Lady Tiger volleyball team shreds competition in Florida

Facing three ranked opponents and four teams at the Lake-Sumter State College Invitational Friday and Saturday in Leesburg, FL, the No. 2-ranked Cowley College volleyball team flexed its muscle by winning all four matches in straight sets.

The Lady Tigers opened play on Friday with a 25-17, 25-13, 25-13 win over Enterprise State. Sophomore Rachele Tessari led the way with a double-double, finishing with 10 kills while adding five service aces.

"After a long trip, I thought we played very well against Enterprise," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "Rachele stepped up and did what we know she is capable of doing."

Cowley had a .349 hitting percentage and recorded 12 service aces in the win.

The Lady Tigers would then face No. 14-ranked St. Johns River State College later on Friday. Cowley would take down the Vikings by a score of 25-17, 25-18, 25-19. The Lady Tigers hit. 396 and had another 10 aces in the victory.

Cowley had five players record at least five kills in the win and was led by Laci Beougher and Anna Kiss' 11 kills apiece.

"We did good at having a balanced attack and causing them problems with our serves," Gream said.

The Lady Tigers returned to the court on Saturday and got a strong test from No. 15-ranked Lake-Sumter State College. After winning set one by a score of 25-16, Cowley trailed set two 23-20 before scoring the final five points to win 25-23.

After the dramatic win of the second set, Cowley stomped Lake-Sumter 25-14 in the final set.

Kiss led Cowley with her first collegiate double-double, finishing with 16 kills and 12 digs. Beougher and Tessari also played well while adding 10 kills apiece.

"Everyone stepped up when they had to and contributed to the win," Gream said.

Cowley wrapped up play on the weekend by defeating No. 13-ranked Cape Fear Community College 25-13, 25-22, 25-18. Beougher had her best match of the weekend, finishing with 18 kills and a .600 hitting percentage.

"Laci set the tone with her outside attack," Gream said.

After going 4-0 at the invitational, Cowley is now 7-0 on the season.

"It was good to see some ranked teams we had not played before," Gream said. "This will help us in case we face them again at the national tournament."

The Lady Tigers will return home to open conference play against Neosho County Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Panthers are 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the Jayhawk East.

"Neosho is a quality opponent that has a new coach and has added some international players," Gream said. "We need to play like we did in Florida and also have the home fans push us."