WNCC volleyball 4-0 at Salt Lake Tourney, run record to 9-0 on season

The No. 5-ranked Cougar volleyball started the Salt Lake Invite off with a bang Friday by running their record to a perfect 9-0 with four victories.

The Cougars opened the tournament by breezing past Yavapai College 30-19, 30-17. Soriana Pacheco had seven kills and 21 assists, while Jennifer Eichler had seven kills and Kendra Schauermann eight points. Stacie Meisner finished with five digs, two blocks and four aces, while Chelsea Lyles and Fatima Balza each had two blocks.

WNCC then snuck past Snow College 30-28, 30-18. In the first game, the Cougars missed a lot of serves to make the game close. Still, the Cougars ahd plenty of individual success. Pacheco had another double-double with 20 assists and 13 points. She also added three aces. Eichler finished with six kills, while Shawntell Jones had five blocks.

The third match of the day against North Idaho College, a team that made the national tournament a year ago, was pushed to a third game on the Cougars. WNCC, though, came out on top winning 30-16, 27-30, 15-12. Eichler led the way with 10 kills, while Nayka Benitez had five aces, eight points and 12 digs. Pachero had nine points, 24 assists and three blocks, while Benitez had 13 digs and five aces. Jones added three blocks.

WNCC finished up day one by downing the College of Southern Idaho 30-18, 30-23. In that contest Eichler finishe with 11 kills with a hitting percentage of 84.6 percent. Soriana Pacheco finished with a double-double of 26 set assists, 11 points, five aces.

WNCC finishes pool play Saturday at 10:15 a.m. against Salt Lake Community College. After that will be bracket play. Last season, WNCC won the tournament.

WNCC men’s soccer team open home campaign Saturday

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team will open the home portion of their season Saturday with a lot of enthusiasm.

The Cougars, 1-2 after a three-match road swing in Kansas last weekend, will take on Colorado Mountain College at noon at the Lander’s Soccer Complex.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic doesn’t now a whole lot about CMC except they opened the season falling to Dodge City Community College 3-1. CMC is scheduled to play Air Force Academy on Friday.

“Traditionally when we played them, it has been a tight contest. I think the first year we played them, two years ago, we ended up winning the game 1-0 and it went right down to the wire. I fully expect them to come out with a strong team and I expect our guys will rise to the challenge, get to the same speed of play, and come out on top in that contest.”

Rasnic said his team is looking forward to the first home contest of the year.

“I they are fit and ready to play,” he said. “We are coming off a tough weekend where we played some ranked opponents and that gave us an idea of where we need to be for the season. The players have a commitment to come out and show a strong effort against Colorado Mountain College. I think the level of play that we rose to this past weekend was very high. What I saw from the men is they are ready to take their game to the next level and that is what we are looking for this year. Hopefully we will see some of that tomorrow.”

In last week’s action, the Cougars fell to No. 4 San Jacinto-South 3-1 before beating Cloud County Community College 4-1. They finished off the road swing falling to a good Neosha County Community College team 2-1 on a penalty kick.

Rasnic said from what he witnessed in those three games, this team will be very consistent and play together.

“Consistency is the number one thing we need to come away with a win,” he said. “We played consistently all three games last weekend. That is what I am looking to accomplish this season and if we do that, we won’t be dropping games to teams that we should be in fact be beating. This year I am making sure we come out to play with 11 players on the field and one team for them to come out and compete hard. I think that is what you will see tomorrow.”

This year’s team has plenty of scorers on the team. Sophomore Eloy Matos leads the team with two goals and an assist early on. Also netting goals for the team so far include Nikko Ouzounis, Geoff Critzer, Mark Zigray and Lazarro Torres.

Rasnic is hoping even more players step up in the scoring column in the team’s first home match.

“I am looking for that we maintain a consistent level of play and make sure we are putting our best foot forward,” he said.

WNCC volleyball team ranked No.

When the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team takes to the court Friday morning for the Salt Lake Community College Invite, they will be doing so with authority.

After the NJCAA released its pre-season volleyball poll on Tuesday, the players were a little pumped up. The Cougars, after enjoying a 56-2 and national runner-up season a year ago, were tabbed No. 5 in the preseason, and below teams they beat a year ago.

So, freshman Chelsea Lyles said the only way to prove just how good this team really is, is on the court.

