Lady Tiger volleyball sweeps seventh straight opponent

Playing its seventh match of the season, the No. 5-ranked Cowley College volleyball team remained unblemished as they swept Allen County by scores of 25-16, 25-13, 25-14 Wednesday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

The victory improves Cowley's record to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Allen is now 3-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

With the opening set tied at 4-4, Cowley would score nine of the following 11 points to lead 13-6. Allen would fight back to within 21-16 before sophomore Sadie Kabisch served four straight points, including back-to-back aces to finish the first set.

Trailing 4-3 early in set two, Cowley would score the next eight straight points as they went on to the 25-13 win. The Lady Tigers would never trail in set three and closed the match on a 6-0 run.

Laura Bonomi and Rossana Papa each recorded their fourth double-doubles of the season, with Bonomi finishing with 18 kills and 10 digs and Papa adding 36 assists and 14 digs.

"Our defense did an amazing job of getting balls up and allowing Ro to have options," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said.

Anna Kiss (13 kills) and Sara Puskus (11 kills) added double-digit kills, while Kabisch finished with 13 digs, six assists, and three service aces.

"We needed to balance our attack more, and I thought we did that tonight," Gream said. "Sadie was all over the place, and that's what we want is our defense to match the intensity of our offense."

Cowley will continue its busy week by playing at Butler Community College on Friday at 1 p.m. in El Dorado, KS. The Lady Grizzlies are 6-4 on the season. Cowley lost a tough, five-set match against Butler a season ago.

"They are a quality opponent that will give us everything they got, especially in their home gym," Gream said.

The Lady Tigers will then return to Arkansas City to host the Ottawa University JV on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Photo provided by James Dill