Cowley volleyball opens national tournament with win

The Cowley College volleyball team defeated Grand Rapids Community College 30-17, 30-28, 30-27 in the first match at the NJCAA Division II National Championships played Thursday in Scottsdale, AZ.

The Lady Tigers, the third seed in the tournament, advance to play sixth-seeded Southwestern Illinois College (34-8) tonight at 6:30 p.m.

Cowley head coach Joanna Pryor was pleased with her team’s performance in the opening match.

“It got closer at the end but we really played pretty well,” Pryor said. “We had a phenomenal hitting percentage and will need that to continue tonight.”

Lucia Cizmarova led Cowley with 16 kills in the win, while Lilian Rezende chipped in with 12 kills and 11 digs. Crystal Garman and Victoria Green added nine and eight kills, respectively, while Jacey Sechrest finished with a team-high 12 digs.

Cowley is now 29-5 on the season. If they win tonight, Cowley will play tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

“Southwestern Illinois has good defense, it will be a very tough match,” Pryor said. “Hopefully, we will play as well as we did the first match.”