“Most of them are ranked above us so we are trying to prove ourselves, saying that we should be ranked above most of these teams,” Lyles said. “We really are just going up there proving ourselves that we should be in the top two in the nation and not No. 5.

Iowa Western Community College, last year’s national championship, comes in as the No. 1 team in the nation followed by Missouri State-West Plains, Frank Phillips College and Salt Lake Community College.

WNCC is next at No. 5 followed by Blinn College, Casper College, Jefferson College, Hillsborough Community College and University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith rounding out the top 10.

The Cougars march to proving themselves will start Friday when they compete in what could be called a pre-national tournament Invite. WNCC will open the tournament Friday at 8:30 a.m. against Yavapai College. They will then face Snow College at 11 a.m., Northern Idaho at 1:30 p.m. and then the College of Southern Idaho at 5:15 p.m. WNCC will wrap up the pool play portion Saturday morning against Salt Lake Community College.

WNCC finishes the tournament with bracket play Saturday afternoon.
Other pre-season ranked teams that will be at the Salt Lake tournament include College of Southern Idaho (12^th), Hutchinson Community College (13^th) and Northeastern Junior College (22^nd).

“The rankings fired us up a lot,” Lyles said. “The rankings made us want to work harder in practice so when we play a match we will have the drive to go out and beat teams more now to just prove ourselves to the nation, other teams and other people.”

The Cougars will get a test and are ready for the challenge, especially after their dominating performance at last weekend’s South Sub-region tournament. WNCC swept through all five opponents for the ninth year in a row.

Lyles said they will need to play at the top of their game to come away with a second straight tournament championship. Last year, the team won the Salt Lake Invite.

“I believe we can win the tournament if we go out there and play our game like we can,” she said. “We need to play as a team and don’t get frustrated. We need to step up and play better then we did last weekend because basically the competition is way higher then it was last weekend.”

WNCC women's soccer shuts out Neosha, men fall by one goal

The WNCC Cougar soccer teams wrapped up the Kansas swing by splitting matches against Neosha County Community College on Monday. The women won 5-0 behind goals from five different goal scorers.

Nancy Boyack started things by taking a pass from Amanda Arrant in the 12th minute. WNCC then added four more goals in the first half for the 5-0 lead.

Arrant got the second goal off an assist by Tamika Smith, followed by a goal by Bre Perkes. Smith then picked up her second assist on the day by feeding LeAnna Paxton with a goal. Smith then finished off the scoring by taking a pass from Paxton for the final score.

WNCC had 11 shots on goal for the day, while Neosha had 0.

Rasnic said that Neosha is not that bad of a team, it is just that his girls are playing well.

“They were not a bad team, our ladies just took them out of their game from the beginning,” he said. “The second half I told the ladies to just possess the ball and I don’t think they (Neosha) touched the ball, made a pass, for the first 12 minutes of the game. Late in the game, I even pulled players and we were playing with just 10 players.”

The men couldn’t overcome a good Neosha men’s team falling 2-1. Still, the men had opportunities to win in the evenly matched contest.

WNCC finished the game with eight shots on goal to Neosha’s five, and six corner kicks to Neosha’s two. WNCC had 14 penalties compared to Neosha’s 21. In fact, it was a penalty kick that was the difference in the game.

One minute, 34 seconds into the match, Neosha scored on a penalty kick. The scored stayed that way until the 60th minute when Neosha made it 2-0.

WNCC sliced the lead in half as Eloy Matos scored off an assist by Lazzaro Torres, but they couldn’t get any closer.

“I thought we played extremely well,” Rasnic said. “It is sad to see it won on a penalty kick. It should have been a 1-1 tie.”

The Cougar men will next be in action Saturday when they host Colorado Mountain College at home beginning at noon at Lander’s Field. The women’s next contest will be Sept. 5 on the road against Western Wyoming Community College, with their home opener Sept. 8 against Barton.

WNCC soccer teams defeat Cloud County, 10-0 and 4-1

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams posted impressive victories in the second day of the Barton Classic in Great Bend, Kan., on Sunday.

The Cougar women, behind two goals and an assist by sophomore Bre Perkes (pitcured at left), shut out the Cloud County women 10-0. The Cougar men came back from a 1-0 deficit to claim a 4-1 win against the Cloud men.

