Cowley volleyball celebrates another conference title with win over Johnson County

No doubt about it! In a showdown of the conference's only two unbeaten teams, the No. 1-ranked Cowley College volleyball team left no doubt as to whom the best team in the conference was as they knocked off No. 17-ranked Johnson County 25-15, 25-21, 25-9 Wednesday at W. S. Scott Auditorium. With the win, Cowley captured its fourth straight Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division title.
The Lady Tigers, winners of 16 matches in a row, finish the regular season with a record of 32-2 overall and 10-0 in the Jayhawk East. Cowley also ran its home win streak to 35 consecutive matches.
"Being here at home and having that advantage, I feel like we were just so energized," Cowley head coach Jenifer Bahner said.
With the crowd decked in pink in recognition of the Dig Pink event, recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness, Cowley gave the home fans plenty to cheer about.
"It's awesome that so many people showed up and that we had this many people here to support us," sophomore Emily Barto said.
After a relatively easy win of the first set, Cowley trailed 19-18 in set two before scoring seven of the final nine points.
With the conference title in its sights, Cowley did not mess around in set three as they used back-to-back aces by freshman Martyna Gluchowicz to race out to a 9-3 lead. The Lady Tigers' continued to pour it on en route to the 25-9 win.
"We had a game plan of serving aggressive, and really attacking and putting pressure on the ball,' Bahner said. "I felt like we did such a great job of doing that."
Johnson County finishes second in the conference with a record of 21-11 overall and 9-1 in the Jayhawk East.
Cowley will now prepare to host the District M Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 5. The Lady Tigers will face Allen County (18-21) in the first match at noon, while Highland (21-10) will play Coffeyville (19-17) at 2 p.m. The winners of the first two matches will square off in the district championship match at 4 p.m.
Bahner is proud of what her team accomplished on Wednesday, but is not satisfied.
"This is a great night; it's very exciting, but we still have a lot ahead of us," Bahner said. "Conference is great; we celebrate tonight, then we get back at it and we start working for that district tournament, also."

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