No. 5-ranked Lady Tiger volleyball team opens season with dominating win over Pratt

Playing in front of a large home crowd, the No. 5-ranked Cowley College volleyball team fed off the energy in the gym to defeat Pratt Community College 25-12, 25-10, 25-15 Thursday night inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Sophomore Anna Kiss, who finished with a match-high 13 kills, began the opening set with a kill and finished the 25-12 win of set one with another kill. Kiss also had back-to-back aces in the win of the opening set.

"Anna is still getting used to playing with Ro (Rossana Papa), and when we started using the middle to pull the block off of her, she really took off," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said.

Leading just 10-7 in set two, Cowley came alive and out-scored the Beavers 15-3 the rest of the way in the 25-10 win.

The Lady Tigers trailed 7-5 early in set three and were clinging to a 15-13 lead before they turned on the jets and used a 10-2 run to win 25-15.

Freshman Laura Bonomi had a double-double in her Lady Tiger debut, finishing with 10 kills and 10 digs. She also hit. 625 in the victory. Fellow freshmen Sara Puskas and Noemi Nyers added eight and five kills, respectively.

Rossana Papa, a First Team All-American during the 2021 season, missed last season due to injury. The stellar sophomore made a triumphant return, finishing with 31 assists and five service aces.

"Ro knows our system so well and fit right in where she left off," Gream said.

Sophomore Sadie Kabisch also played well and finished with a team-high 16 digs.

Cowley will remain home to face the Kansas Wesleyan University JV Friday, August 18, at 6:30 p.m.

"We are a very talented group, but we are young," Gream said. "There are some learning experiences we can take from these matches to clean up before conference play and beyond."