Cowley volleyball wins school record 61st match in a row
Having not lost a match since Nov. 19, 2022, the No. 1-ranked Cowley College volleyball team broke the school record with its 61st win in a row in a 25-9, 25-10, 25-9 victory over Labette on Wednesday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.
The previous school record of 60 wins in a row was set during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
"It's a testament to how hard the kids have worked these past two years," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "This is not easy to do in any league, but especially our league and with the schedule we play."
Cowley is now 20-0 on the season and 6-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. Labette falls to 3-17 and 1-5 in the conference.
Leading just 6-5 in Wednesday's opening set, Cowley would score 10 of the next 11 points and went on to the 25-9 win.
"Once we settled down, we really took off," Gream said.
It was much of the same in set two, with Cowley racing out to a 12-1 lead. Sophomore Laura Bonomi, who finished with 16 kills and 11 digs, spiked home the final point in the 25-10 win.
The Lady Tigers were never threatened in set three as they led 12-4 midway through the set and went on to a 25-9 victory.
Six Lady Tigers accounted for 13 service aces, six of which came from Bonomi.
"Laura is lethal with her serve," Gream said. "She put a lot of pressure on them, as did the other servers."
Jessi Ritchhart led Cowley with 12 digs, while Hanna Darvas finished with 32 assists. Sara Puskus and Josci Buckley added six kills apiece.
Cowley will now prepare to host second-ranked Johnson County on Saturday at 2 p.m. in what will likely decide the conference champion. The Cavaliers are 22-1 overall and tied with Cowley at 6-0 in the Jayhawk Conference.
Saturday's match will be the second time in three years that Cowley and Johnson have faced each other while being ranked 1 and 2 in the national poll.
"These are two teams that have been through the fire and know each other very well," Gream said. "We need to play Cowley volleyball, and I am glad we are playing them at home."