Cowley volleyball suffers loss at national championships

After opening the NJCAA Division II Volleyball National Championship with a win over Grand Rapids Community College, the Cowley College volleyball team suffered a 30-16, 25-30, 25-30, 15-30 defeat to Southwestern Illinois Community College in its second match on Thursday.

"We just got out played. You can't expect to win when you do that," Cowley head coach Joanna Pryor said. "We did not do well under pressure."

Cowley closed out the first game on a 16-6 run as they easily won by a score of 30-16. The Lady Tigers led 14-8 midway through the second game before Southwestern Illinois rallied for the 30-25 win.

Southwestern Illinois would win by the same score in game three. With the fourth game tied at 8-8, Southwestern Illinois went on a 7-1 run to lead 15-8 and was never threatened again.

The Lady Tigers will play today at 3 p.m. Cowley could play again at either noon or 3 p.m. Saturday depending on the outcome of today’s match. The loss to Southwestern Illinois means the best Cowley can finish at the national championship is fifth.