Lady Tiger volleyball inches closer to the conference title

On Wednesday, the top-ranked Cowley College volleyball team remained unbeaten with a 25-23, 25-15, 25-21 win at No. 16-ranked Kansas City Kansas Community College. With the win, the Lady Tigers move within one victory of its second straight conference title.

Cowley, winners of 68 matches in a row, is now 27-0 overall and 8-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. Kansas City (18-6) had its eight-match win-streak snapped to fall to third place in the conference with a record of 6-2.

Cowley trailed set one 15-11 before rallying for the 25-23 win.

"We started a little sluggish with the aggressive serving and play of KCK," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "They really put us on our heels, and once we relaxed and improved our passing, then we were able to run our offense to get quality swings and make the run to finish the first set."

The Lady Tigers then put it all together in set two, leading 20-8 at one point in the 25-15 victory.

Set three was back and forth for most of the set before Cowley could pull out the 25-21 win.

"KCK came to play and gave us a great battle on their court," Gream said. "Our conference has strong teams and KCK proved why they are toward the top of the conference with their offense and strong serve."

The Lady Tigers were led by a balanced attack. Sophomore Sara Puskus finished with a match-high 14 kills, while freshman Josci Buckley had 10 kills. Laura Bonomi and Lu Ceroni added eight kills apiece.

Freshman setter Hanna Darvas finished with 38 assists, and sophomore Jessi Ritchhart had 10 digs and three of Cowley's nine service aces.

"All of our players got involved, including our middle hitters who got quality kills and allowed our pin hitters to be more open," Gream said. "That balanced attack, along with our fast offense, caused major issues for their defense, along with the strong serve, to create holes for quality kills."

Cowley will next participate in the Triton Invitational Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Fort Dodge, IA. On Friday, Cowley will face 10^th-ranked Iowa Central at 11:45 a.m. before taking on Des Moines Area Community College at 3:15 p.m.

Then, on Saturday, the Lady Tigers will battle No. 25-ranked Madison College at 9 a.m. before going up against fifth-ranked Richard Bland College at 12:30 p.m.

"The tournament this weekend is just like our tournament last weekend in Florida in that it is a mini-national tournament with ranked teams that will push us to improve and prepare us for the postseason," Gream said.