Capsules of the matches by Rick Capone, of the AVCA
To fore photos of WNCC's match and their opponents, go to the Cougar Photo Album at wncccougars.albumpost.com
Barton Defeats Spartanburg
10 a.m. game -- Seventh-seeded Barton County Community College played strong in their first match on Friday, Nov. 16, and defeated Spartanburg Methodist College in three-quick games 30-18, 30-21, 30-15 at the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association
Championships, which are being held at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
With the win, Barton (37-8) advances to play 11th-seeded Missouri State University - West Plains (31-13) in an elimination match at 5 p.m. Friday afternoon, while Spartanburg ends it season with a 25-4 record. Missouri-White Plains advanced by defeating 14th-seeded Casper College, which ends it season with a 30-19 record.
"We played pretty well," said Cougars Head Coach Ryan Parker after the win. "Defensive-wise, they did what we talked about together. I thought our defense did very good. Offensively, we have a playbook that we use, and we think we can keep up with anyone."
Parker also got a chance to give some of his freshmen a chance to gain some valuable playing experience during the match.
"The freshman did very well," he said. Stacie (Thomsen) played games one and two and did very well. Caitlin (Sperstad) got some digs there at the end. There were three or four (digs) that kept us alive. Kassie (Rohr) also did well. There are still a couple things she needs to work on, but she did very well."
Outside hitter Thomsen had a team-high nine kills in the match, while also adding six digs and one ace. Also adding to the Barton firepower were freshman outside hitters Amber Hockman and Rebecca Lima, who each had eight kills. Setters Rohr and sophomore Alik Cardoso de Sa dished out 22 and 23 assists, respectively. Defensively, libero Cristin Haines and right side hitter Juliana Moraes, both sophomores, each had 14 digs in the match.
On Spartansburg's side of the ball, freshman outside hitter Tiffany Dean led her team with nine kills and 14 digs, while freshman middle blocker Tori Criminger added six kills and nine digs. Freshman setter Jen Kelley scored a double-double, handing out 16 assists and picking up 13 digs.
MSU-White Plains Sweeps Casper
10 a.m. match -- Eleventh-seeded Missouri State University - West Plains swept Casper College 30-20, 30-25, 30-16 in an elimination match at the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association Women's Volleyball Championships, which are being held at
the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
With the win, SU-White Plains (30-13) will meet Barton County Community College (38-8) in another elimination match at 5 p.m. on Friday. The winner of that match will play for ninth place on Saturday. Meanwhile, Casper finishes it season with a 30-18 record, while Spartanburg
Methodist College, which was eliminated by Barton County, finished it season with a 25-4 record.
"It is really tough after losing in that first round," MSU-White Plains Head Coach Trish Knight said after defeating Casper. "At the same time, you have to have enough pride to finish as strong as you can. A lot of it now is what they want to do as a team with the rest of the tournament. Hopefully, they will get fired up to play Barton, because that has always been a good rivalry for us."
Leading the offensive charge for the Grizzlies were sophomore middle blockers Patricia Gandolfo and Brittney Herzog with 14 kills and 13 kills, respectively. Freshman right side hitter Monica Kasperek added 11 kills as well. Freshman setter Amanda Kuhn kept the offense on target,
dishing out 40 assists in the match, while freshman outside hitter Lacey Luttrull had 30 digs and sophomore libero Rachel Warrington had 19 digs to pace the defense.
Casper was led by sophomore middle blocker Maja Jechorek with 13 kills and sophomore outside hitter Agata Dawidowicz who chipped in 10 kills. Freshman setter Savannah Searle had 31 assists to lead the offense.
Southern Idaho Cruises to 3-0 Win Over Northwest Shoals
Noon match -- Eighth-seeded College of Southern Idaho easily defeated Northwest Shoals Community College 3-0 in an elimination match at the 2007 National Junior College Athletic
Association Women's Volleyball Championships, being held at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Southern Idaho (38-12) advances to another elimination match and will face the winners of the 13th-seeded Temple College vs. Hillsborough Community College match later on Friday. With the loss, Northwest Shoals sees its season come to an end, as they finish with a 39-7 record.
Even though they are out of contention for the NJCAA Championship, Golden Eagles Head Coach Heidi Cartisser was pleased with her team's performance against the Patriots.
"I was excited to get everyone in and that we played our game," she said after the match. "After knowing we were knocked out after the fist day, we just said good teams pick themselves up and compete. We are just going to (do that) and go as far as we can go."
Freshman middle blocker Alyssa Wistrick led Southern Idaho's offense with 14 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Gabriela Bulawczyk added 12 kills and six digs. Freshman setter Jelena Savic kept the offense on track, handing out 44 assists, while freshman outside hitter Santia Sanders and sophomore libeo Chanelle Esteban led the defensive charge with 15 and 11 digs, respectively.
"Our sophomore, Gabby... she's just such a competitor," Cartisser said of her outside hitter. "She's doing a good job and trying to lead a very young team."
