Cowley College volleyball sweeps Labette, heads to nationals for sixth straight year

Cowley College’s volleyball team is headed back to the national tournament for the sixth year in a row. The Lady Tigers, ranked No. 2 in NJCAA Division II, beat Labette 25-15, 27-25, 25-18 on Saturday in Arkansas City to win the Plains District A title and the automatic berth that comes with it.

Cowley (33-3) will play in the NJCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Championship Nov. 18-21 at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, according to the college’s athletics department. Twenty teams make the field.

The district final

Cowley opened Saturday’s match on an 11-5 run. Labette got within 15-12 in the first set before the Lady Tigers pulled away to win it by 10.

The second set was the one that could have changed things. Labette, which coach Steven Gream called the top blocking team in the conference, led 18-16 after back-to-back blocks by sophomore middle hitter Aleix Letts. Gream called a timeout, and Cowley answered with five straight points to go up 21-18. The Cardinals came back again to lead 24-23, but Teo Cekan put down a kill to tie it, and sophomore Brooklyn Wuest ended the set with consecutive kills.

Labette led 11-10 in the third set before Cowley outscored the Cardinals 15-7 the rest of the way. Sophomore Lana Gomilanovic had the match-winning kill and finished with a team-high 16 kills. Freshman setter Addison Nenninger had 38 assists and 10 digs, her 15th double-double of the season.

“We gave Labette cheap points with some unforced errors that we don’t usually make,” Gream said after the match. “The girls did a good job of bouncing back in that third set and finished strong.”

Labette ended its season 28-9.

Getting there

The Lady Tigers reached the final with a sweep of Independence Community College last week, 25-16, 25-8, 26-24, in a match that was closer at the end than the first two sets suggested. Cowley led the third set 17-7 before Independence’s Alyssa Trane served a run of aces that put the Pirates ahead 24-22, one point from forcing a fourth set. Cowley scored the last four points.

“We relaxed a bit and need to make sure we stay focused all the time,” Gream said after that win, according to the team’s recap. The Wellington Daily News also covered the district run.

Cowley has not lost at home all season. The win over Labette made the Lady Tigers 15-0 in Arkansas City, and they went 9-0 in conference play. Their three losses all came at neutral sites. They have won five straight.

What’s next

Gream said the team is better on defense than the one he took to nationals last season. “We have cleaned up our ball control, and I think our defense is stronger than last year,” he said. “We will prepare as much as we can and are excited to be one of 20 quality teams at the national tournament.”

The Alliant Energy PowerHouse, formerly the U.S. Cellular Center, is the arena and convention center in downtown Cedar Rapids. The national tournament bracket and match times will be posted by the NJCAA ahead of next week’s opening day. Cowley’s schedule page at cowleytigers.com will carry updates and streaming links.

Cowley is the community college for Cowley County, based in Arkansas City. Winfield’s own college team also had a good weekend. Southwestern College swept York on its Senior Night for its first Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference win of the season, according to Southwestern’s athletics site.