Tiger Sports

November 5, 2007

The No. 3-ranked Cowley College volleyball team rallied to win the District M Tournament played in Chanute on Saturday and qualified for the NJCAA Division II National Tournament for the third straight season.

The Lady Tigers regrouped from a 25-30 loss to Pratt in its first game of the tournament to beat the Lady Beavers 25-30, 30-20, 30-22, 30-18. Lilian Rezende led Cowley with 15 kills and 17 digs, while Lucia Cizmarova added 13 kills. Victoria Green and Courtney Shanklin finished with 11 kills a piece, and Crystal Garman chipped in with 10 kills and 16 digs.

The win advanced Cowley to the District Championship match against host Neosho County. After winning game one 30-23, Cowley lost the second game by a score of 19-30. The loss of game two seemed to wake the Lady Tigers as they won the next two games by scores of 30-24, 30-19.

“Pratt and Neosho pushed us and we needed that,” Cowley head coach Joanna Pryor said. “It gave us an opportunity to work on things and see how we could handle pressure.”

Cizmarova led Cowley with 19 kills and nine digs against Neosho County, while Rezende added 16 kills. Green finished with 13 kills and Jacey Sechrest had 18 digs in the two matches.

Rezende and Cizmarova were named First-Team District M performers, while Green and Garman earned Second-Team honors. Freshman Kendra Miller also had a good weekend as she came off the bench to set for the Lady Tigers and finished with 89 assists in the two wins.

“Kendra came in and did a great job for us,” Pryor said.

The NJCAA Division II National Tournament will take place Nov. 15-17 in Scottsdale, AZ. The Lady Tigers have placed in the top-three at each of the last two national tournaments and enter this year’s tournament with a record of 28-5.

“We’re a young team, but the good thing is the sophomores know what it’s like and I know what it’s like,” Pryor said. “They have not had a lot of freshmen moments, they have had to grow up fast. The team is really excited about going to nationals.