From RAMA PEROO/Cowley College
Continuing its dominance at W.S. Scott Auditorium, the No. 2-ranked Cowley College volleyball team has still not dropped a set on its home court following a 25-14, 25-21, 25-13 victory over Kansas City Kansas Community College on Wednesday.
The Lady Tigers improved to 12-0 at home and have won all 36 sets played on its home floor.
Cowley is now 29-0 overall and 8-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The Lady Tigers need to win one of its final two conference matches in order to clinch the conference title and a top seed for the district tournament.
Cowley never trailed in Wednesday’s opening set, leading by as many as 14 points (24-10) in the win.
With set two tied at 7-7, Cowley would score the next five points to open a 12-7 advantage. However, Kansas City kept fighting and pulled within 20-19 before the Tigers were able to pull away for the 25-21 win.
“We kind of relaxed a bit in that second set, and we can’t do that against a conference opponent,” Cowley head coach Steven Gream said.
Leading 6-5 in set three, Cowley would score 10 of the next 11 points en route to the 25-13 victory.
“We kicked it back into gear in the third set and kept the pressure on them,” Gream said.
Sophomore Anna Kiss was one of three Lady Tigers in double figures in kills, finishing with a team-high 15 kills.
“Anna set the tone early, she and Laura (Bonomi) did a good job on the outside,” Gream said.
Bonomi added her team-leading 15th double-double, finishing with 10 kills and 11 digs and Sara Puskas chipped in with 11 kills.
Sophomore setter Rossana Papa recorded her ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 41 assists and 12 digs. She also had four of Cowley’s six service aces.
“I thought we did what we wanted to do,” Gream said. “Our pressure really caused them a lot of difficulty, and our defense keeps doing things that are allowing us to get easy plays.”
Sophomore libero Sadie Kabisch also played well as she finished with 20 digs and three assists.
Kansas City (19-10) remains in fourth place in the conference with a record of 6-3.
Cowley will now turn its attention to the Triton Invitational Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Fort Dodge, IA. The Lady Tigers will open against No. 5-ranked Kirkwood Community College at 2:45 p.m. Friday before facing third-ranked Iowa Central on its home court at 6:15 p.m.
Cowley will wrap up play in the tournament by taking on North Iowa Area Community College Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and 12th-ranked Des Moines Area Community College at 11:15 a.m.
“These matches will help get us ready for the playoffs,” Gream said. “They will push us and give us everything they got.”
Lady Tigers place first, men second at Fire Starter Classic
The Cowley College men’s and women’s cross country teams’ fourth test of the season was Saturday at the Region VI Preview/Fire Starter Classic at Allen Community College in Iola, KS.
It had been three years since the Tigers went back to Cedarbrook Golf Course, which is the site of this year’s regional meet. Cowley head coach Cameron Rieth wanted his runners to get a feel for the course prior to the region meet.
Race day conditions were a bit windy, but overall, it was a pretty solid day to run.
“I was very proud of how our groups showed up as a whole on Saturday,” Rieth said. “We had a lot of personal bests, and people stepped up in areas we needed.”
On the women’s side, this was the first meet where the Tigers’ ran a full squad, and they did not disappoint.
Cowley’s Leticia Belo (19:17.2) placed third in the 5K race, while Dhennifer Vaz (19:35.1) and Kayli Myers (19:36.9) were just behind in sixth and seventh place. Brittannia Willis (20:15.2) and Lakota Schultz (20:16.1) placed 15th and 16th, respectively. The time for Schultz was a 30-second personal best, while Tavarie Campbell also ran well and placed 24th with a time of 20:34.5, nearly two minutes better than her previous personal best.
“This was easily our best race of the season,” Rieth said. “We ran so well together and had a fourth, fifth, and sixth runner step up. We have been looking great in practice, so we knew it was only a matter of time.”
Cowley placed first out of seven schools. Dodge City finished second, and Hutchinson Community College placed third.
“Winning as a group against some really good teams is a good little indicator for things to come,” Rieth said.
Britt Hunter (21:42.3) and Lili Rose Breheret (22:22.9) were other Cowley runners at the meet.
Butler Community College sophomore Khloi Bird placed first out of 70 runners with a time of 19:01.8.
On the men’s side, it was a major step in the right direction for the Tiger runners as they placed second to only Northwest Kansas Technical College.
Freshman Miquel Cruz led the Tiger men’s team by placing 10th with a time of 25:50.78 in the 8K race. Mason Bickle (25:59.11), who had a monster 80-second personal best, was just behind in 13th place.
Freshman Austin Schaeffer also ran well, placing 17th with a time of 26:16.12. Schaeffer, along with Cruz and Bickle, moved into the top 30 times in the program’s history. The Tigers’ fourth runner was Mason Blochowiak (26:31.6), who just missed cracking the top 30 list.
“We have been needing something like this all season, and we finally delivered,” Rieth said. “It was the first time that we finished as a full squad, and it was great to see us running and working as one unit out there.”
To round out the scoring was, Randy Rojas (26:56.18) as the team’s fifth runner. Kevin Rivas-Guillen (27:01.46), Maneul Leos (27:30.96), Elio Riveria (27:37.34), Deshawn Douglas (28:09.83), and Korbin Woods (30:34.74) were other Cowley runners at the meet.
“It was good to experience these kinds of (windy) conditions because we have to bring it on championship day regardless,” Rieth said.