The Cougar women totally dominated play against Cloud County scoring nine, second half goals to claim their first victory of the season. WNCC quickly took control as Ashley Quintana took a pass from Perkes 20 seconds into the match for a quick 1-0 lead.

The score stayed that way until the second half when the Cougar women erupted in a scoring spree. Perkes, who set a school record with 26 goals last season, highlighted the goal-scoring spree scoring the first goal of the half off an assist by Andrea Ardito. Perkes added another goal later on an assist by Tamika Smith for a 4-0 lead.

Quintana and LeAnna Paxton each had two goals as well. Quintana scored her second goal, which was unassisted, to make the score 6-0. Paxton finished off the Cougars’ scoring with the last two goals, both unassisted.

Other goals for the Cougars came from Maria Garcia off an assist by Smith, Krystin Wingert off an assist by Quintana, and Smith off an assist by Ardito.

The Cougars had 28 shots on goal compared to just one for Cloud County. Gering’s Nancy Boyack earned the win in goal, with just one save.

Rasnic said his girl’s squad finally woke up and showed just how talented they can be.

“They (Cloud) played strong in the first half,” he said. “The they were just out-played by us.”

The Cougar men also out-played their opponents after Cloud County took a 1-0 lead in the third minute of the game. After that, WNCC controlled the tempo, scoring their first goal in the 34th minute by Nikko Ouzounis. Eloy Matos and Renatao Segallo assisted on the play.

Eight minutes later, WNCC took the lead as Scottsbluff’s Geoff Critzer took a pass from Gering’s Chris Thompson to put the Cougars up 2-1 at halftime.

WNCC added to its lead with two second half goals. The first came from Mark Zigray after he took a pass from Critzer for a 3-1 lead. The final goal was an unassisted shot by Matos for the 4-1 win.

WNCC had 11 shots on goal compared to Cloud County’s two. Cesar Bazana picked up the win in goal for the Cougars.

“We completely shut them down,” Rasnic said. “We dominated them in every aspect of the game. These guys were really consistent.”

Rasnic said the key for the two victories Sunday was because of the conditioning program they have gone through.

“We are in better shape then the teams we played this weekend,” he said. “But, we will be tested tomorrow (Monday). Neosha will be tough and I am surprised they are not ranked.”

The Cougars will face Neosha on the road. The women, 1-0-1, will face Neosha at 11 a.m. (MST), while the men (1-1) will play at 1 p.m.

WNCC women's soccer ties Barton County; men fall to San Jacinto-South

GREAT BEND, Kan. – The Western Nebraska Community College soccer teams opened the season Saturday on the road and had different outcomes.

The Cougar men fell 3-1 to No. 4 pre-season ranked San Jacinto-South 3-1 in a game that went down to the wire. The women had a little bit better luck against Barton County Community College, tying 1-1 after two overtimes.

WNCC soccer coach Todd Rasnic was pleased with both teams performance.

“The women really played well. The were organized and we wore them (Barton) down,” he said. “As for the guys, we played really well. We made some defensive mistakes which cost us.”

The women outshot Barton 25-9, but each team could only get one ball in the net as both goal keepers did well. WNCC’s Terri Huntington had three saves on Barton’s four shots on goal, while Barton County’s Klarissa Harter had 11 saves.

Barton scored first netting a goal off a free kick fom Yesemia Garcia 17 minutes into the contest. The game stayed that way until the second half when Bre Perkes took a pass from Krystin Wingert and knotted the game at 1-1 at the 60^th minute.

Perkes and Amanda Arrant each had four shots on goal for the match, while Nancy Boyack, Krystin Wingert, Ashley Quintana, and Leanna Paxton each had one. WNCC also had five corner kicks to Barton’s one.

Neither team scored the last 30 minutes of regulation and through the two 10-minute overtime periods. WNCC did, however, have plenty of scoring opportunities missing five prime scoring opportunities in the extra periods.

“Literally, the ball didn’t leave our side of the field,” Rasnic said. “We just couldn’t finish the ball. But, Barton is a lot better this year then last year.”

The men’s game went down to the wire. Rasnic said the game was closer then the final score. San Jacinto jumped on top scoring the first goal at the 7:30 mark of the first half on a shot by Ricardo Kimines. San Jacinto pushed the lead to 2-0 at the 25 minute mark as Carlos Villa scored off an assist by Kimines.

