Cowley Volleyball defeats Allen 3-0 on sophomore night

After having its 53 home match win streak come to an end last week, the Lady Tigers are now 28-4 overall and 8-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. The win earns the program a tie for the 2025 conference championship with KCK. It is the 18^th conference championship in program history and the 4^th in the last 5 years.

The night was also special in celebrating the Cowley careers of the sophomores on Sophomore Night. Each sophomore was honored prior to the match. Coach Gream was also honored for being named to the NJCAA Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Once the match began, Cowley and Allen County traded points until 8-8, then Cowley used their aggressive serving and balanced attack to go on a 10-2 run and eventually rolled to a 25-15 win in opening set.

Cowley raced out to a 17-12 lead in set two but Allen County made a run of their own, combined with 4 consecutive Cowley hitting errors, to take a 21-19 lead. The Lady Tigers cleaned up their unforced errors and pulled out the set two win 27-25.

Set three was much like set one, with Cowley racing to an 11-4 lead to start the set and cruising to the 25-11 win. Allen County falls to 18-12 overall and 5-4 in the conference.

Lana Gomilanovic's 12 kills led Cowley. Teo Cekan added 10 kills, while Josci Buckley added seven kills, Cassie Ellegood added six kills, and Ashlynn Jaccard added 5 kills. Hanna Darvas dished out 38 assists while also recording 10 digs to record her 11^th double-double on the season.

"Our sophomores have done a really good job for us," Gream said. "They all put in the work and were great leaders for our freshmen and carried on their drive to excel from their great season last year. Sophomore night is always so hard for me to coach, with all the memories of each player flowing through my head. Each of them means so much to me and our program, and I could not be more proud of them and what they have done these past two years. To do what those sophomores have done is truly extraordinary. They have made history not only for Cowley but also in the NJCAA."

Cowley will now prepare to travel to Friends University for the final match of the regular season. They then will host Allen County, once again, in the first round of the Plains District B Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The winner will advance to play in the Plains District B Championship on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at the higher seed of the tournament.

"We have one more match to prepare for playoffs then we get into playoff mode as we prepare for the district tournament starting against Allen County on Wednesday," Gream said. "We have played all season long to prepare for the postseason, and now it is time to put that preparation into action."