Top-ranked Lady Tiger volleyball team earns another shot at national championship

Culminating its dominating run to the national tournament, the No. 1-ranked Cowley College volleyball team captured the District M Tournament title with a pair of straight set wins over Allen County and Highland Saturday inside a raucous W.S. Scott Auditorium.

With the wins, Cowley advances to play at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament, which will take place Nov. 17-19 in Toledo, Ohio. The Lady Tigers have placed in the top-five at the national tournament each of the previous five seasons.

On Saturday, Cowley opened with a 25-8, 25-18, 25-14 win over Allen County. After Highland rallied for a thrilling 21-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-15, 17-15 over Coffeyville in the tournament's second match, the Lady Scotties advanced to take on Cowley in the District M title match.

Despite being pushed to five games against Coffeyville, the Lady Scotties came out fired up to face the Lady Tigers. With Cowley trailing 8-7 in the first set, the Lady Tigers scored six of the next seven points to grab a lead they would not relinquish in winning the opener by a score of 25-21.

"Highland came out really strong and we had to fight for our points," Cowley head coach Jenifer Bahner said.

In the second set, Cowley trailed 16-14 before using another 6-1 run to turn the momentum en route to a 25-23 win.

Playing its eighth set in a little more than three hours, Highland appeared to run out of gas in the third set as Cowley raced out to a 10-5 lead and were never threatened in the 25-14 win.

Freshman right side hitter Martyna Gluchowicz shined in the wins over Allen County and Highland as she combined to finish with 27 kills and seven blocks.

"You need to have all around talent in order to win, but I feel you also need a go-to person in the big games and Martyna has been that person for us," Bahner said.

Cowley (34-2), winners of 18 matches in a row, ran its home winning streak to 37 matches in front of a strong contingent of Tiger fans.

"It's exciting to do this on our home court where everybody can share in the win," Bahner said. "This is one of the reasons I decided to come to Cowley. The community feels a part of this. It is so great to have people here to cheer us on each match."

The victory over Highland was Bahner's 100th in her brief career at Cowley. Bahner is now 100-11 in three years at the school.

"I have been fortunate to have great players come through the program," Bahner said. "It has been wonderful to have the support of the athletic department and the community."

Goda Jankuaskaite added 12 kills in the two wins as did sophomore outside hitter Danika Maggard. After a solid freshman campaign in which she was more of a role player for the Lady Tigers, Maggard has totaled 235 kills and 232 digs as a starter for this year's team.

"The fact that coach has trusted me to play a bigger role has made me step up my level of play," Maggard said.

Maggard also believes the tough schedule Cowley has played this season will benefit the Lady Tigers when they play at the national tournament as nine of Cowley's 34 wins have come against ranked opponents.

"The team's we played this year will have prepared us to play at the national tournament," Maggard said.
Cowley finished as the national runner-up in Bahner's first year at the school and placed third in 2010. The Lady Tigers will enter this year's national tournament as the top-seed in the 16-team field.

"We have great potential at the national tournament if we can remain composed and finish strong," Bahner said.

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