From RAMA PEROO/Cowley College
Playing at Highland Community College on Wednesday, the No. 5-ranked Cowley College volleyball team imposed their will on the Lady Scotties from the opening serve as they remained unbeaten on the season with a 25-9, 25-4, 25-15 win.
Cowley is now 10-0 overall and remains tied with Johnson County for first place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division with a record of 4-0. Highland, losers of four matches in a row, is now 4-7 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
The Lady Tigers scored nine of the first 10 points of Wednesday’s opening set and cruised to a 25-9 win.
“We established our game plan early and never let Highland get into a rhythm,” Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. “Our serve put a lot of pressure on them.”
It was more of the same in set two as Cowley led 17-2 en route to the 25-4 boat racing of the Lady Scotties.
Highland woke up in set three and led 8-4 before Cowley rallied for its first lead at 10-9. Clinging to a 16-15 advantage, the Lady Tigers would score the final nine points of the match.
“Our defense did a good job of limiting any runs,” Gream said.
Freshman outside hitter Laura Bonomi continued to be a double-double machine, finishing with 20 kills and 10 digs in the win.
“Laura is on a roll right now and is taking a lot of pressure off our other hitters,” Gream said.
Fellow freshman Noemi Nyers was equally impressive, registering eight of Cowley’s 14 service aces.
“It has been a long time since we have had someone with that many aces,” Gream said.
The Lady Tigers will play a pair of matches on Saturday at the Ranger Tri-Match. Cowley will face Cisco College at 1 p.m. before taking on Ranger College at 3.
“These are two NJCAA Division 1 opponents that know us well,” Gream said. “These matches will help prepare us for the tougher portion of our conference schedule that is still ahead of us.”
Melo lifts Tigers to 4-0 win over rival Coffeyville
In a rivalry game played Wednesday night at the Mark A. Phillips Athletic Complex, the No. 3-ranked Cowley College men’s soccer team, recorded its sixth shutout in a 4-0 win over No. 18-ranked Coffeyville Community College.
The victory improves Cowley’s record to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Red Ravens are now 4-2-2 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
On Wednesday, Cowley struck quickly as freshman Adriano Melo scored less than two minutes into the contest. Melo would add a second goal, this time heading in a corner kick from Victor Hugo Lopes with 32:41 left in the opening half.
“Adriano has size, technique, and covers a lot of ground,” Cowley head coach Ruy Vaz said. “It is important to have him as an offensive threat.”
The score would remain 2-0 before the Tigers got two more goals in a three-minute span early in the second half. The goals came from Carlos Noboa and Joao Lopes.
“The key was to stay in control of ourselves because there are a lot of emotions involved in a rivalry game,” Vaz said. “We got the early goals, and I felt Coffeyville kind of let up a bit.”
Having played only seven games, Cowley currently leads the nation in shutouts.
“You don’t get scored on you don’t lose,” Vaz said.
The Tigers’ depth has been a key to the team’s success.
“Thiago (Apolinario) and Takeru (Chiba) are doing great, and I think our most consistent player has been our right back Andre Ecker,” Vaz said. “Our bench has also been doing a great job of playing at a high level.”
Cowley will face another challenge when they face No. 11-ranked Barton Community College on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Great Bend, KS. The Cougars are 5-0-2 overall and 2-0-1 in the Jayhawk Conference.
“It will be an extremely difficult road game,” Vaz said. “We have had some great battles with Barton; it is another rivalry game.”
Lady Tiger soccer remains unbeaten with a 2-1 home win over Coffeyville
The No. 14-ranked Cowley College women’s soccer team built a 2-0 lead over Coffeyville Community College Wednesday night at the Mark A. Phillips Athletic Complex and held on to defeat the Lady Red Ravens by a score of 2-1.
The victory keeps Cowley unbeaten on the season, as the Lady Tigers are now 4-0-1 in the Jayhawk Conference.
Wednesday’s game was scoreless for the first 36 minutes before Lady Tiger sophomore Laura Pouedras stole the ball from Coffeyville’s Thayline Teixiera and rocketed a shot into the corner of the net from just outside the box.
“We needed that breakthrough,” Cowley head coach Roberto dos Santos said. “It was a beautiful goal by Laura.”
Leading 1-0 a little more than 10 minutes into the second half, Lady Tiger freshman Manuela Gorny dribbled into the box and had her shot knocked away by Coffeyville goaltender Rosa Forero Calabuig, but Berta Borrell was there for the putback to increase Cowley’s lead to 2-0.
Despite Cowley seeming to be in control of the game, the Red Ravens pulled within 2-1 when Emily Padilla stole the ball inside the box and scored with 18:28 left to play.
The Lady Tigers would regain control of the game following the goal by Padilla and held on for its third one-goal victory of the season.
Cowley outshot Coffeyville 26-8, and Lady Tiger goalkeeper Kanon Dehama recorded four saves in the victory.
“We needed to dominate, and we did, but we need to capitalize on the dominance by scoring more goals,” Cowley head coach Roberto dos Santos said. “We gave them life because of a mistake.”
Coffeyville (2-4) falls to 1-4 in the conference.
The Lady Tigers will return to action on Saturday when they take on ninth-ranked Barton Community College (3-1-1) at 3 p.m. in Great Bend, KS.
“It will be tough, but we will be prepared to play,” dos Santos said.
