Cowley volleyball rolls on

Roslandy Acosta slams home a kill Monday night

Getting big games from sophomores Sarah Skinner and Meghan Cahill, the No. 1-ranked Cowley College volleyball team picked up its 20th straight victory with a 25-16, 25-19, 25-11 win over Independence Monday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.
The victory improved the Lady Tigers’ record to 20-2 overall and kept Cowley a half game in front of Johnson County for first place in the conference and region. Cowley is currently 6-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division and 7-0 in Region VI play.
“We had people step up in areas we had been struggling and our offense did well,”
Cowley head coach Jenifer Bahner said. “But, we need to improve on our errors. We gave Independence a lot of points and we have got to make teams earn their points.”
Skinner and Cahill each finished with nine kills in the win.
“Sarah did really well in the middle for us, and Meghan has been working really hard and is a good leader for our team,” Bahner said. “We need her (Meghan) to lead and contribute on the court as well, so it was good to see her do both tonight.”
The Lady Pirates, who dropped to 2-12 overall and 1-5 in the Jayhawk East, battled hard the first two games but could never get over the hump. In game three, Cowley raced out to an 11-2 lead before Independence pulled within 14-8. Cowley would finish the match by scoring 11 of the final 14 points, and got a huge spike from sophomore Roslandy Acosta to cap the team’s 21st straight win at home.
Acosta finished the match with 11 kills and 18 assists, while freshman setter Molley Scanlon added 18 assists and nine digs. Also contributing to the win were Elena Berroteran (10 digs) and Kaitlin Stearns (three aces).
Cowley will put its winning streak on the line when they take part in the Central Nebraska Tournament Friday and Saturday in Platte, NE. On Friday, the Lady Tigers will square off against No. 10-ranked North Platte Community College (16-7) at 3 p.m., before facing second-ranked Iowa Lakes Community College (19-4) at 7 p.m.
Cowley will wrap up play in the tournament on Saturday by taking on Central Nebraska at 10:30 a.m. and Neosho County (5-18) at 12:30 p.m.
Bahner is looking forward to having her team take on a pair of schools ranked in the top-10 on Friday.
“This weekend will present a good test for us,” Bahner said. “It will be good to be challenged a bit. If we keep working hard our offense will flow from there.”