Lady Tigers run roughshod over Johnson County in straight sets win

In a battle of the top two volleyball teams in the NJCAA Division II rankings, the top-ranked Cowley College Lady Tigers showed why they are the No. 1 team in the country with a resounding 25-16, 25-20, 25-13 victory over the second-ranked Johnson County Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon inside a rocking W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley, winners of an NJCAA Division II record 63 matches in a row, improves to 21-0 overall and 7-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. The loss drops Johnson County (21-2) into second place in the conference with a record of 6-1.

Set one was back and forth, with Cowley holding onto a slim 16-15 advantage before scoring six straight points and closing the set on a 9-1 run to win 25-16.

The Lady Tigers carried the momentum into set two by scoring the first five points and leading 11-2 following a kill by Sara Puskus. Cowley's lead stretched to 16-6 before Johnson County fought back to within 22-17, forcing Tiger head coach Steven Gream to call a timeout.

The Lady Cavaliers would continue to chip away at their deficit, pulling within 23-20 before a net serve by Johnson County and a kill by Laura Bonomi finished the 25-20 win.

With set three tied at 3-3, Cowley would score the next seven points to lead 10-3 and force a timeout by Johnson County head coach Jennifer Ei. Buoyed by its largest home crowd of the season and a match that felt like it had national tournament implications, the Lady Tigers extended its lead out of the timeout to 13-3 for the second straight set as their scoring run was extended to 10.

Cowley continued to pour it on, opening its lead to 20-5 as they cruised to the 25-13 win.

The Lady Tigers held Johnson to a hitting percentage of .074 in the match.

"I thought we were clicking on all cylinders, played hardcore defense, and knew every move they were going to make," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said.

Freshman Josci Buckley led Cowley in kills (14) and had a .400 hitting percentage.

"Josci was slicing and dicing them and did a fantastic job," Gream said.

Sophomore Laura Bonomi finished with her 12^th double-double (12 kills, 15 digs), while freshman setter Hanna Darvas (40 assists, 14 digs) added her fifth double-double.

Puskus went over 600 kills in her career, finishing with 13 kills and two of Cowley's seven service aces.

"We balanced our attack and put pressure on them with our serve," Gream said.

Cowley will remain home to face the Friends University JV on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. before playing four ranked opponents on Friday and Saturday in Pensacola, FL. On Friday, the Lady Tigers will face seventh-ranked Gulf Coast State College at 9 a.m. before taking on fifth-ranked Heartland Community College at 5 p.m.

Then, on Saturday, Cowley will play 14^th-ranked Enterprise State Community College at 10 a.m. before taking on 10^th-ranked Pensacola State College at 2 p.m.

"We will face four quality teams in Florida and have two tournaments coming up that are like mini-national tournaments, and that will prepare us for the district and national tournaments," Gream said.