Lady Tiger volleyball gains sole possession of first place in Jayhawk East

Facing one of its toughest conference road challenges of the season, the No. 2-ranked Cowley College volleyball team defeated No. 20-ranked Kansas City Kansas Community College 25-22, 25-15, 25-16 Wednesday in Kansas City.

Cowley remains unbeaten at 12-0 overall and 3-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The loss drops Kansas City's record to 7-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

The Lady Tigers faced deficits of 19-15 and 20-17 in the opening set before rallying for the 25-22 win.

"That first set, there were a lot of unforced errors by both teams that allowed the match to be close," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "Our serving eventually took over and allowed us to make a comeback."

Once Cowley cut down on the unforced errors, Kansas City had trouble running its offense, and the Lady Tigers were in control the rest of the way while winning sets two and three.

"This was a big win for us to beat a ranked conference opponent on the road," Gream said.

Vivianna Solis and Laci Beougher had three aces apiece, as Cowley finished with 15 aces in the match. Solis had her sixth double-double with 31 assists and 10 digs, while Rachele Tessari added her fourth double-double by finishing with 10 kills and 10 digs.

"Rachele's connection with Vivianna is huge for us," Gream said. "Rachele was an anchor for us and hit at a high percentage (.450)."

Cowley will return home to play a pair of matches on Saturday. The Lady Tigers will face Cisco College at noon before taking on the Ottawa University JV at 4 p.m.

"Cisco battled us tough last year and has a former player of ours, Gracie Story, playing for them," Gream said. "We want to buckle down on defense and be ready for the challenge."