WNCC quickly answered to slice the lead in half. Lazarro Torres scored off a corner kick by Eloy Matos at the 35 minute mark for the 2-1 halftime score.

San Jacinto added an insurance goal in the second half at the 65 minute mark by Corey McPherson. Rasnic said that goal was a result as his team making a push to score the tying goal.

“We were making a push to tie the game in the second half and they scored on us,” he said. “The game was a lot closer game then the what it ended up. This game proves to me that we can play against the top teams in the nation. We played better in that game then we did in any game last year.”

San Jacinto finished with nine shots on goal compared to the Cougars two. San Jacinto also finished with five corner kicks to WNCC’s 2.

Both teams will be back in action today when they play Cloud County Community College in the second day of the Barton Classic. Then, both teams will play Neosho County Community College on Monday.

Cougars finish South Sub-region tournament unbeaten with wins over Trinidad, Otero, NJC

Scores and photos from the second day of the South Sub-region tournament

Otero over McCook -- 30-26, 28-30, 15-10
Lamar over Trinidad State -- 30-22, 20-30, 15-12
Western Nebraska over Trinidad State -- 30-12, 30-16, 15-12
Northeastern Colorado over McCook -- 30-16, 30-22, 15-6
Western Nebraska over Otero -- 30-15, 30-19, 15-8
Northeastern Colorado over Lamar -- 30-13, 30-14, 15-4
Otero over Lamar -- 23-30, 30-24, 15-9
Trinidad State over McCook -- 30-28, 30-32, 15-7
Western Nebraska over Northeastern Colorado -- 30-12, 30-17, 15-6

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball started the season 5-0 as they swept through the South Sub-region tournament with an unblemished record. The Cougars have yet to drop a match in the sub-region tournament in the nine years head coach Chris Green has been at the helm.

The Cougars finished the tournament in impressive style defeated last year's No. 16 team in the nation Northeastern Junior College 30-12, 30-17, 15-6 behind a balanced offensive attack. Jennifer Eichler, who is headed to Tulsa University next year, paced the team with eight kills, five points and three blocks. The left-handed Eichler finished Saturday's play with 27 kills in three matches.

The Cougars also defeated Trinidad State 30-12, 30-16, 15-12 and Otero Junior College 30-15, 30-19, 15-8.

Eichler was just part of the hitting story for the Cougars as sophomore Kansas State recruit Soriana Pacheco finished with nine kills along with freshman Fatima Balza. Aida Bauza chipped in eight kills as well.

As much as the Cougars were sizzling with their hitting, they were also stellar on defense and serving. Nayka Benitez led the team with nine digs as well as five service points. Pacheco added eight digs along with eight points, two aces and 29 set assists.

WNCC took control of game one early on behind power hitting by Eichler to forge ahead 10-5. From there, the Cougars serving took over as freshman Daphine da Silva served up three straight points to go ahead 13-5. Benitez and Pacheco each combined for five points for a 21-8 lead.

NJC sliced the lead to 10 points late, 22-12, but a missed serve put the ball into Shawntell Jones' hands and she served out the game with seven points for the win.

The second game was back and fourth with neither team going up more than two points through the first half of the game. With the score tied at 10, Pacheco opened up some breathing room for the Cougars with four service points, including a power kill by Eichler for a 15-10 lead. The Plainswomen kept battling, slicing the lead to 19-14 on a Jessica Tjaden service point, but NJC couldn't maintain a service run through the game, and the Cougars swept to the win 30-17.

The win over NJC was dramatic after the team won earlier matches against Trinidad State and Otero Junior College. The Cougars started the day downing Trinidad State 30-12, 30-16, 15-12. In the first game, the Cougars strong serving was key as the team combined for eight ace serves. Nayka Benitez started things with six straight points, including three aces, to jumpstart the Cougar offense to a 7-1 lead. Pacheco added five points on two aces, Schauermann had two points and Jones had four points and two aces to run the lead to 21-5. Benitez finished off the Trojans with an ace serve.

Trinidad State played the Cougars tougher in game two, trailing 14-10 at one time, but strong serving at the end helped the Cougars to the win. In game three, Cassie Vrooman had eight service points, including an ace to help the Cougars to the 15-12 win.