Butler Community College freshman Adem Bouldjadj won the men’s race with a time of 23:39.1.
The Tiger men’s and women’s cross country teams will return to Cedarbrook Golf Course to compete at the Region VI/Jayhawk Conference Championships on Friday, October 27, in Iola, KS.
“I know in two weeks we will get each team’s best shot,” Rieth said. “It was good to put together a team win with the ladies. Much like the women, it was good to see the men compete and work together as a team, which I believe are necessary skills to know once we get into championship season. I think we are coming into the region/conference meet with a lot of momentum, and I am excited to see how we compete and represent Cowley.”
No. 6 Barton hands Tiger men’s soccer team first home defeat
The 10th-ranked Cowley College men’s soccer team had its hopes of a conference title take a damaging blow with a 2-1 loss against sixth-ranked Barton Community College Wednesday at the Mark A. Phillips Athletic Complex.
Barton (12-1-3) swept the season series and are now 7-1-2 in the conference, while Cowley (11-4) dropped its third straight game and are now 7-4 in conference play.
The Cougars got the scoring started early in Wednesday’s contest as Lucas Constante scored his 10th goal of the season off an assist from Loic Kanku only 3:52 into the contest. Constante would add his second goal of the game and 11th of the season with 8:46 remaining in the opening half.
“We did not have the right intensity from the beginning, and it seems that we felt the pressure of an important game,” Cowley head coach Ruy Vaz said.
Cowley would continue to battle in the second half and cut its deficit in half thanks to Sora Funakoshi scoring his team-leading 10th goal of the season with 30:36 left to play.
The Tigers were unable to put another shot on goal in the final 30 minutes as Barton held on for the 2-1 win. Cowley is now 8-1 at home.
“This one is a tough one to take, but it was well deserved,” Vaz said. “We are a young team, and it’s a lesson learned.”
Kamy Ndione stopped five of the seven shots he faced in defeat.
The Tigers will wrap up the regular season by playing at Kansas City Kansas Community College on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Blue Devils (5-4-3) have won two straight conference games and are 4-3-3 in the conference.
“Now it’s time to focus on Kansas City, which will also be tough,” Vaz said.
Women’s soccer battle conference-leading Barton to another 1-1 tie
In a battle of ranked teams, the No. 17-ranked Cowley College women’s soccer team got a goal from Sara Espinosa in the first five minutes of its home game against seventh-ranked Barton Community College played Wednesday at the Mark A. Phillips Athletic Complex. However, the Cougars would score with only 4:40 remaining to play as the teams battled to a 1-1 tie for the second time this season.
Cowley (8-2-4) remains in fourth place in the ultra-competitive Jayhawk Conference, while Barton (10-1-3) moved three points in front of Hutchinson for first place in the conference.
Espinosa’s goal came when she headed in a corner kick from Nanaka Inaba. The goal was the third of the season for Espinosa, while the assist for Inaba was her team-leading seventh of the season.
It appeared that Espinosa’s goal might hold up as the game-winner as neither team scored again until Barton’s Adna Mahdi scored off an assist from Leticia Silva. The goal by Mahdi was her first of the season.
“It was frustrating to tie because our girls battled hard from the get go,” Cowley head coach Roberto dos Santos said. “It is deflating to know we could have finished with a win against a good Barton team.”
Instead the result was the same as when the teams met in Great Bend on September 16.
Cowley goalkeeper Kanon Dehama and Barton keeper Mio Tanaka each recorded five saves in the tie.
The Lady Tigers are just 3-2-2 at home, but have yet to lose a road game this season as they are 5-0-2 on the road. They will put their unbeaten road mark to the test when they play at 16th-ranked Kansas City Kansas Community College Saturday at 5 p.m.
“We have got to regroup and embrace the challenge of playing another ranked opponent when we travel to KCK,” dos Santos said.
Sixth-ranked Barton hands Tiger men’s soccer team first home defeat
The 10th-ranked Cowley College men’s soccer team had its hopes of a conference title take a damaging blow with a 2-1 loss against sixth-ranked Barton Community College Wednesday at the Mark A. Phillips Athletic Complex.
Barton (12-1-3) swept the season series and are now 7-1-2 in the conference, while Cowley (11-4) dropped its third straight game and are now 7-4 in conference play.
The Cougars got the scoring started early in Wednesday’s contest as Lucas Constante scored his 10th goal of the season off an assist from Loic Kanku only 3:52 into the contest. Constante would add his second goal of the game and 11th of the season with 8:46 remaining in the opening half.
“We did not have the right intensity from the beginning, and it seems that we felt the pressure of an important game,” Cowley head coach Ruy Vaz said.
Cowley would continue to battle in the second half and cut its deficit in half thanks to Sora Funakoshi scoring his team-leading 10th goal of the season with 30:36 left to play.
The Tigers were unable to put another shot on goal in the final 30 minutes as Barton held on for the 2-1 win. Cowley is now 8-1 at home.
“This one is a tough one to take, but it was well deserved,” Vaz said. “We are a young team, and it’s a lesson learned.”
Kamy Ndione stopped five of the seven shots he faced in defeat.
The Tigers will wrap up the regular season by playing at Kansas City Kansas Community College on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Blue Devils (5-4-3) have won two straight conference games and are 4-3-3 in the conference.
“Now it’s time to focus on Kansas City, which will also be tough,” Vaz said.