Cowley volleyball improves to 20-0, sets up showdown with Johnson County

With a matchup against top-ranked Johnson County looming Friday night in Arkansas City, the No. 2-ranked Cowley College volleyball team did a good job of not looking past its opponent, Independence Community College, when they faced the Pirates Wednesday in Independence. The Lady Tigers improved their record to 20-0 with a 25-13, 25-10, 25-10 victory.

On Wednesday, Cowley raced out to a 10-2 lead in the first set and cruised to the 25-13 win. The Lady Tigers would then score 12 of the first 16 points of set two en route to the 25-10 victory. Set three, Cowley led just 11-8 before closing the match on a 14-2 run.

The victory improves Cowley's record to 5-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, while Independence falls to 11-6 overall and 2-3 in the conference.

"We played up to our standards and never want to overlook anybody," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "Our serve put a lot of pressure on them, and we did a good job balancing our attack."

Freshman Anna Kiss continued her strong play by finishing with a match-high 17 kills, while Rachele Tessari added 10 kills and 11 digs to go along with seven assists. Laci Beougher (10 kills, three aces), Landry Cate (nine kills), Vivianna Solis (34 assists, 15 digs), and Sydney Unruh (19 digs) also contributed to the win.

Friday night's matchup between Cowley and Johnson County (25-0) will feature a pair of unbeaten teams that have combined to go 45-0 this season. The match will begin at 6 p.m. inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

"Both teams know each other very well and do a lot of the same things," Gream said. "We have got to play our game, and I hope the players feed off the home crowd. Our players love big games, and it doesn't get any bigger than a No. 1 verse No. 2 matchup."