Lady Tiger volleyball team sweeps major conference awards

Finishing off a second consecutive unbeaten regular season, the Cowley Community College has swept the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 2 Volleyball postseason awards with Steven Gream earning Coach of the Year, Laura Bonomi earning Most Valuable Player, and Hanna Darvas earning Freshman of the Year.

"These honors are a testament to the hard work they have put in," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "Laura has been a dominant force for us all year, and Hanna has stepped right in at setter and picked up where Ro (Rosanna Papa) left off. I am sure Laura and Hanna feel the same way I do, that we would not have received these awards without the help of their teammates."

Joining Bonomi and Darvas on the list of First Team all-conference selections were fellow Lady Tigers' Sara Puskus (357 kills), Josci Buckley (319 kills), and Jessi Ritchhart (636 digs).

Sophomores Lu Ceroni (207 kills) and Valarie Luna (156 kills) were also honored by being named Third Team all-conference selections.

Steven Gream – Cowley (KJCCC Division 2 Volleyball Coach of the Year)

Gream brings home his second straight KJCCC Division 2 Volleyball Coach of the Year honors and third in the past four years as the Tigers have won 77 consecutive contests after winning the NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball Plains District A Championship over Allen on November 9th. Finishing KJCCC play with a perfect 10-0 record, Cowley dropped one set in conference play and has dropped just four sets all year in 36 matches as the Tigers will look to defend their NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball National Title next week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Laura Bonomi – Cowley (KJKCCC Division 2 Volleyball Most Valuable Player)

The KJCCC leader in kills and kills per set, Laura Bonomi adds Most Valuable Player honors to her accolades after being the KJCCC Division 2 Volleyball Freshman of the Year last season and an eight-time winner of the KJCCC Division 2 Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week award in 2024. Averaging 4.49 kills per set and totaling 503 kills this season, Bonomi hit .413 in conference matches and also led the conference with 1.16 service aces per set in conference matches.

Hanna Darvas – Cowley (KJCCC Division 2 Volleyball Freshman of the Year)

Trying to fill the shoes of 2023 Division 2 Volleyball Player of the Year Rossana Papa, Darvas made sure that the Cowley offense did not have any type of drop-off in production as the Diosd, Hungary native averaged 12.27 assists per set, nearly 2.5 more assists per set than the next closest player in the conference. For the season, Darvas totaled 1,276 set assists, including 342 in conference play for an average of 34 set assists per conference match, while also ranking fourth in the KJCCC in both service aces (56) and service aces per set (0.54).