Tigers knock off three ranked teams, including top-ranked Iowa Central

The No. 2-ranked Cowley College volleyball team recently traveled to Fort Dodge, Iowa to compete in the Triton Invitational tournament hosted by Iowa Central. There they would play against four competitive teams from the ICCAC conference – No. 15-ranked Des Moines Area, No. 11-ranked Kirkwood, North Iowa Area, and the host and top-ranked Iowa Central. The tournament set the stage for two highly ranked and undefeated teams to play each other, after spending weeks holding on to the top two spots in the national rankings.

Against Des Moines Area (DMACC), Cowley faced a determined opponent who jumped out to a quick four point lead in the first set only to have Cowley use their strong serve to tie the set at 12-12. From there, the Lady Tigers went on a 7-0 run to take the commanding lead at 19-12 and reached 24-14 before Des Moines looked to make a run of their own with a 5-0 run before Cowley got a big kill from Gyongyver Arazki to finish the set.

DMACC would use the momentum of the first set run to add pressure to the Lady Tigers with a back and forth set that would have several ties. However, key plays at the end of the set, gave Cowley only their second set loss on the season (22-25). Like in the match against Cisco College, where they lost their first set of the season, Cowley was determined to bounce back and add pressure on offense and defense to DMACC taking set three convincingly 25-12. Set four had the same determination by both sides with back and forth play all the way to the score of 11-11. From there, Cowley went on a 7-2 run to finish out the match. In the win (25-19, 22-25, 25-12, 25-16), Cowley hit .331 in the match. Cowley recorded 57 kills in the match along with 55 assists, nine service aces, seven blocks, and 55 digs. Iva Halacheva led the way in kills with 16 kills while hitting .438, followed by Rachele Tessari with 14 kills and a .400 hitting percentage, and Gyongyver Araczki with 10 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Rachele Tessari led the team with four aces and recorded her first double-double on the season with 14 kills and 16 digs. Rossana Papa recorded 46 assists in running the Lady Tiger offense.

Against 11th-ranked Kirkwood, the Lady Tigers learned their lesson from the previous match against DMACC and started out strong. Using a strong serve, a balanced attack, and scrappy defense Cowley jumped out to a commanding 10-2 lead. The team never looked back as they finished the first set with the 25-11 win.

In set two, Kirkwood bounced back from the convincing first set loss to battle with the Lady Tigers. Like with DMACC, the set was back and forth with Kirkwood pulling out to a 12-8 lead. However, after a timely timeout, the Lady Tigers pushed back with a run of their own and finished the set with a 17-8 run to finish the set 25-18.

In set three, Kirkwood would again push back to gain an early 11-7 lead before a 6-0 run gave Cowley a 13-11 lead. Kirkwood tried one more push before being denied by Cowley with a 7-2 run to end the set at 25-18, giving Cowley the 3-0 win (25-11,25-18, 25-18). Cowley hit .467 in the match. Cowley also recorded 55 kills to go along with 50 assists, six service aces, four blocks, and 57 digs.

Iva Halacheva led the way in kills with 17 kills while hitting .485, followed by Rachele Tessari with 14 kills and a .500 hitting percentage, Laci Beougher with 10 kills, and Landry Cate with 7 kills and a .700 hitting percentage. Papa recorded her sixth double-double with 41 assists and 10 digs and Halacheva recorded her second double-double on the season with 17 kills and 10 digs.

Against North Iowa Area (NIACC), the Lady Tigers, with a balanced attack and serving, jumped out to a 14-7 lead and never looked back with the 25-14 first set win. In set two, the Lady Trojans regrouped and kept the score close with a 9-8 score. From there, Cowley went on a run to pull out to a 21-14 lead. However, NIACC made a small run of their own, but fell short at 25-19. Like the second set, NIACC adjusted and kept the set close with back and forth play with the Lady Tigers. Cowley made a small run to jump to a 21-16 lead and then cruised to the 25-19 third set win. In the 3-0 win over NIACC, Cowley hit .337 in the match. Cowley recorded 40 kills in the match along with 38 assists, five service aces, eight blocks, and 42 digs. Iva Halacheva led the way in kills with 13 kills while hitting .435, followed by, Laci Beougher with eight kills, and Rachele Tessari and Gyongyver Araczki with seven kills respectfully. Rossana Papa recorded 35 assists to lead the offense.