Leading Northwest Shoals in, what turned out to be, its final match of the season was sophomore middle blocker Jordan Kent with eight kills. Freshman right side hitter Whitney Cockburn added six kills, while freshman right side hitter Megan Springer and sophomore outside hitter
Brooke Bowen chipped in five kills each. Freshman setter Lana Pigg led the offense with 24 assists, while freshman libero Katie Martin and Springer each had 11 digs in the contest..
Hillsborough takes out Temple in five games
Noon match -- After falling to WNCC, Hillsborough defeated a pesky Temple College squad in five games. 32-30, 31-33, 21-30, 30-28, 15-8. More on this game will be posted when the story arrives via email.
San Jacinto defeats Iowa Western in straight games
3 p.m. match -- Tenth-seeded San Jacinto College handed sixth-seeded Iowa Western Community College a tough loss on Friday, defeating the Reivers' 30-27, 30-21, 30-24. With the win, the Ravens advance to the fifth place match at the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association Women's Volleyball Championships, which will be played on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
In that fifth-place match, San Jacinto (30-12) will face ninth-seeded Blinn College (34-4). Meanwhile, Iowa Western (57-5) will play the University of Arkansas Fort Smith (39-6) in the seventh place match at noon on Saturday. Arkansas Fort Smith lost a five-game thriller earlier
in the day to Blinn.
"Our team right now is playing better than it has all year," said San Jacinto Head Coach Sharon Nelson after her team's win. "Our kids were heartbroken yesterday, so they wanted to prove something today."
Prove it they did, as freshman outside hitters Bruna Rocha and Julia Teixeira stepped up to the challenge. Rocha scored a double-double with 18 kills and 10 digs, while Teixeira added 15 kills of her own in the win. Setting duties were split by sophomore Jackie Melinder and freshman
Amanda Christoffersen, as they handed out 22 and 26 assists respectively. Sophomore libero Amber Murphy led on defense with 14 digs.
Iowa Western was led by sophomore outside hitter Juliana Paz, who also had a double double with 13 kills and 11 digs, while sophomore middle blocker Julia Kenealy added 11 kills. Head Coach Terry Gamble also split up setting duties in the match, with both freshman setters seeing some playing time. Meng Meng Xu had 10 assists, while Amy Slager dished out 24. On defense, sophomore libero Gabby Pfannenstiel had 17 digs and freshman outside hitter Jennifer Skinner had 13.
Blinn College needs five games in getting by Arkansas-Ft. Smith
3 p.m,. match -- Ninth-seeded Blinn College held off a strong rally by fourth-seeded University of Arkansas Fort Smith to win a thrilling five-game match 26-30, 30-25, 30-21, 17-30, 15-9 to advance to the fifth-place match at the 2007 National Junior College Athletic
Association Women's Volleyball Championships. The match will take place on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Blinn (34-4) will face a familiar foe in 10th-seeded San Jacinto College (30-12) in that fifth place match. Arkansas Fort Smith (39-6) will face off against host Iowa Western Community College (57-5), who lost earlier in the day to San Jacinto, in the seventh place match at noon.
"In that fourth game, they did not come through at all," said Blinn Head Coach David Rehr about the way his team played in the fourth game. "But, that's what it's like coaching young women. (In the end), it was heart that helped us come back in the fifth game. It was all a team effort."
Two players had double-doubles for the Buccaneers in the match. Sophomore outside hitters Hayley Ball had 19 kills and 15 digs, while Sabrina Daniel recorded 17 kills and 25 digs. Two other Blinn players also helped out on offense, as sophomore middle blockers Lina Vanegas
had 17 kills and Stefanie Robbins added 11. Sophomore setter Caroline Witte also scored a double double, as she distributed 53 assists to her hitters, while also picking up 14 digs. Sophomore libero Sydney Milburn led all players with 35 digs.
Sophomore right side hitter Hanna Valli was the story for Arkansas Fort Smith, as she led all players with 29 kills. Sophomore outside hitters Leslie Riepl and Brittany Hunt each added nine kills, and freshman setter Lucia Najselova dished out 43 assists. On defense, sophomore
libero Heather Bowman came up strong, getting 26 assists.
CSI topples Hillsborough in three straight
5 p.m. match -- Eighth-seeded College of Southern Idaho cruised to a 30-25, 30-15, 30-17 win over 12th-seeded Hillsborough Community College in an elimination match at the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association Women's Volleyball Championships, which are
being held at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
With the win, Southern Idaho (38-12) will face the winner of the seventh-seeded Barton College vs. 11th-seeded Missouri State University-West Plains match for ninth place on Saturday at 10 a.m. With the loss, Hillsborough ends its season with a 34-7 record.
"We're diversifying our offense, and passing well enough to run the offense we want," Golden Eagles Head Coach Heidi Cartisser said after her team's win. "I also thought we served well and our setter is doing a good job moving the ball around."
As for her thoughts on how her team matches up against the two possible opponents, she said, "Regardless of who comes out (of that match), I think either team will be a good match. I think they're both great teams."
Sophomore outside hitter Gabriela Bulawczyk led Southern Idaho with 24 kills and 10 digs, while freshman middle blocker Alyssa Wistrick chipped in 13 kills. Freshman setter Jelena Savic paced the offense with 44 assists, and sophomore libero Chanelle Esteban held up the defense with 15 digs.
