Cowley suffers first defeat of the season in dramatic finish

In a matchup of the top-two teams in the NJCAA Division II rankings and two of only four remaining unbeaten teams entering play on Friday, the second-ranked Cowley College volleyball team and the top-ranked Johnson County Cavaliers did what most expected and played a thrilling five-set match inside W.S. Scott Auditorium. Unfortunately, for Cowley, they came up just short in the 25-20, 19-25, 16-25, 25-13, 14-16 loss.

Cowley suffers first defeat of the season in dramatic finish
October 3, 2022

In a matchup of the top-two teams in the NJCAA Division II rankings and two of only four remaining unbeaten teams entering play on Friday, the second-ranked Cowley College volleyball team and the top-ranked Johnson County Cavaliers did what most expected and played a thrilling five-set match inside W.S. Scott Auditorium. Unfortunately, for Cowley, they came up just short in the 25-20, 19-25, 16-25, 25-13, 14-16 loss.

Cowley is now 20-1 overall and 5-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Johnson County (26-0) grabs sole possession of first place in the conference with a record of 5-1.

"We knew it would come down to the end," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "We fought back and had a chance to win. We just could not put the ball away."

With its largest home crowd of the season cheering them on, Cowley took an early 10-5 lead in set one. Later in the set, a great dig by Gyongyver Araczki led to an emphatic kill by Laci Beougher that brought the crowd to its feet and caused the visiting Cavaliers to call timeout with Johnson County trailing 14-8.

The Lady Cavaliers would call a second timeout, trailing 18-10, and came out of the timeout on a 7-2 run to close within 20-17. However, that would be as close as Johnson County would get in the 25-20 loss of the opening set.

Cowley would fall behind early in set two, as the Lady Tigers were forced to call timeout, trailing 11-6. The Lady Tigers continued to battle but could not regain the lead in the 25-19 loss of the second set. This marked just the second set that Cowley had dropped all season.

Unfortunately, Johnson County carried that momentum into the third set and led 11-8 following a kill by sophomore Kylie Gregory. Each time it seemed Cowley would claw its way back into the set, they had an untimely service error. The Lady Tigers had five service errors in the 25-16 loss of set three.

Facing defeat for the first time this season, Cowley stormed out to a 7-1 lead of set four after a service ace by Araczki. The Lady Tigers continued to pour it on en route to the 25-13 win.

With the crowd at a fever pitch in the fifth and final set, the teams were tied six times, the last time coming at 14-14 after an incredible dig and point by Johnson County to keep Cowley from winning the match. The Lady Cavaliers would score the final three points of set five to remain unbeaten.

"This is what you play for is games like this. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn, and we are going to learn from tonight," Gream said.

Cowley will have a quick turnaround as they will play at the Friends University JV Saturday at 2 p.m. in Wichita, KS.