Volleyball opens conference play with home win over Neosho

The No. 2-ranked Cowley College volleyball team continued its winnings ways with an easy 25-12, 25-9, 25-20 win over Neosho County in the Lady Tigers conference-opener played Wednesday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley would score the first four points of set one and never trailed in the 25-12 win. After Neosho pulled within 14-11, Cowley would score 11 of the next 12 points to close the first set.

The Lady Tigers would race out to a commanding 13-4 lead and cruised to the 25-9 win of set two before being tested in the third and final set. Cowley would turn a slim 8-7 advantage into a 24-15 lead before the Lady Panthers rattled off five straight points to pull within 24-20 before the Lady Tigers finally prevailed.

With the victory, Cowley is now 8-0 overall and 1-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

"We followed our game plan well against Neosho County combined with our aggressive serves, balanced attack, and scrappy defense to give us the 3-0 win," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said.

Freshman Anna Kiss recorded her second double-double on the season with her 10 kills and 16 digs, and fellow freshman Vivianna Solis recorded her third double-double on the season with her 35 assists and 10 digs.

"Our offense is starting to click, and we are starting to get more and more comfortable with all the new pieces we have this year."

Also, during Wednesday's match, sophomore Laci Beougher passed 500 kills in her career.

Before the match, Coach Gream presented Rachele Tessari with a plaque for reaching 100 career service aces.

"It was an honor to recognize Rachele for her reaching the 100 career aces milestone," Gream said. "Her serve, combined with her attacking skills, has been a big part of our offense these two years."

Sydnee Dudolski led the Lady Panthers with 10 kills in the defeat as Neosho County is now 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference.

After a busy opening stretch of the season, Cowley will have some time off before traveling to Iola, KS, to face Allen Community College Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Red Devils (6-4) are currently atop the Jayhawk East standings with a record of 2-0.

"It will be nice to have a week to prepare for our next opponent, Allen County, and catch up on some things and improve some things that we have seen these past few matches," Gream said. "We will have to be ready. Allen County is a quality opponent who plays very well at home."