Top-ranked Lady Tigers survive road test at Allen Community College

Facing a feisty Allen Community College squad Wednesday night in Iola, KS, the No. 1-ranked Cowley College volleyball team bounced back from a loss of the opening set to defeat the Lady Red Devils 26-28, 25-12, 25-18, 25-15.

On Wednesday, Cowley raced out to a 6-1 lead in the opening set and was one point away from winning the set on three occasions before Allen came away with the 28-26 win. The loss was the first in 13 sets played for the Lady Tigers.

The loss of set one seemed to get Cowley's attention as they regrouped to win set two by a commanding 25-12 score. The Lady Tigers continued their strong play in sets three and four as they went on to the 25-18 and 25-15 victories.

"Allen came out firing and put a lot of pressure on us in the first set," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "We served more aggressively and balanced our attack much better in the second set. The third and fourth set was pretty much the same thing and that is how we came away with the victory."

Cowley is now 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in the Jayhawk Conference, while Allen falls to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Cowley sophomores Laura Bonomi (18 kills, 18 digs) and Sara Puskus (18 kills, five digs) provided the Lady Tigers with a formidable one-two punch in the win.

"When Laura and Sara are on the court at the same time, they are really hard to defend, especially with our middle hitters being as involved as they were," Gream said.

Freshman middle hitter Josci Buckley bounced back from a tough opening set to finish with 11 kills, while sophomore Jessi Ritchhart led four Lady Tigers in double figures in digs with 24.

Freshman setter Hanna Darvas also played well and finished with a season-high 51 assists and 15 digs in the win.

"Hanna did a great job," Gream said. "Every day, she is getting better and adding elements to her game. That has really allowed our offense to click in tough situations."

Sophomores middle hitters Valerie Luna (six kills) and Lu Ceroni (four kills, five digs) also stepped up in the victory.

"When Sara (Puskus) goes to the back row, we need those two to really contribute and take the pressure off our outside hitters, and they did a very good job of that against Allen," Gream said.

Cowley held Allen to only a .116 hitting percentage in the match.

The Lady Tigers will now prepare to host a tri-match on Friday and Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium. On Friday, Cowley will play Northeast Community College at 2 p.m. before facing Ranger College at 6.

Then, on Saturday, Cowley will play the Southwestern College JV at 11 a.m. and North Platte Community College at 3 p.m.

"This weekend will push us," Gream said. "We want to use each match to get better and build off what we did at Allen."