Cowley volleyball team names captains for 2024 season
The defending NJCAA DII national champion Cowley College Volleyball team has selected sophomore setter/defensive specialist Sadie Lewis and sophomore outside hitter Laura Bonomi team captains for the 2024 season.
Lewis, a native of Centennial, Colorado, returns for her second season at Cowley after an injury shortened freshman season. Her valuable leadership and setting and defensive skills were a key contributor to the success of the 2023 season.
"Our freshmen class in 2023, was a class full of leaders and mature players. Sadie was no exception. There just was a leadership presence about her that players respected and coaches admired," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "She came to our program ready to learn and contribute, and really fit into the philosophy, vision, and standards of our program. Sadie also came in with great leadership qualities, but they were magnified even more when she was set back, for almost a month, due to injury. She showed great maturity, helped her teammates in matches and practice, and kept a positive attitude until she returned to the court. Sadie is one of the players who deserves a lot of credit with how close the 2023 team was. Throughout the season and this spring, she has spent a lot of time building relationships…which has earned her much respect among her fellow freshmen and sophomore teammates alike. We ask all of our players to be leaders, whether they are a captain or not, and Sadie did just that both on and off the court."
Bonomi, a native of Ceto, Italy, returns for her second season at Cowley after an impressive freshman season. In her freshman season, she was named NJCAA First Team All-American, AVCA First Team All-American, Volleyball Magazine All-American, Volleyball Magazine Player of the Year, NJCAA All-Tournament team, First Team All-District, KJCCC First Team All-Conference, KJCCC Freshman of the Year, Four-time KJCCC Offensive Player of the Week, and was named to the Cowley Invitational Tournament All-Tournament team.
"Laura is a natural leader who has her own style of leadership that players and coaches respect. She is a very mature leader in every aspect of her life, not just on the court. The team has a high level of trust in her, and so does our coaching staff," Gream said. "She was a big part of our success in our 2023 championship run and brings her experience of playing and leading at a high level to our program in 2024. She is a competitor who hates to lose and is always training and working on her competitive edge. She will do what it takes to win at the highest level and push others to do the same in her own way. Laura tells it like it is but does it in a way that her teammates respect her for her input and holding them accountable. With her being an international player in our program, she will relate greatly to the good number of international players that we have."
Cowley posted a 41-0 overall record last season and went 10-0 in KJCCC play. The Lady Tigers won their third NJCAA National Championship (the third most all-time in the NJCAA DII), won the Plains A District championship, and won the KJCCC conference championship.
Lewis and Bonomi lead the Lady Tigers into their season-opening tri-match action on August 23 against Rose State and Pratt Community College.
"We are very excited on the overall depth of leadership and experience we have on our roster and in the selection of these two captains for the 2024 season," Gream said. "These two ladies have both shown to be outstanding leaders while earning the respect of their teammates and the coaching staff on and off the court. They each possess different strengths that are critical to the success of the team. Both are warriors who compete, they go hard, and they want to play and win at a high level. There is no doubt they will represent our program well and help lead us to a successful 2024 campaign."