Lady Tigers go 4-0 at home tournament

Stepping up its level of competition, the No. 3-ranked Cowley College volleyball team showed no signs of slowing down as they went 4-0 at its home invitational played Friday and Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley opened play on Friday by defeating No. 12-ranked Central Nebraska 25-7, 25-18, 25-17. The Lady Tigers then defeated Metropolitan Community College 25-5, 25-17, 25-18.

Anna Kiss led Cowley in kills in both matches with 14 and 20, while Laura Bonomi had double-doubles in each match.

Cowley returned to the court on Saturday and defeated NJCAA Division I Missouri State University-West Plains 25-15, 25-18, 25-17. The Lady Tigers featured a balanced attack as Valerie Luna, Sara Puskus, and Anna Kiss had 10 kills apiece. Bonomi was just behind with nine kills.

Cowley would wrap up play at its home tourney by dominating Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College 25-7, 25-7, 25-6. Kiss again led a balanced attack with eight kills, while five Lady Tigers had at least five kills in the victory.

"We wanted a tournament to challenge us and help us to work on things to prepare for the end run of conference play," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said.

Sophomore setter Rossana Papa, who had a double-double in the win over Metropolitan, finished with 153 assists on the weekend. Fellow sophomore libero Sadie Kabisch also played well and led the team with 65 digs in the four matches.

"All of our players had a good tournament with our defense putting pressure on each opponent and our offense and serve keeping teams on their heels," Gream said. "I could not be more proud of how our defense stepped up not only in this tournament but for the season. Strong defense combined with our offense allows for more swings that lead to kills."

Kiss, Papa, Bonomi, and Kabisch were named to the All-Tournament team.

Cowley (22-0) will attempt to make it 23 straight wins to open the season when they play at Labette Community College on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Parsons, KS. The Cardinals have struggled to a record of 4-12 overall and 1-4 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

"Labette is a conference team, and we never want to overlook any opponent, especially a conference team," Gream said. "Labette will bring their A game for a match against us, especially on their home court. We need to be prepared for them to come to battle."

Photo Credit: James Dill