Now the stage was set for the nationally ranked No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown between the host Iowa Central Tritons and second-ranked Cowley Tigers. Both teams came into the match undefeated with Iowa Central being 34-0 and Cowley at 29-0.

In the first set, Cowley started the match off right with a strong serve and a kill by Iva Halacheva on an over pass from Iowa Central. From there, Cowley utilized their strong serve, fast offense, and scrappy defense to create pressure and runs for the Lady Tigers. Cowley led the whole first set with the scores only getting to within two or three points along the way. The Lady Tigers then finished off the set for the 25-22 win. In set two, Cowley kept the pressure on Tritons by jumping out to an 11-5 lead. The Lady Tigers added two more big runs to finish out the set for the 25-16 second set win. Set three had the two teams showing why they were ranked in the top two in the nation, with both teams going back and forth on the scoreboard. With the score 15-13, the Lady Tigers, once again, used their balanced attack, aggressive serve, and scrappy defense to pull to a 21-13 lead. With the score 24-17, the Tritons showed why they were the top-ranked team and made a 6-0 run but were denied the big comeback with a strong kill by Laci Beougher to finish the set 25-23 and the match for the upset win over No. 1-ranked Iowa Central.

The win is the second No. 1-ranked team to fall to Cowley on their home court. The Lady Tigers defeated, the then, top-ranked Johnson County Cavaliers earlier in the season 3-0 in KJCCC conference play. In the match against Iowa Central, Cowley hit .340, recorded 46 kills along with 42 assists, four service aces, eight blocks, and 56 digs. Iva Halacheva led the way in kills with 14 kills while hitting .452, followed by, Laci Beougher with 13 kills, Gyongyver Araczki with nine kills and a .600 hitting percentage, and Rachele Tessari with eight kills. Rossana Papa recorded her seventh double-double with 39 assists and 10 digs.

"The Iowa Central match was a fun match with two talented programs going after each other on the court," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "We were able to keep them out of rhythm with our aggressive serve and our up tempo offense. Our passing allowed us to balance our attack which kept Iowa Central from getting us out of rotations to stop our runs. On top of that, our defense slowed down their offense just enough to prevent runs on their end for the most part. They made a great run late in the third set but we were able to get the key kill for the match. They were a great opponent that we were glad to see along with the other teams in ICCAC in case we see them again."

Coach Gream was very pleased about the Triton Invitational weekend and having his team at 30-0 on the season.

"The Triton Invitational tournament was a challenging tournament that featured key teams from the tough ICCAC conference," Gream said. "Each team pushed us to elevate our game and we responded accordingly to win all four matches. These matches were great for us as we look to finish out conference play, the regular season, and prepare for the post season."

Following the match, Erin Thompson, Iva Halacheva, and Rossana Papa were named to the Triton Invitational All-Tournament team. Also, each were awarded tournament awards for their play. Erin Thompson was named Best Libero of the tournament, Iva Halacheva was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, and Rossana Papa was named Best Setter of the tournament. The All-Tournament team and the awards were voted on by all coaches in the tournament.

"Erin, Rossana, and Iva had a great tournament and it is nice for the other coaches to recognize their hard work on the court," Gream said. "The All-Tournament team was limited on its selections per team but I could give a case where the whole team could have been recognized as they all contributed to the great weekend. I know Erin, Rossana and Iva would agree that their honors also belong to their teammates who allowed them to do what they did this weekend."

Cowley now prepares to host Jayhawk Conference foe Coffeyville (16-16) on Wednesday, October 20 at 6:30 p.m. in W.S. Scott Auditorium. This match will also be the team's Dig Pink night for Breast Cancer awareness. Everyone is encouraged to wear pink for the match.