Volleyball takes down No. 18-ranked Neosho in straight sets

Facing No. 18-ranked Neosho County Wednesday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium, the No. 3-ranked Cowley College volleyball team handed the Panthers their first conference defeat with a 25-16, 25-11, 25-18 win.

The victory keeps the Lady Tigers unbeaten on the season, as they are now 18-0 and 5-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The loss drops the Panthers record to 12-5 overall and 5-1 in the conference.

Leading 8-7 in the opening set, Cowley would score nine of the next 11 points to open a 17-9 advantage. The Panthers would fight back to within 19-15 before the Lady Tigers scored six of the next seven points to win 25-16.

Set two would be all Cowley as the Lady Tigers raced out to a 17-5 advantage en route to the 25-11 win.

Set three would be more of the same as Cowley never trailed as they closed out the match with the 25-18 victory.

"We followed our game plan for the most part; we served aggressively, balanced our attack, and did not let them cheat on our outside hitters," Gream said. "Our serve also put a lot of pressure on them and did not let their big hitters get big swings."

Freshman Laura Bonomi led Cowley with 14 kills and eight assists, while sophomore Anna Kiss added 13 kills. Freshman Valerie Luna also played well, adding seven kills and three block assists.

"Luna was really strong at the net," Gream said. "She might not have got a block every time, but she was touching things and causing them a lot of problems at the net."

Sophomore libero Sadie Kabisch continued her strong play with another 20-dig effort.

"Sadie was everywhere digging everything up," Gream said.

Setter Rossana Papa added a match-high 37 assists to go along with five digs.

Cowley will remain home to play four opponents on Friday and Saturday. The Lady Tigers will open the home tourney by facing Central Community College-Columbus on Friday at 4 p.m. before taking on Metropolitan Community College at 6. Then, on Saturday, Cowley will play Missouri State University-West Plains at 11 a.m. and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College at 5 p.m.

"It will be a very tough tournament," Gream said. "We will face some quality teams, and it will not be easy."

Photo Credit: Aigiza Nasyrova