Lady Tigers tie a school record in win over the McPherson JV
The top-ranked Cowley College volleyball team tied the school record with its 60th victory in a row following Friday night's 25-9, 25-19, 25-18 home win over the McPherson College JV.
The Lady Tigers (19-0) tied the school record winning streak previously set during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
"Tying the mark for most consecutive wins is a great feat," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "Winning that many matches in a row is very difficult in our league and goes to the hard work the players have put in the past two years. I am very proud of their hard work, dedication to playing to our standards, and mentally staying in the present to reach this milestone."
On Wednesday, Cowley scored the first eight points of set one and cruised to the 25-9 win.
The McPherson JV flipped the script on Cowley in set two as they raced out to a 7-1 lead. However, the Lady Tigers rallied to lead 9-8 and did not trail again in the 25-19 victory.
Cowley would continue to be too much for the Bulldogs in set three as they built leads of 8-3 and 17-10 before winning 25-18.
"We followed the game plan of balancing our attack, serving aggressively, and taking away their shots with our defense," Gream said. "Once we executed those things, they struggled to score which allowed us to cruise to a 3-0 win in the match."
Laura Bonomi (11 kills, 10 digs) and Hanna Darvas (39 assists, 15 digs) recorded double-doubles, while Sara Puskus led Cowley with 12 kills. Middle hitters Lu Ceroni and Josci Buckley added nine and eight kills, respectively.
"Getting our middles involved was huge to allow our total offense to flow," Gream said. "It was also critical to prepare for our matches against Labette and Johnson County coming up. Lu, Val (Luna), Laura, and Ashlynn (Jaccard) all got involved, which allowed our pins to be even more wide open for attacks."
Cowley will attempt to make it 61 wins in a row when they host Labette on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The Cardinals are 3-16 overall and 1-4 in the conference.
"Labette is a conference match, and we need to make sure we stay focused and play the 'Cowley way' by playing to our standards and just being us on the court," Gream said. "Labette has some weapons and we will get everything they got, so we need to make sure we are prepared mentally and physically for the match."
Following Wednesday's match, Cowley will remain home to face second-ranked Johnson County (21-1) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 12, in what will likely determine the conference title.