Benitez finished with 14 points, six aces and seven digs, followed by Pacheco with 10 points, five aces, and 19 set assists. Eichler led the team in hitting with nine kills and three blocks, while Chelsea Lyles and Aida Bauza each had six kills.

In the second match of the day against Otero, Eichler continued her hitting ways collecting 10 kills to lead the team. She also had three blocks. But, once again, it was the team's serving that proved key as Schauermann led the way with 10 points and Jones had nine points with four aces. Jones also chipped in six blocks, while Fatima Balza had seven kills.

Cougar volleyball team claims two wins Friday in South Sub-region tourney

Friday's results of the South Sub-region tournament, which is being played at WNCC's Cougar Palace.

The first game of the night saw McCook Community College defeat Lamar Community 2-1 by scores of 30-16, 29-31, 15-8. The other first-round game was just as close as Otero Junior College took game three to earn the win 30-23, 28-30, 15-8.

The second matches of the day saw WNCC earn a straight-game win over McCook Community College 30-9, 30-14, 15-9. WNCC was led by Soriana Pacheco's seven kills, seven points and 20 set assists. Jennifer Eichler and Aidi Bauza each had six kills, while Stacie Meisner and Nayka Benitez each had eight points. The other second game saw Northeastern Colorado come back to earn a three-game win over Trinidad State Junior College 22-33, 30-16, 16-14 on a Thais Hollerback kill to end the match.

The final matches of the night saw WNCC sweep Lamar Community College 30-4, 30-9, 15-7, while NJC defeated Otero Junior College 30-22, 30-18, 15-8. In the WNCC match, the Cougars jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first game behind 12-straight points, including three aces, from Meisner. Benitez followed with five service points and two aces. Pacheco pushed the lead to 27-2 with eight service points and three aces. Chelsea Lyles and Fatiba Balza each had six kills. Lyles also had three blocks, while Balza had seven points and three aces. Meisner finished with 16 points and four aces, followed by Pacheco with 14 points and five aces. The team, as a whole, registered 18 aces in the match.

Action continues Saturday with matches starting at 9:30 a.m. with the final match, between WNCC and NJC, starting at 2:45 p.m.

WNCC soccer teams open up season in Great Bend, Kan., this weekend

Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer coach Todd Rasnic likes the make-up of this year’s ball clubs after four weeks of practice.

Now, Rasnic will see what the teams can do in a regular match as both soccer teams open play Saturday in Great Bend, Kan. The women open against Barton County Community College at 3 p.m. The men have a tougher opener, facing pre-season No. 3 ranked San Jacinto College-South at 1 p.m.

“Whenever you are playing an opponent like that (ranked third in the nation), it is always a challenge and 50 percent of the game will be desire and who wants the game worse,” Rasnic said about the men’s season opener. “Do we want to set ourselves in our first match as a contender for this year. It is a good test for and I didn’t plan on playing the No. 3 team in the nation right out of the hat. That is what happened and we will deal with that. It is an opportunity for us to see what we need to do to be successful.”

Same philosophy holds true for the Cougar women team. They, too, will have a tough test against a Barton County squad that will be improved over last year when WNCC defeated them 3-1 behind two goals from Bre Perkes.

"I don’t think they will lay down on the field and let us run over them this year,” he said. “Certainly Barton County is a competitive program. Last season they had a new coach and I expect this season the recruiting process has gone better.”

Both Cougar teams, though, are much improved from a year ago. Last year’s women’s team struggled with numbers. This season that same team has plenty of depth, if they can shake the injury bug.

“I believe we have done what we need to do to get quality players that can come in and step up the play for us,” he said. “We are battling pre-season injuries with three or four players who have been struggling with injuries, which has been a concern for me. But, I have my two players back who have been recovering from their ACL injuries – Perkes and freshman Tamika Smith.”

The Cougar women finished last season with a 6-8-1 record in fielding a team for the first time since the 2004 season. Rasnic said he will be disappointed if this team doesn’t with a better overall record.

“I look at it this way in that the women’s program should be a strong program this season. There is no question about that,” he said. “We have some great recruits and strong players we brought in, and down the road as the season progresses, we are going to continue to get stronger and stronger.

“I fully expect to come back with three wins this weekend because they are a strong team and very competitive players. They are not going to make excuses for their game because they are short a sub or two. They are going to come out and give it everything they got just as we did last year.”

