From RAMA PEROO/Cowley College
In a matchup of unbeaten teams in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, the No. 2-ranked Cowley College volleyball team rallied to defeat sixth-ranked Johnson County 23-25, 25-15, 24-26, 25-15, 15-13 Wednesday in Overland Park.
The victory improves Cowley’s record to 26-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference, while Johnson County dropped its third match in a row after a 27-0 start and is now 27-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference.
“I thought our players really handled the crowd and the pressure well,” Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. “This was a typical Cowley vs. Johnson County game.”
Wednesday’s match marked the 27th time out of the past 28 meetings between the teams where both squads were ranked.
Trailing 18-14 in the opening set, Johnson County rallied to win 25-23.
The loss was just the second set dropped by the Lady Tigers this season. Cowley did not hang their heads as they bounced back to win set two by a score of 25-15.
The third set featured 13 ties, the last of which came at 24-24 before the Cavaliers scored the final two points to win 26-24.
With its backs against the wall and leading only 9-8 in the fourth set, Cowley would score 12 of the next 15 points to open a big lead en route to another 25-15 win.
Cowley would go on to score four of the first five points in the fifth and final set before Johnson County rallied to tie the set at 9-9. Leading 14-13, Rossana Papa set Laura Bonomi for an emphatic spike to win the match and send the Lady Tiger players rushing the court.
“It was good to be tested because we are playing a tough Kirkwood team next week, and we are getting close to the playoffs,” Gream said. “This should give them the confidence to know that no matter what happens, we can still bounce back and finish things off.”
Papa finished with a career-high 70 assists to go along with 10 digs as she recorded her eighth double-double of the season.
“That is the first fifth set of her career,” Gream said. “She did a good job of distributing the ball.”
Anna Kiss led Cowley with 26 kills, while Bonomi registered her 14th double-double with 20 kills and 10 digs. Bonomi also had three of Cowley’s eight aces.
“I thought our serves really caused them problems,” Gream said.
Sophomore Sadie Kabisch added a career-high 32 digs, while freshmen Sara Puskus (16 kills), Valerie Luna (nine kills), and Lu Ceroni (five kills, three block assists, two digs) also played well.
“Lu came in and played killer defense,” Gream said.
Cowley will return to action on Friday when they play a pair of teams at the Cloud County Tri-Match. The Lady Tigers will face Central Nebraska at 3 p.m. and Cloud County (19-8) at 5 p.m.
“We saw Central on our court earlier this season, so they will make adjustments and will battle, especially being on a neutral court,” Gream said. “Cloud will be a nice test as well. We just have to take care of ourselves today and get ready for tomorrow.”
Fans get a first look at Tiger basketball teams during Late Night at W.S. Scott
With the basketball season approaching, fans of the Cowley College men’s and women’s basketball teams were treated to an evening of fun events during Late Night at W.S. Scott Auditorium on Thursday.
Players and coaches from both teams were introduced to the crowd and were joined at center court by Tiger men’s assistant coach Roybell Baez to share an interesting fact about themselves.
A three-point and dunk contest entertained the fans, while there were also performances from the Tigerettes. Head cheer coach Holli Rowe and assistant cheer coach Brandon Burke introduced the cheer and dance team members.
There was also a crowd contest, and several individuals took home prizes.
Digital content creator Kris Ripley put together an exciting video featuring the Tiger basketball teams while marketing work-study Larry Marczynski created the event graphics shown on the video boards.
The Lady Tiger basketball team will open the season by hosting the Tabor College JV at 1 p.m. Wednesday, November 1. Both Tiger basketball teams will play at home on Friday, November 3, with game times of 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Late goal lifts Butler to 3-2 road win over Lady Tiger soccer team
The No. 16-ranked Cowley College women’s soccer team suffered a damaging defeat to its conference title hopes with a 3-2 home loss against Butler Community College on Wednesday. The Grizzlies pulled out the victory thanks to Sakiko Manabe’s goal with 2:59 remaining.
Cowley falls to 7-2-3 in the Jayhawk Conference, six points behind conference-leading Hutchinson Community College (9-1-3). Butler (6-5-5) is now 5-5-3 in conference play.
On Wednesday, Butler would lead 2-0 thanks to first-half goals from Emma Kolbe and Giselle Nash. However, Cowley would score two goals in the final five minutes of the opening half to tie the game at 2-2.
“We made a couple of mistakes in the first half, and Butler scored on both opportunities,” Cowley head coach Roberto dos Santos said. “I was happy with how the team came back to close the half.”
The first-half goals for the Lady Tigers came from Fenja Leibner and Sara Espinosa. The goals were the second of the season for both players.
Cowley continued to pressure Butler in the second half and dominated possession as they out-shot Butler 37-9. Lady Grizzly goalkeeper Carla Apodaca came up huge for the visitors as she stopped 14 of the Tigers’ 16 shots on goal.
The score would remain tied until Manabe was able to break through for the lone goal of the second half.
“Once again, we created several opportunities but could not finish them, and a mishap by us allowed Butler to score the winning goal,” dos Santos said.
Cowley will attempt to get back in the win column when they play at Coffeyville on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Red Ravens (4-10) have dropped six straight conference games and lost at Cowley by a score of 2-1 on September 13.
“We need to regroup and get a win at Coffeyville,” dos Santos said.
Following the game against Coffeyville, the Lady Tigers will wrap up the regular season by playing the top three teams in the conference that have a combined record of 31-5-7.
Tiger soccer team shutout for the first time in a 1-0 loss at Dodge City
Despite out-shooting Dodge City 17-9 and taking 10 corner kicks to the Conquistadors one, the No. 5-ranked Cowley College men’s soccer team was shutout for the first time this season in a 1-0 loss to the Conquistadors Saturday in Dodge City.
“We were not able to capitalize on the chances we created and were too casual with our play,” Cowley head coach Ruy Vaz said. “When you are casual against a feisty team that can set yourself up for disaster.”
Cowley (11-2) remains just in front of Barton Community College (6-0-2) for first place in the Jayhawk Conference with a conference mark of 7-2. Dodge City (7-3-2) moves to 4-3-2 in the conference.
On Saturday, Dodge City’s Arthur Lemeunier scored off an assist from Theo Hoang midway through the opening half, and the Conquistadors made the lead stand up as Dodge City thwarted all three of Cowley’s shots on goal.
Cowley goalkeeper Jona Hellingrath allowed just his fourth goal of the season in six starts in goal as he saved four of five shot attempts.
Cowley will look to bounce back when they play at Coffeyville Saturday at 7 p.m. The Red Ravens are 6-5-3 overall but just 2-5-1 in the conference. The Tigers defeated the Red Ravens 4-0 on September 13 in Arkansas City.
“We will use this time between games to reset physically and mentally,” Vaz said. “We need to prepare better and work hard to face a big rival in Coffeyville. They are a team that never gives up.”
