Bonomi powers No. 1-ranked Lady Tigers to win over Independence

Cowley College sophomore Laura Bonomi was a one-person wrecking crew on Wednesday night inside W.S. Scott Auditorium as the outside hitter finished with 16 kills, seven digs, and four service aces in a 25-15, 25-12, 25-12 victory over Independence.

Cowley (4-0) has yet to drop a set as they improved to 2-0 in conference play. Independence (1-4) falls to 0-2 in the conference.

With Cowley struggling to pull away from Independence in sets one and two, Bonomi served up nine straight points in each set to help the Lady Tigers win 25-15, 25-12.

Cowley scored four of the first five points in set three and never trailed in the 25-12 win.

"They did not have an answer for Laura," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "She saved us."

Bonomi and sophomore Lu Ceroni (six kills) combined to hit over .600, and Cowley hit .419 as a team. However, the Lady Tigers had as many service errors as service aces (9).

"We gave Indy way too many easy points," Gream said. "We are still trying to speed up our offense and have our serve be more consistent."

Freshman Josci Buckley chipped in with 10 kills, while setter Hanna Darvas finished with 39 assists and seven digs. Sophomore Jessi Ritchhart led Cowley with 17 digs in the win.

Cowley will attempt to remain unbeaten when they play at Allen Community College on Wednesday, September 11, at 6 p.m.

"We need to clean things up because we are about to get into the teeth of our conference schedule and have a tough tournament next weekend," Gream said. "We need to play more consistently than we did against Indy."