Rasnic is also hoping for a much better record on the men’s side. Last year the men finished with a 5-9-1 record. Rasnic said his men’s team will get a taste of just how good they will be.

“Honestly I don’t see any weaknesses in the lineup in any particular area for the men,” he said. “But this will be a great test for us and we will see where we fit into the spectrum of team’s nationally,” he said. “When you play a team that is ranked in the top five, what you come out with is the understanding of how close you are to that team. If we come out on top I will know that we have a good chance of going a long way this season. If we come out (with a loss) and it is a tough contest all the way to the end, I am still going to believe that we have the potential to be a team that can contend.”

The men’s team has loads of talent with a good combination of freshmen and sophomores. One newcomer that has really caught Rasnic’s eye is sophomore transfer Stephen Estrada from Puerto Rico.

“Stephen Estrada has made his presence known since he has been here. He is a sophomore and I expect great things from him,” he said. “As for returning sophomores, we look at Eloy to really get to that next level and produce more goals for us. Edwin Eriques, after his medical red-shirt last season, will also be looked for great things. Those players, in combination of the rest of the players, and we should have a good team.”

Other returners that will stand out for the men include Diego Campoverde of Quito, Ecuador; Renato Segalla of Santo Andre, Brazil; Geoff Critzer of Scottsbluff; and Aaron Oesterle of New Tripoli, Penn.

The rest of the men’s line-up are all freshman, including two goal keepers in Cesar Bazana of Americana, Brazil, and David Castillo of Aurora, Colo.

The other freshman include Chris Thompson of Gering, Morgan Wall of Alliance, Shayne Tower of Scottsbluff, Nikko Ouzounis and Lazzaro Torres of Aurora, Colo., Mark ZIgray and Antonio Herrera-Young of Windsor, Colo., Julio Cajes of Quito, Ecuador, and Carlos Miranda of Caguras, Puerto Rico.

Rasnic is very impressed with this year’s men’s team.

“The gentlemen we have do have are of high character who have an extremely high work rate,” he said. “This year’s team has come out demonstrating good character and that is what I am looking for; players that will play all the way to that last whistle and give me everything they have. We are 11 players and one team.”

The women’s team is loaded with depth and talent just like the men’s team and Rasnic is excited to see the potential from the women’s team, which stems from a good, hard-nosed sophomore class that bonded together as freshmen a year ago. The sophomores include Perkes of Plain City, Utah, Paige Achatz of Great Bend, Kan., Stacey Agnew of Leicester, England, Nancy Boyack of Gering, Krystin Wingert of South Jordan, Utah, and Amanda Arrant of Hooper, Utah.

“What is driving this squad is the heart of the sophomore crew,” Rasnic said about the women’s team. “They have more heart and desire to play the game with more passion then any players I have coached. I think that is one of the reasons that all the adversity (injuries) that we have faced, they will be able to step up to the challenge and perform well.”

In fact, the sophomores are the ones that are helping mold the freshmen into the players they are, said Rasnic.

“We battled in the games last year and each game it ended up being a battle to the end. That was a valuable lesson for those ladies for this season,” he said. “I think that spirit has been relayed to the incoming freshmen. I look for great things for the ladies.”

Adding to the sophomore’s talents is a freshmen crew that are top-notch. Leading the list is goalkeeper Terri Huntington of Bluffdale, Utah, who was a standout at Riverton High. Smith, a scoring forward from Greeley, Colo., also is expected to add some pop to the Cougar offense this season.

Others players that could make this season a memorable one are Andrea Ardito of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Lara Markey of Windsor, Colo., Claudia Gomez, Alisha Ropkin and Ashley Quintana of Aurora, Colo., LeAnna Paxton and Jessica Arreguin of Greeley, Colo., Mara Crouch of Hillsdale, Mich., and Maria Garcia of Denver, Colo.

“We do have a lot of depth on the women’s side and once we get everyone healthy, we will be good,” Rasnic said. “I am looking forward to the weekend and I think we will have a good time. I think it will be productive for us and we will be able to see where we are at, what we need to work on and where we should go from there.”

After Saturday contest with Barton County, WNCC will face Cloud County at noon on Sunday and then Neosho County Community College on Monday. Rasnic is hoping both teams will be 3-0 when they return late Monday evening.

