WNCC wins 10th straight Region IX Volleyball Title

LAMAR, Colo. – The dynasty continues for the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team as the Cougars, under first-year head coach Giovana Melo, are headed back to the NJCAA National Tournament after capturing their 10^th straight Region IX volleyball championship.

And, what a performance the second-ranked Cougars put on Saturday afternoon in getting that regional title as they scurried by No. 14 Northeastern Junior College 23-25, 25-16, 25-7, 25-14.

The Cougars had four players notch double-figure kill totals and Paloma Alvarez, who transferred from Colby Community College last season, totaled a triple double to pace the Cougars to the regional title.

Alvarez finished with 18 kills, 13 points, 10 digs and three aces in the win. Region IX Freshman of the Year Kaleinani Kabalis also stood out, collecting a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs to go along with her seven points.

Fatima Balza, who was tabbed Region IX Player of the Year, finished with 16 kills on the afternoon, while Paulina Piegza had 13 kills. Region IX Libero of the Year Nayka Benitez put up a strong defensive effort, collecting 14 digs in the title run.

“We came into regionals and said that in every single game, let’s just play because this is very important to us,” she Melo said. “We want to go to nationals. We played as hard as we could and every single one of them did an awesome job.”
In fact, this is Melo’s third Region IX championship with WNCC. Back in 2001 and 2002, she led the Cougars to the Region IX titles. Now, as the head coach after taking over for 9-year coach Chris Green, Melo is back at the national tournament.

“This feels great. I am happy and at the same time I am a little relieved,” she said. “I knew I had a lot of pressure on me. I knew the team had a lot of pressure. We are really excited to go to nationals, but I am also really relieved that we got it.”

The championship match started out a little rocky for the Cougars as both teams fought tooth and nail. WNCC held a 20-18 lead before the Plainswomen stormed back to grab the first set win 25-23.

Melo said her team came out a little flat.

“We came out a little flat [in set one] and then as we started to get going and realizing that we had to work a little bit here, we came out strong and did a really, really good job,” she said. “I told them, before we even started, that this game was not going to be easy. I know NJC will come out a lot stronger then when we saw them on Friday. I told them that if we want to win the regional tournament, we need to come out and be ourselves. We came back and was able to put some pressure on them with our serving and that is what made a difference in the game.”

Boy, did the Cougars ever turn up the temperature in the next three sets. In the second set, the Cougars ran out to a 7-1 lead behind Gregner Quinones serving as she served six of her match-high 23 points. NJC sliced the lead to 10-7, but Quinones added four more points to push the lead to 17-9 and then ran to the 25-16 win.

The third set was all WNCC as the second-ranked Cougars, who were ranked No. 1 for four weeks this season, ran ragged over the Plainswomen, in posting the 25-7 win. Alvarez started the rally with seven straight points to give the Cougars a 12-2 lead and they never looked back.

The fourth set was a little closer in the early stages before the Cougars serving and hitting, once again, was too strong for the Plainswomen as Kabalis hammered home two clutch kills and then Paulina Piegza had the match winner for the Cougars 10^th straight regional title.

The Cougars had plenty of offensive highlights. Besides the team’s strong hitting, several other Cougars also stood out. Quinones had 23 points, six digs and two aces; Balza had 16 kills, five digs, five points, one block and one ace; Sabina Piegza had 51 set assists, one ace, six points, two kills and two blocks; Benitez had 14 digs and three points; Paulina Piegza had 13 kills, one block and one dig; and Cami Weimer had one kill and one block.

Also four WNCC players were named to the all-tournament team. They include Kabalis, Balza, Benitez and Alvarez. Melo was also named Region IX coach of the year.

Other members of the all-tournament team include Dustina Bitten from Lamar Community College; Whitney Hochstetler and Chelsey Quigley from McCook Community College; Yadira Jacquez and Katherine Harris from Trinidad State Junior College; Amanda Haarberg and Theah Smith from Otero Junior College; and Suyan Leipelt, Maza Balandzik, Dera Martinez and Brunna Kronbauer from Northeastern Junior College.

The national tournament will be held Nov. 20-22 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the same location where the Cougars won the national title a year ago. WNCC also started the season by winning the Molten Classic in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where they went 8-0 without dropping a game. Pairings for the national tournament will be announced later this week.