sure," Horn said. "But we'll see them here again. It's just really great to play so many ranked teams and go up against some of the best programs in the country to prepare us for November, when we really want to beat these teams."

Earlier in the day, the Tritons swept North Dakota State College of Science. Steffes, Dobson and Hajek each had seven kills, Baylark five and Johnson 28 assists.

Iowa Central will face William Penn at 11:45 a.m. and Illinois Central at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.