For Benitez and the WNCC Cougars, they are hoping to pick up seven wins, improve their match winning streak to 22, and stay No. 1 in the country. Blausey and Gipfert are looking to help the Lancers gain some momentum and confidence heading into the second half of the season.
Action in the tournament begins at noon at both sites. The Cougars, who are the top-ranked team for the second straight week, will face 17-4
“I hope we can keep winning,” Benitez said. “We want to win nationals and I am aiming for that. Right now the team is playing good and we need to keep working hard to keep winning.”
The Lancers, in the meantime are also starting to turn their season around.
“We won a few games this past weekend and that brought our morale up,” Blausey said. “If we just get the little things ironed out, I think we can play real well.
The Lancers went 2-2 last weekend at the Pizza Hut tournament defeating
“We started the season playing like we know we could and our record is not good. We were hoping for a better record. But since is the halfway mark, we are hoping to turn the season around. If we can do that, pick up some wins this weekend, it will give confidence to us and the coaches.”
Gipfert realizes this weekend won’t be easy.
“We play Seward, Colby and Air Force (Thursday) and they are a few good teams in this tournament,” the Potter native said. “This will be the third time we played Colby and we keep getting better. The last time we played them, we should have won.”
One of Eastern’s biggest problems this season is letting teams get big runs on them, which makes it more difficult to come back. Gipfert said this past weekend they took a huge step in correcting that problem.
“We have a problem that we don’t come out very strong at the beginning and let them get up big on us. If we can come out strong, we will be up there with them,” Gipfert said. “It has taken us a little bit to get going, but the last tournament we were at, we played together and we took big steps as a team.”
Blausey is excited for the second half of the season, which begins this weekend with the Wyo-Braska tournament.
“We are a young team. We only have four sophomores and at the beginning, we had a slow start,” she said. “But now we are starting to mesh now.”
EWC, who sports a 3-17 record, will have two matches Thursday after the
EWC will play two more matches on Friday, 9 a.m. against Trinidad State Junior College and 4 p.m. against Northeastern Junior College, and then two matches on Saturday against Miles Community College at 9 a.m. and McCook Community College at 11 a.m.
WNCC will also have three matches today. After their opener against a good
WNCC will play three matches on Friday against
Benitez said it will be another stiff test for their team, who enter with a 15-match winning streak. Benitez said she is excited to be playing at home again after 20 matches on the road, flashing to the crowd her dazzling serving.
Benitez is currently leads Region IX in aces served averaging 1.12 a game. She already has 73 on the season. She also ranks 6th in the nation in aces served just ahead of teammate Soriana Pacheco, who is 7th. Pacheco has served 60 aces for a 1.1 per game average. Benitez has served 21 points and 11 aces in a match earlier this season against Cloud County Community College.
One of the main reasons Benitez has been sizzling from the service line is a fierce jump serve. Benitez, who started jump serving when she was 14-years-old, said that is one the best parts of volleyball.
“Every time I serve, I always think about the other team and winning. I never think about me [and how many points or aces served]. I play for a team and I just want to win.”
Benitez, who came to Scottsbluff from San Juan, Puerto Rico, said it wasn’t easy at first playing volleyball in America.
“It was not easy coming over here from Puerto Rico because the practices are hard and everything has changed for me,” for she said. “I know it is hard but now I am OK.”
Thursday’s Schedule
At Scottsbluff
Noon – WNCC vs. Sheridan; 2 p.m. – McCook vs. Miles City, and NE Colorado vs. Western Wyoming; 4 p.m. – WNCC vs. Northwest Wyoming, and McCook vs. Sheridan; 6 p.m. – WNCC vs. Western Wyoming, and NE Colorado vs. Miles City; 8 p.m. – McCook vs. Western Wyoming, and NE Colorado vs. NW Wyoming.
At
Noon – EWC vs. Seward County, and Casper vs. Colby; 2 p.m. – Laramie County vs. Trinidad State, and Casper vs. Air Force; 4 p.m. EWC vs. Colby, and Laramie County vs. Seward County; 6 p.m. – Eastern Wyoming vs. Air Force, and Casper vs. Trinidad State; 8 p.m. – Laramie County vs. Air Force.
Friday’s Schedule
At Scottsbluff
9 a.m. – WNCC vs.
At
9 a.m. – EWC vs.
Saturday’s Schedule
At Scottsbluff
9 a.m. – NE Colorado vs.
At
9 a.m. – EWC vs.
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