Lady Tiger volleyball opens with a pair of easy wins

The No. 2-ranked Cowley College volleyball team showed they will be a tough team to defend as they used a balanced team effort to easily defeat the Southwestern College JV (25-18, 25-15, 25-14) and the Seminole State College Trojans (25-8, 25-12, 25-5) in its season-opening matches played Thursday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley started slowly in its match against Southwestern as they trailed 15-11 in the opening set. However, the Lady Tigers settled down and scored 14 of the following 17 points to win 25-18.

"We had some pre-game jitters and did some things we normally don't do in that first set," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said.

Leading 16-13 in set two, Cowley would score nine of the final 11 points to win 25-15. Trailing 6-5 in set three, Cowley would score 10 straight points to seize control of the match as they cruised to the 25-14 win.

Cowley had three players (Rachele Tessari, Laci Beougher, and Gyongyver Araczki) finish with 10 kills a piece in the win over the Moundbuilders. Anna Kiss and Landry Cate also played well and added seven and five kills, respectively.

"You never know where the attack is going to come from," Gream said.

Freshman setter Vivianna Solis finished with a team-high 36 assists, while sophomore defensive specialist Sydney Unruh added 21 digs.

With a match under their belt, the Lady Tigers played much more relaxed against Seminole State College and dominated the Lady Trojans in all three sets. Cowley would score the final 15 points of set three to improve its record to 2-0 on the season.

Solis would again finish with 36 assists as the team improved its hitting percentage from .243 in the first match to .402 against Seminole.

"I thought Vivianna did a much better job in the Seminole match," Gream said. "Each time she gets out there, she gets better and better, and that's why these games are important."

Beougher led Cowley with 13 kills as four Lady Tigers had at least eight kills in the win over the Trojans.

"We have worked really hard and put in the work to get that chemistry together," Beougher said. "Last year was last year, so we are moving on and are focused on greater things, but we have got to go through the process first."

Cowley will now prepare to hit the road as they will play a match at Freed Hardeman University Tuesday at 5 p.m. in Henderson, TN, before facing three ranked teams and four opponents at the Lake-Sumter State College Invitational in Leesburg, FL.

"This is a trip we have had planned since pre-Covid," Gream said. "We will play the three ranked teams, so it will be a really good tournament."