Volleyball wins first conference title since 2016

Playing for the conference title, the No. 1-ranked Cowley College volleyball team made an emphatic statement with a 25-22, 25-17, 25-11 win at No. 9-ranked Highland Community College on Wednesday. With the win, the Lady Tigers claimed their first conference title since 2016 and finish play in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division with a record of 10-0.

Cowley (34-0) showed why they are the top-ranked team in the country as they did not drop a set in conference play and have now won 102 of 104 sets played on the season.

"We had a game plan of serving aggressive and having a balanced attack going into the match, and the longer the match went the more impact it had on Highland," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "One of our goals before the season was to win the conference title. We have been close to winning the conference title in recent years, we just could not get over the top. We finally put all the pieces together this season."

Highland (27-6) finishes second in the Jayhawk East with a record of 9-1. The Scotties hit just .112 in the loss.

Wednesday's first set was back and forth to start with Cowley trailing 7-5 early on. With the score tied 9-9, Cowley used an 8-3 run to grab control. The Lady Tigers' lead would grow to 24-16 before Highland scored six straight points to pull within 24-22. However, sophomore outside hitter Iva Halacheva ended the set with an emphatic spike to give Cowley a 25-22 win of the opening set.

With Cowley leading 17-13 in set two, freshman Sydney Unruh served back-to-back aces to help the Lady Tigers pull away for the 25-17 win.

"Sydney's defense and serving had a big impact for us," Gream said.

With Highland seeming deflated, Cowley served aggressive throughout set three and after back-to-back aces by Landry Cate that gave them a 17-9 lead, the Lady Tigers dominated the set with a 25-11 win.

Following a demonstrative spike by freshman Laci Beougher to finish off the win, Cowley head coach Steven Gream raised his arms in joy as the players rushed the court to celebrate.

Halacheva and Beougher led Cowley with 12 kills apiece, while freshmen Rachele Tessari and Gyongyver Araczki added 11 and eight kills, respectively.

"Our freshmen stepped up as they have done all year," Gream said.

The Lady Tigers will attempt to remain unbeaten when they play a pair of matches in Cisco, TX on Saturday. Cowley will face Cisco College at 11 a.m. before battling Navarro College at 1 p.m. Navarro was the 2019 NJCAA Division 1 national champion, while Cisco is responsible for one of Cowley's only two lost sets this season.

"We expect these matches to challenge us and help prepare us for next week's region tournament," Gream said.

Cowley will host the First-Round of the Region VI Playoffs Wednesday, November 3 at 1 p.m.