Lady Tigers advance to semifinals of the national tournament

The top-seeded Cowley College volleyball team continued its dominance with a 25-17, 25-18, 25-13 victory over ninth-seed Illinois Central at the NJCAA Division II Volleyball National Championships played Thursday in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Cowley, winners of 79 matches in a row, improves its record to 38-0 on the season. The loss drops the Cougars' record to 31-14. With the win, the Lady Tigers advance to the semifinals, where they will face fifth-seed Heartland Community College (37-7) on Friday at 4 p.m.

On Thursday, the Lady Tigers started slowly, trailing 12-11 in the opening set before finding their footing and winning 25-17.

Cowley carried that momentum into a 25-18 win of set two and then raced out to a 16-6 lead of the third set en route to the 25-13 victory.

Sophomore Laura Bonomi led Cowley with 18 kills and eight digs, while freshman setter Hanna Darvas added a double-double with 37 assists and 10 digs.

Sara Puskus also played well, finishing with 10 kills and six digs, and Josci Buckley contributed nine kills.

Bella Gregory led Illinois Central with seven kills in the defeat.