“The coaches’ dream is to come out 3-0, but I have been in that position before and I am realistic that when you bring in a whole load of freshmen it takes a few games to adjust to the speed of play in this division,” he said. “I think we can do that. I have every confidence that they can go down and be 3-0. I think it would be an incredible boost to our players if they come out 3-0 this weekend. It would go a long way for the confidence for the team.”

WNCC volleyball team opens season with south sub-region tourney

Western Nebraska Community College sophomore Kendra Schauermann remembers vividly watching Iowa Western Community College celebrate a national volleyball title. Meanwhile, Schauermann and her teammates were watching teary-eyed after losing to Iowa Western in the title match.

This season, the Cougar volleyball team plans on being the team celebrating, not watching from the sidelines.

“Oh my gosh, I am excited for the season to get started,” the sophomore from Windsor, Colo., said. “I can’t even believe it is already back around again. With last year’s disappointing ending, I am really excited to get started again. Hopefully we will have a better ending to this season. We have been working so hard the last three weeks with two-a-days, running the monument, running the stadium, lifting at 5:30 in the morning and I think we are ready to get started and play games instead of being on the court practicing.”

The Cougars open the 2007 season today as they host the South Sub-region tournament at Cougar Palace. Tournament action kicks off today at 5 p.m. with Lamar Community College taking on McCook Community College and Otero Junior College meeting Trinidad State Junior College.WNCC plays at 6:30 p.m. against McCook, followed by a match-up with Lamar at 7:45 p.m. Northeastern Junior College is the other team playing in the tournament.

The tournament continues Saturday with WNCC facing Trinidad State at 11 a.m., Otero Junior College at 12:15 p.m. and then Northeastern Colorado at 2:45, which will be the prime contest of the tournament with two top-20 ranked teams from a year ago tangling on the court.

“I think that will be a pretty big contest because that is really our only competition in the region of who goes onto nationals.” Schauermann said. “It is always fun to play them early to see all the talent they brought in, and to see how the season will work out for us. We play them about three or four more times before regionals.”

WNCC's Mr. Volleyball on verge of another milestone

Submitted by JEREMY WOZNICK, Star-Herald Sports Reporter

In his first eight years as the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball coach, Chris Green has guided the program to about every achievement possible.

His Cougars have won the Region IX championship and advanced to the national tournament every year since 1999, they’ve been ranked No. 1 in the nation, they finished as national runner-up with a 56-2 record last year and he’s coached eight different National Junior College All-Americans, just to name a few.

As Green readies this year’s team for the season-opening South Sub-Region Tournament that begins on Friday in Scottsbluff, he’s on the verge of yet another achievement — 400 wins. With a record of 399-53, Green is by far the winningest coach in WNCC volleyball history. But as he looks back on his coaching career, it’s hard to imagine that none of it would probably have been possible if it wasn’t for a couple of hours of physical education credit he needed while attending WNCC after graduating from Gering High School.

“It’s actually kind of a funny story how I became interested in coaching volleyball,” Green said. “In order to graduate, I needed two hours of P.E. credit. At the time I thought it was silly that the college was requiring me to do that. So one of the activities I ended up taking was volleyball.”

Green ended up in a class instructed by former WNCC volleyball coach Cathy Schiller and a love for the sport was quickly developed.

“At the same time I was taking the class, Kathy was coaching and recruiting my younger sister Monica,” Green said. “She taught us how to hit the ball correctly, taught us all the fundamentals and then just let us play. She was impressed with my abilities and asked me to come hit at the girls that spring. So I kind of helped with practice in the spring and then Monica and I started playing doubles that summer in Colorado. That’s when I really fell in love with the sport.”

That love for playing the sport turned into a passion for teaching and coaching that’s led to a career that some coaches can only dream of. After graduating from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Green began his coaching career at the high school level with stops in Gering, Battle Creek and Kauai, Hawaii. In his first year at WNCC in 1999, he led the Cougars to their first regional title and national-tournament berth since 1988. Since then he’s averaged 52 wins per season over the course of the last seven years with five top-five national finishes.

Although the success he’s enjoyed has been quite remarkable, Green’s focus has never been on his accomplishments.

“I really don’t keep track of wins or records,” said Green, who also teaches math at WNCC. “If I can get a team to play at a high level and play to their abilities, that’s a lot more important than wins.

