Cowley College
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November 18, 2011
Lady Tigers rally to advance to semifinals of national tourney
Dropping the first two sets in its second-round match against Central (NE) Community College Thursday at the NJCAA Division II National Volleyball Tournament in Toledo, OH, the top-seeded Cowley College Lady Tigers rallied to win the next three sets and advance to the semifinals to play No. 12-seed Phoenix (AZ) Community College Friday at 5:30 p.m. After losing the first two sets by scores of 20-25, 20-25, Cowley pulled off the improbable win by taking the next three sets by scores of 25-16, 25-21, 15-13.
In the fifth and final set, Cowley trailed 12-9 before scoring six of the match’s final seven points.
“I was so proud to see the team fight back from such adversity,” Cowley head coach Jenifer Bahner said. “Our girls weren’t going to give up.”
Trailing 8-5 in the third set, the Lady Tigers seemed to switch the momentum of the match thanks to the play of dominate hitters Martyna Gluchowicz and Goda Jankauskaite. The duo combined to score seven points during a 10-0 run that turned the set in Cowley’s favor. During the run, both Gluchowicz and Jankauskaite had several big blocks.
“We needed something to get us going and that completely changed the momentum of the match,” Bahner said.
Cowley had to rally again in game four as they faced deficits of 5-1 and 11-7. Gluchowicz again proved to be too much for the Lady Raiders to handle as she scored four points during a 6-0 run that put Cowley on top to stay.
Down 13-11 in the fifth and final set, Cowley would score the final four points of the match and got a huge block from sophomore Emily Barto to seal the win and send the Lady Tigers into the semifinals.
Barto finished the match with 11 kills and three blocks, while Jankauskaite added 10 kills and six blocks. Gluchowicz, who seemed to be unstoppable at certain points of the match, finished with 21 kills and eight blocks.
“When you play at the national tournament you need to have team work, but you also need to have go to people like Martyna and Goda,” Bahner said. “We have counted on those kids all season long and it was great to have them step up for us.”
The Lady Tigers have now won 20 matches in a row and are 36-2 on the season. The 36 wins are Cowley’s most victories since going 39-22-1 in the 1997 season.
Earlier in the day, the No. 1-ranked Lady Tigers continued their winning ways with a 25-12, 25-12, 25-10 win over Genessee (N.Y.) Community College in the first-round of the tourney.
Opposite of the Cowley vs. Phoenix match will pit No. 6-seed Kishwaukee (Ill) College vs. No. 2-seed Oakland (MI) Community College. The winners of the semifinal matches will play in Saturday night’s championship match at 5:30 p.m.
Phoenix upset defending national champion Pasco Community College in the first-round of the tourney and then defeated Longview Community College to advance to the semifinal match.
“Phoenix is a very high-energy team that is playing with nothing to lose,” Bahner said. “We have to match their energy. We are feeling very confident going into the match.”
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