Tag: volleyball

No. 1 ranked Cowley County ended Kansas City Kansas Community College’s volleyball season Saturday but the unbeaten Tigers had to overcome early Blue Devil leads in each of three sets in a 3-0 sweep.

The Blue Devils led 14-13 in the first set and after Cowley had gone ahead 20-16, KCKCC closed to 22-20 before dropping a 25-22 decision.

KCKCC led the second set 7-5 and after falling behind 15-9, rallied to 23-20 before the Tigers prevailed 25-20. The Blue Devils also led the third set 13-12 only to have Cowley score nine of the next 10 points in a 25-19 win.

“We fought very hard in the championship match, played well and had opportunities to put ourselves in a successful position but could not capitalize at the end,” KCKCC coach Mary Bruno-Ballou said. “It was an excellent year and I’m very proud of this team. As a group, we worked for a common goal and made it to the championship game.”

The loss in the NJCAA Plains championship game closed out a 22-11 season for KCKCC while Cowley improved to 38-0 in earning a berth in the NJCAA Division II national tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Nov. 18-20. The title game was played at Friends University in Wichita.

“I thought we battled very well against a very tough KCKC team,” Cowley coach Steven Gream said. “We overcame some mistakes and continued to play for each other.” Gream credited a large vocal following with helping with the Tigers’ comebacks.

“I couldn’t even talk to the players because of how loud the crowd was,” he said. “I thought they really put a lot of pressure on KCK.”

Thanks to a furiously fought 3-2 win over Neosho County Wednesday night, Kansas City Kansas Community College is one win away from a berth in the NJCAA Division II national volleyball tournament.

The final hurdle, however, is a big one – No. 1 ranked and unbeaten Cowley County in the Plains A championship game to be played Saturday at Friends University in Wichita. Tipoff will come about 3:30 p.m. following a Plains B championship matching Johnson County and Highland at 1 p.m.

Cowley (37-0) took a 3-0 win over KCKCC in their only meeting of the season at Arkansas City Oct. 15 although two of the sets were decided by two points – 25-23 and 26-24.

“We played them tough,” KCKCC coach Mary Bruno-Ballou said.

Spurred on by a raucous crowd including more than 100 KCKCC athletes, the Blue Devils twice came from behind to defeat Neosho in Wednesday’s semifinal.

“Our fans were game changers; they made a huge difference,” Bruno-Ballou said.

Neosho took a 31-29 win in the opener in match that saw the Blue Devils fight off set points five times before falling. KCKCC got back even with a 25-20 second set win only to have Neosho push the Blue Devils to the brink of elimination with a down-to-the-wire 26-24 win.

If being down 2-1 served as a wake up call, it worked. The Blue Devils got even 25-12, then fell behind in the fifth set 4-0 before a stunning finish – allowing only one more point in outscoring the Panthers 15-1 in a 15-5 win.

The Blue Devils got outstanding performances from three veterans. Cassidy Crist had 38 kills and .349 kill percentage; Adriana Velez had 67 assists; and Kelcey Hund 38 digs. Crist and Velez are in their third year KCKCC; Hund is a sophomore.