Lady Tigers add a talented transfer to the volleyball team

The national champion Cowley College volleyball program added NJCAA Division I transfer Jessi Ritchhart from Leavenworth, Kansas. She transfers to Cowley for the spring semester and will train with the team in the program's spring off-season training.

Ritchhart, a 5-foot-5 libero/defensive specialist, prepped at Lansing High School, where she played four seasons of volleyball. She led her team to a 27-10 record in her senior season. During the season, she totaled 340 digs at 3.7 digs per set (leading her team in both categories) and totaled 25 aces. For her efforts, she was named VKC All-Conference Honorable Mention. In her junior season, she led her team to the 5A Kansas State Volleyball Championship with a 40-1 record. She averaged 1.5 digs per set during the season and had 22 aces.

She transfers to Cowley from Iowa Western Community College after serving as a defensive specialist for the program. The program reached the Midwest District B finals before falling to Mineral Area College. They finished the season ICCAC Region 11 and Midwest District B runner-up.

"Jessi is a strong and intelligent DS/Libero with much experience and exceptional ball control," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "She comes to Cowley with high energy, strong coachability, high volleyball IQ, passion for the game, great reading skills, strong serve receive skills, and aggressive play on defense that has that 'wow' factor. Jessi is very familiar with our program and how we do things at Cowley. She also comes to us from two quality programs and will bring a lot of experience to our program."

Off the court, in high school, Ritchhart also competed in track for two years, where she served as a sprinter. In 2021, she qualified for state in both the 4 x 100 and 200 and 400 individuals. That same year, she led her relay team to the 5A Kansas State Track 4 x 100 Championship. In the event, her team set a school record and recorded the fastest women's time out of all classes in Kansas that year, with her serving as the anchor.

In academics, she was named to the National Honors Society, National English Honors Society, Kays Volunteer Org, Academic Letter holder, and graduated Magna Cum Laude. At Iowa Western, she was an Iowa Western CC Presidential Scholar.

Ritchhart is the daughter of Bill and Stacy Ritchhart of Leavenworth, Kansas.