Cowley sweeps ’Hounds, goes on to win District

HIGHLAND — Fort Scott Community College’s volleyball was eliminated in the first round of the Region VI-Division II District N Tournament here Saturday afternoon.

Cowley, the No. 3 seed and ranked No. 7 in the NJCAA poll, swept the sixth-seeded Greyhounds, 25-22, 25-11, 25-20. The Tigers (37-6) went on to beat second-seeded Highland in the championship, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19, to advance to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.

The ’Hounds (26-10) had only 21 kills in the match. They came into the tournament third in Region VI-Division II with an average of 12.4 per set. Megan Turner, who is fourth in the region in kills per set (3.6) had only 5 in the match. Deardin Kelley led the ’Hounds with 7.

Hanna White handed out 15 assists. Katie Gorman, who is third in the nation in digs per set (7.8) finished the match with 22.

Hannah Nicolaisen led Cowley with 13 kills followed by Milica Kusmuk with 11 and Brylee Burroughs with 10. Sydney Meget had 35 assists. She came into the match averaging 10 1/2 per set, second-best in the conference.

Fort Scott finished with at least 20 wins for the sixth time in seven seasons under head coach Lindsay Hill. That’s almost half of the 20-win seasons there have ever been in FSCC volleyball history (13 in 41 years).