by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
No. 10 ranked Cowley College pulled away late in each of the final two sets for a 3-0 volleyball sweep of Kansas City Kansas Community College Wednesday.
The win boosted the Lady Tigers to 20-2 overall and left the Blue Devils 11-8 overall and 2-4 in the Jayhawk Conference heading into the Central Nebraska Tournament in Columbus Friday and Saturday.
The Blue Devils will face Southwestern Iowa Friday at 5 p.m. and Central Nebraska at 7 p.m. On Saturday, KCKCC will play Northeast Nebraska at 11 a.m. and North Platte at 3 p.m.
After taking a 25-14 win in the opening set Wednesday, Cowley won the final three points for a 25-22 win in the second set and broke a 19-19 tie for a 25-21 victory to close out the match.
“The last couple of games we played well enough but we have to find a different gear,” KCKCC coach Mary Bruno-Ballou said. “We are allowing teams to outscore us at the very end. We also need to improve our first ball contact. Cowley is a very good team but we as a group did not hit well.”
McKenna Johnson, a freshman from Christ Prep Academy in Lenexa, earned the team’s most valuable teammate award for the week.
“McKenna is vital to the chemistry of this team,” Bruno-Ballou said. “A constant worker at practice, she helps our team in many ways.”
KCKCC has four Jayhawk contests remaining, three at home in the Blue Devils’ bid to earn a playoff berth in a Region VI that has six teams ranked in the Top 11 in the nation.
Defending national champion Coffeyville (24-1) is No. 2 followed by No. 5 Johnson County 16-4), No. 6 Fort Scott (21-3), No. 7 Highland (20-5), No. 10 Cowley (20-2) and No. 11 Cloud County (15-3).
The Blue Devils’ remaining home games are against Labette Oct. 9, Fort Scott Oct. 14 and Hesston Oct. 30.
Their remaining road league game is at Highland Oct. 23.
Coffeyville (4-0) leads the Jayhawk followed by Johnson County and Fort Scott, both 5-1; Cowley, 4-1; Cloud, 3-2; Highland, 3-3; KCKCC, 2-4; Allen, 1-3; and Hesston, Labette and Neosho, all of which are winless.