BOWSER POWER

Sharks sweep Forest Park, roar into regionals as a top seed

By Jeff Malmgren, Times Staff Writer

Not even blocking balls hit by Madison Bowser is an effective way to keep her from scoring.

Twice during the first set Thursday, the Forest Park Bruins rejected a ball hit by Bowser, Colgan’s senior middle hitter and Texas A&M University recruit.

Both times, Bowser reacted so quickly that she immediately hit the blocked-ball back over the net for a kill before the Bruins could re-form their block.

And that sequence set the tone for the Sharks’ 25-13, 25-15, 25-23 win, which gave them the Cardinal District tournament championship.

“That’s just a quick-twitch hopper,” Colgan coach Keith Mesa said of Bowser. “And that’s not trained, that is born. … She just gets off the floor as quickly on her second jump as she does on her first jump.”

The top-seeded Sharks improved to 22-3 with an 18-game winning streak while dropping the Bruins to 15-7.

The Sharks next play Thursday in the second round of the Class 6 Region C tournament against either T.C. Williams or Woodbridge. Forest Park hosted West Springfield in the first round on Tuesday.

Against the Bruins, Bowser finished with a game-high 18 kills with 16 coming from sets by junior Krisitn Lough, who finished with 31 assists.

“I love setting [for] Madison,” Lough said. “It’s amazing. … She’s made me the player that I am today. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know where I’d be.”

Lough sets the ball to Bowser in a variety of positions, but her quick-set near the center of the net is particularly devastating.

“If there’s not a block up, I feel really bad” for players in the opponent’s back row, Lough said. “I’m worried that they might get a concussion.”

Colgan’s Hannah Crawley had eight kills with Testimony Garrison producing six to give the Sharks hope for a state berth.

“I think we have a lot of potential,” Lough said. “If we keep working like we are, we’ll get there.”

Mesa agreed, but knows it won’t be easy. “When you get into regional playoffs, it’s whoever plays well on any given night,” he said. “Everybody can have a bad night and everybody can have a great night. We’re just hoping we’re going to have great ones.”

Forest Park also advanced to the region tournament along with Cardinal District semifinalists Woodbridge and Hylton.

At 15-7, Forest Park lost only four matches to teams not named Colgan, so they have legitimate hopes to vie for a region championship, especially after losing their third set Thursday against the Sharks by only two points.

“If we play how we just finished this match, then we have a lot of potential,” Forest Park coach Anna Davila said. “Maybe see Colgan again and go pretty far in the regional tournament.”

Davila said her girls are playing well at the right time. “Really started clicking, coming together, playing as a team,” Davila said. “Their total effort all across the board, I’m just really proud of.“

Forest Park built a third-set lead despite playing without setter Morgan Gibbs, an NCAA Division II recruit who led the Bruins in assists and kills before suffering an injury more than two weeks ago.

With Gibbs in their lineup, the Bruins pushed Colgan to five sets Sept. 20, eventually losing 3-2.