News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2009

COMETS SWEPT BY STEPHENS

The Cottey College Comets were swept by the Stephens Stars in Columbia, Missouri, last night 19-25, 20-25, and 25-27.

The young Comets team, competing against a four-year school, managed to hold their own against the deeper, more experienced Stars. However, experience showed about two-thirds of the way through each game when Stephens would take advantage of Comets' errors to pull away.

"All three games we stayed neck and neck with them until about 14-16 points apiece," said head coach Marla Kannady Foreman. "We would allow them to make a two- to three-point run on us and then we would stay behind the rest of the way, except late in game three. The score was 19-24, and we got 5 points to tie it at 24-24. Then, they made the next point, followed by us tying it up again at 25-25. Eventually, we made two more mistakes to cost us the final set, and the match."

Foreman did see several positives out of the match.

"We tried a different rotational line-up, and I felt it made our passing more accurate, so we were able to compete against this four-year school without constantly having to be on defense," said Foreman. "This change has allowed us to be a more aggressive team on attacks, because our passes are much more solid."

Team leaders for the Comets were Janelle Crowell and Andrea Hass with four aces each, Crowell with 10 kills, Kailey Kelly with 24 assists, Madeline Swidergal with three blocks, and Emily Moore with 21 digs.

The loss dropped the Comets' record to 0-6 on the year. On Saturday, the Comets will travel to Springfield, Missouri, to face Central Bible College in a 1 p.m. match. The next home game for Cottey will be Friday, October 2, when they have a rematch with Ozark Christian College at 7 p.m.