Cowley volleyball remains unbeaten with home win over Highland

"We knew Highland was going to be a tough team to play," Cowley head coach Steven Gream said. "They had played some high-quality teams and won, and played them tough. They have a solid player in the top 5 in the nation in total kills, and they are very scrappy on defense to force you to make mistakes to help them. We saw that first hand in set one, where we had a 3-point lead and lost it, a 4-point lead and lost it, and a 5-point lead and lost it to allow them to tie us at 22 and even take the lead. It was us turning the tables on them after the 24-25 mark that allowed us to pull out the 28-26 win."

Cowley used a 10-2 run in set two to turn a 4-4 tie into a 14-6 lead en route to the 25-13 win.

Set three was tight, with Cowley leading 13-11, before scoring three straight points and going on to the 25-18 victory.

The Lady Tigers improve to 14-0 overall and 4-0 in the Jayhawk Conference, while Highland falls to 18-4 and 2-2 in the conference.

Cowley had three players in double figures in kills, with freshman Teo Cekan finishing with a team-high 14. Cassie Ellegood and Josci Buckley added 10 kills apiece.

"We balanced the attack very well with all of our hitters being involved and getting quality kills at key times," Gream said. "We wanted to engage our middles a lot in this match and were able to do that with both of them having a great amount of kills and hits for a high percentage. That allowed our pins to get quality looks and swings to help us make runs for the wins in each set."

Sophomore setter Hanna Darvas helped put the hitters in good spots with her 39 assists. Darvas also added 10 digs to post her sixth double-double of the season.

Lana Gomilanovic added six kills, 13 digs, and four service aces, while Tessa Mossburg, the reigning KJCCC Defensive Player of the Week, had a team-high 17 digs.

"I thought our defense really rose to the occasion and even fed off of their defensive intensity," Gream said. "We got quality touches and ups on digs, which helps us turn that into quality swings and kills. We love when our defense can shut down our opponents and give our hitters more swings to score."

The Lady Tigers will host the Cowley Invitational Tournament on Friday and Saturday. Cowley will host Central Community College at 5 p.m. on Friday before facing No. 21-ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College at 7. Then, on Saturday, the Lady Tigers will host Pratt at 11 a.m. and Metropolitan Community College at 5 p.m.