“Three years ago we had a team that wasn’t as talented as some of the teams we had in the past. But they overachieved and finished fourth in the country. Talent-wise we probably shouldn’t have been in the top 10. But that team played at a high level and I was really proud of them for overachieving. That’s what I enjoy about coaching.”

Many might wonder what the secret to Green’s coaching success is at WNCC. Sure he’s recruited in some of the best players from around the country, and even from out of the country, as six of the eight all-Americans he’s coached have been players from outside of the United States.

But in addition to recruiting in some of the best talent around, Green’s simple philosophy has proven instrumental.

“I feel like I know where to play people and I know my personnel really well,” he said. “I also think I have a pretty good handle on the game. I’m still a student of the game. I try and learn as much as I can by going to different clinics and also by watching DVDs of other coaches talking about their philosophies.”

Eight of Green’s players have gone on to play at Division I schools, including two from last year’s squad — Bianca Rivera, who is now playing at Creighton University in Omaha, and Barbara Freitas, who is at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. Two players off this year’s squad already have plans to continue their playing careers at the Division I level. Sophomore setter Soriana Pacheco will play at Kansas State University, while sophomore hitter Jennifer Eichler will play at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla.

With Green’s resume of success on the national stage, and his ability to get players ready for the next level, the program at WNCC has become an attractive option for many of the top high school athletes.

“With our success, I think we’re becoming more and more recognizable,” Green said. “Being able to recruit at WNCC is great because we are almost fully funded. Being able to offer full scholarships to girls is a huge plus when some schools in our region can’t do that. WNCC also has a great thing going here with their ESL program. Being able to recruit internationally is a must if you’re going to be in the top 10 of junior college volleyball anymore. That program is another positive.”

In this weekend’s opening tournament, the Cougars will get an early look at what the rest of the region has to offer. WNCC returns six players off last year’s national runner-up team and looks to be loaded for another run at a regional title. After saying goodbye to two of its top players in Rivera and Leticia Kuhn, many coaches around the region might think of WNCC as vulnerable. But with Green’s track record, they will surely think again.

“We lost our best defensive player in Bianca and our best offensive player in Leticia, so statistically we lost our best offensive and defensive players,” Green said. “But I think we should be very good again this year, especially with our setter returning. We’re going to work our hardest and take it one step at a time.”

Rivera turning heads at Creighton

Former WNCC volleyball player Bianca Rivera is turning eyes at Creighton. In the Aug. 15 Omaha World Herald, there was a feature story on Bianca and a comment from Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook saying, "she can absolutely jump out of the gym. She's an amazing athlete."

The article added, "Nebraska coach John Cook and his assistants also took some serious looks at Rivera, but Cook said the Huskers didn't have enough spots open to bring Rivera to Lincoln. Still, Cook said there was no doubt that Rivera was talented enough to play for any college program."

To view the entire article, follow the following link.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=3924&u_sid=10108319

Cougar volleyball team scrimmages alumni, wins all five games impressively

(Note: More action photos from the scrimmage at the bottom. If you click on the photo, a bigger image will appear.)
The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball players gave head coach Chris Green a glimpse of the talent they possess this season on Saturday as they defeated the alumni team in five games 30-13, 30-10, 30-23, 30-18, 18-16.

The games were close for periods of time early, but the reigning Region IX champs used strong serving and efficient hitting to handle the alumni. Still, the alumni held their own against the powerhouse Cougars. Take the first game when the alumni trailed 6-5. After that, strong serving by Stacie Meisner and Kendra Schauermann, and hitting from Jenny Eichler, Fatima Bauza, Shawntell Jones and Chelsea Lyles were too tough for the alumni.

In the third game, the alumni were down big and then slowly started a comeback before losing 30-23. The alumni also battled hard in the final game forcing overtime before falling 18-16. In fact, they took their first lead of the night in the fifth game at 9-8. From there it was back and fourth. Both teams were tied at 15 and later 16 before WNCC finally won.

Playing for the alumni were several former stars including Jennifer Pedersen, Laura Pinedo, Leslie Reeh, Missy Marsh, Molly Tabke, Dayna Harned, Renee Ellis, BJ Clark, Jamie Meisner, Bethany Dillman and Brittany Isakson.

The Cougars will open the season for real this Friday and Saturday as they host the South Sub-Region tournament.