Lady Tiger volleyball team makes statement with win at No. 5-ranked Johnson County

Cowley, winners of 90 matches in a row dating back to the 2023 season, is now 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. The loss drops Johnson County to 10-4 and 2-1 in the conference.

"We battled from the first serve against a strong team that not only was ranked No. 5 in the NJCAA, but is also a conference rival that knows us very well," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "Add playing them on the road and you get a match that was going to be a great challenge for us. I was very proud of our players applying the game plan and executing the key things we needed them to do in order to have a great match. We limited our unforced errors, served aggressively, balanced the attack, and kept the pressure on them the whole match, which allowed us to make runs at key times for the 3-0 win."

Trailing 18-13 in set one, Cowley rallied for the 26-24 win. Set two was again tight throughout, and before the Lady Tigers came away with another two-point win (25-23).

With set three tied 5-5, Cowley would score six of the next seven points and did not trail again in the 25-19 win.

Sophomore Josci Buckley continues to get back to full strength after being sidelined due to injury and led the Lady Tigers with 14 kills.

"Josci had another strong match tonight, coming off her solid match against Seminole State," Gream said. "She played well against Johnson County last year and carried that over to this year. I thought she looked more like her old self, before the injury, tonight. She hit a variety of shots, tooled the block, and put up a solid block against their attack."

Ashlynn Jaccard and Lana Gomilanovic added 10 kills apiece.

"Ashlynn keeps playing strong in our matches and making herself available to attack at a high level," Gream said. "Her strong attack kept their defense on their toes and took the pressure off our pins."

Freshman Laura Santangeletta gave the team a lift off the bench, finishing with four kills and a strong presence at the net.

"I thought Laura came in and gave our team some quality minutes by helping our front row block and also providing a solid offensive punch for us at a key time," Gream said.

Cowley will travel to Kansas City, KS, this weekend to play four matches beginning with a pair of matches on Friday at noon and 4 p.m.