September 3, 2009

Lady Tiger volleyball beats Cloud County in conference opener

Coming off a strong opening to the season at the Johnson County Invite, the No. 4-ranked Cowley College volleyball team kept its momentum going with a 25-20, 16-25, 25-18, 25-8 win over Cloud County in its conference opener played in front of a large crowd Wednesday night at W.S. Scott Auditorium.

“We had a slow start due to the combination of it being the first conference and first home game, we had to work through the nerves a little bit,” Cowley head coach Jenifer Bahner said. “We came alive at the end and saw what we are capable of doing. The crowd support really pumped the girls up.”

Cloud County entered the match at 8-0 and had already beaten two ranked teams. Cowley, which also beat two ranked teams over the weekend, held off the Lady Thunderbirds for a 25-20 win of game one.
After winning the first game, the Lady Tigers came out flat in game two as they never led in the 16-25 defeat.

Cowley came back strong in game three as they raced out to a 7-2 lead. The Lady Thunderbirds would cut Cowley’s lead to 18-16 but could get no closer as the Lady Tigers’ Elena Berroteran closed out the game with a vicious spike. Despite being only 5-foot-5, Berroteran has the ability to elevate high at the net as she led Cowley with 12 kills.

“Her size is a deceiving thing, she can really jump and has a lot of power behind her hits,” Bahner said.
Wanting to avoid going to a fifth and final game, Cowley scored eight of the first nine points of game four and kept its intensity up as they went on to its largest margin of victory (17) of any game they had played this season.

“After that second game we talked about minimizing our errors and being more aggressive in the front row,” Bahner said. “We did a better job of that in the final two games.”
Sophomore libero Michelle O’Dell had a stellar game as she finished with 14 digs to go along with 33 good passes and no errors off the serve/receive.

“Michelle was very much in control of the game,” Bahner said. “It’s a great compliment when the opposing coach praises your Libero after the game.”

Sophomore middle hitter Keshia Clark added three solo blocks in the win.
With the victory, Cowley is now 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The Lady Tigers will be back in action tonight when they play ay Longview Community College at 6 p.m.
Cowley defeated Longview 25-18, 25-20, 27-25 last Saturday at the Johnson County Invite.
“They are a good offensive team, so keeping up our block will be a key tonight,” Bahner said.