Cowley outlasts Johnson County in a five-set thriller

In a matchup of unbeaten teams in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, the No. 2-ranked Cowley College volleyball team rallied to defeat sixth-ranked Johnson County 23-25, 25-15, 24-26, 25-15, 15-13 Wednesday in Overland Park.

The victory improves Cowley's record to 26-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference, while Johnson County dropped its third match in a row after a 27-0 start and is now 27-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference.

"I thought our players really handled the crowd and the pressure well," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "This was a typical Cowley vs. Johnson County game."

Wednesday's match marked the 27^th time out of the past 28 meetings between the teams where both squads were ranked.

Trailing 18-14 in the opening set, Johnson County rallied to win 25-23.

The loss was just the second set dropped by the Lady Tigers this season. Cowley did not hang their heads as they bounced back to win set two by a score of 25-15.

The third set featured 13 ties, the last of which came at 24-24 before the Cavaliers scored the final two points to win 26-24.

With its backs against the wall and leading only 9-8 in the fourth set, Cowley would score 12 of the next 15 points to open a big lead en route to another 25-15 win.

Cowley would go on to score four of the first five points in the fifth and final set before Johnson County rallied to tie the set at 9-9. Leading 14-13, Rossana Papa set Laura Bonomi for an emphatic spike to win the match and send the Lady Tiger players rushing the court.

"It was good to be tested because we are playing a tough Kirkwood team next week, and we are getting close to the playoffs," Gream said. "This should give them the confidence to know that no matter what happens, we can still bounce back and finish things off."

Papa finished with a career-high 70 assists to go along with 10 digs as she recorded her eighth double-double of the season.

"That is the first fifth set of her career," Gream said. "She did a good job of distributing the ball."

Anna Kiss led Cowley with 26 kills, while Bonomi registered her 14^th double-double with 20 kills and  10 digs. Bonomi also had three of Cowley's eight aces.

"I thought our serves really caused them problems," Gream said.

Sophomore Sadie Kabisch added a career-high 32 digs, while freshmen Sara Puskus (16 kills), Valerie Luna (nine kills), and Lu Ceroni (five kills, three block assists, two digs) also played well.

"Lu came in and played killer defense," Gream said.

Cowley will return to action on Friday when they play a pair of teams at the Cloud County Tri-Match. The Lady Tigers will face Central Nebraska at 3 p.m. and Cloud County (19-8) at 5 p.m.

"We saw Central on our court earlier this season, so they will make adjustments and will battle, especially being on a neutral court," Gream said. "Cloud will be a nice test as well. We just have to take care of ourselves today and get ready for tomorrow."

Photo Credit: Ali Nittler