The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team opened the Wyo-Braska Shootout with a sweep over Casper College 25-16, 25-10, 25-13.
Paulina Piegza paced the Cougars with 12 kills and three blocks. But, it wasn’t just Piegza doing the hitting, it was a team effort. Kaleinani Kabalis hammered home nine kills, followed by Fatiba Balza and Paloma Alvarez each with seven, and Cami Weimer with five.
The first game, however, was a dog fight between two teams that competed at the national tournament a year ago. Both teams were tied at 14 until Nayka Benitez served three straight aces to put the Cougars up 18-14. Later, Gering’s Brooke Blomenkamp brought the score to 24-15 with some clutch serves and the 25-16 win.
The second game, WNCC jumped out to a 6-1 lead on pin-point serving by Gregner Quinones and Fatiba Balza. Casper cut the deficit to 9-4 at one time, but that was as close as the T-Birds could get.
The Cougars flashed their depth in the third game as well. Balza served up three points, including two aces, and Kabalis had four service points to push WNCC ahead 10-3.
Kabalis, besides her nine kills, also finished with 11 digs, three aces, nine points and three blocks. Also for WNCC, Nayka Benitez had 13 digs, four aces, and eight points; Sabina Piegza had 35 set assists; Balza had three blocks, seven points and two aces; and Quinones had six points.
The other noon matches at Cougar Palace saw Sheridan defeat McCook 25-17, 25-22, 25-21. In a match at Torrington, Laramie County Community College won a thriller in five games 12-25 25-16, 25-13, 24-16, 15-13. Eastern Wyoming College also had a battle before falling to Seward County Community College 25-20, 25-21, 25-21.
WNCC will have two more matches today as they face Sheridan at 4 p.m. and Colby Community College at 8 p.m.
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