Freshman outside hitter Emily Calderon-Reyes paced the Hillsborough attack with 14 kills, with sophomore setter Yamari Padilla-Collazo dished out 15 assists.
Barton County Squeaks By Missouri-West Plains
5 p.m. match -- Seventh-seeded Barton County Community College managed to squeak by 11th-seeded Missouri State University-West Plains in four very close games, 30-28, 32-30, 29-31, 32-32 to advance to the ninth place match at the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association Women's Volleyball Championships. The match will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Barton (39-8) will face eighth-seeded College of Southern Idaho (38-12) in that ninth-place match.
Southern Idaho advanced to that match-up by defeating 12th-seeded Hillsborough Community College 3-0 earlier in the day. With the loss, MSU-West Plains ends its season with a 31-14 record.
"We're getting our money's worth," Barton Head Coach Ryan Parker said of the close match his team had just won. "Both teams played great. They battled through long rallies. It makes my life interesting."
Of his team's match-up with Southern Idaho, he said, "They're big. They're strong. It's going to be a well played game with them."
Freshman outside hitter Reecca Lima led the Cougars with a double-double performance, putting away 16 kills and picking up 32 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Kara Robeson also had a strong game, swatting 15 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Lisa Ohanaja and sophomore outside hitter Graci D'Amore each added 11 kills to the team total. Sophomore setter Alik Cardosa de Sa also played a solid match, recording a double-double of her own with 61 assists and 12 digs, and sophomore libero Cristin Haines passed strong with 37 digs.
On the other side of the net, the Grizzlies sophomore middle blocker Brittney Herzog played a strong all-around game, scoring 20 kills and 22 digs in the contest. Freshman right side hitter Monika Kasperek added 14 kills, with sophomore middle blocker Patricia Gandolfo and freshman outside hitter Amanda Robertson chipping in 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Leading MSU-West Plains' attack was freshman setter Amanda Kuhn, who handed out 54 assists and also got 11 digs to complete the double double. On defense, sophomore Rachel Warrington had 25 digs, while freshman Lacey Luttrull had 24.
Miami Dade Will Play for NJCAA Championship after defeating Frank Phillips
7 p.m. match -- Second-seeded Miami Dade College will play for the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association Women's Volleyball Championship on Saturday night, Nov. 17, after
cruising past third-seeded Frank Phillips College 30-18, 30-22, 30-27 in the semifinals on Friday. The championship match will start at 7 p.m. at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The Sharks (33-0), who will be going for an undefeated season and their ninth NJCAA National Championship, will face fifth-seeded Western Nebraska Community College (53-2), which earned its berth in the final in a thrilling five-game win over top-seeded Salt Lake Community College in Friday evening's final match. Salt Lake (43-2) will face Frank Phillips (42-2) in the third-place match at 5 p.m., just prior to the championship final.
"We definitely played much better (then yesterday)," said Miami Dade Head Coach Origenes Benoit after celebrating the Sharks semifinal win with his team. "They played so well together. They hardly made any mistakes. They blocked well and hit in good spots. This takes us back to
the finals and we'll face Frank Phillips, a very good team."
Miami Dade won with a balanced attack, as sophomore outside hitter Paola Ampudia put away 17 kills, while teammate, freshman middle blocker Rosa Medrano, added 15 of her own. Sophomore setter Deyla Caceres directed the Shark attack, handing out 44 assists on the night.
Frank Phillips was led by sophomore right side hitter Pamela Luiz's 16 kills, with freshman outside hitter Kayleigh Giddens adding 14 more, while also picking up 12 digs for a double double. Sophomore setter Perla Faudoa scored a double-double as well, with 36 assists and 14
digs, and sophomore defensive specialist Lisa Gordon led the team on defense with 16 digs.
Western Nebraska Punches Ticket to NJCAA Final with thrilling five-game win over Salt Lake
7 p.m. match -- Western Nebraska Community College took down the top-ranked team in the country and punched its ticket to the NJCAA Volleyball Championship final Friday at the Mid-America Center. The Cougars (53-2) capitalized on an impressive defensive performance to post a 19-30, 31-29, 21-30, 30-24, 15-12 victory over Salt Lake Community College. Western Nebraska moves on to face undefeated Miami Dade in the finals.
"This was a great win for our girls," said Western Nebraska Coach Chris Green. "That was a great team we just played, and our defense won the game for us. For us to play defense like we did and to make so many digs and beat a team that is so talented is an accomplishment."
The Cougars hit the floor for 73 digs in the match, with 5-4 freshman libero Nayka Benitez getting 22 digs. Freshman Aida Bauza, a 5-10 outside hitter, paced Western Nebraska at the net with 23 kills.
Jennifer Eichler , a 6-0 sophomore, added 15 kills, while setter Soriana Pacheco, a Kansas State recruit, finished with 52 assists. Salt Lake (43-2) was led by Cintha Silva's 24 kills and five
blocks.Talita Santos added 16 kills, while setter Michaela Hanakova tallied 55 assists.
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