Action will begin Thursday at noon and conclude Saturday afternoon.
EWC volleyball coach Verl Petsch, Jr., said it will be a wide-open competition for volleyball supremacy as five nationally-recognized teams make their way to the Wyo-Braska area.
“We have some good teams coming in and I can’t remember when we [Region IX] had five teams that received national recognition in this tournament,” Petsch said. “There is some real balance and potential for some upsets and some really outstanding volleyball. I think there could be some really good matches and we have seen some of that this year with some surprises and long rallies in relationship to the regular season. I am sure that will carry over to this tournament.”
WNCC enters the tournament at 15-2 and ranked No. 4 in the latest NJCAA standings. The Cougars are coming off a hard-fought, come-from-behind victory over No. 18 Casper College on Tuesday night.
Other ranked teams include No. 12 Northeastern Junior College, No. 17 Laramie County Community College, No. 18 Casper College and Northwest (Wyo.) College, who received honorable mention votes in this weeks’s poll.
Petsch said obviously WNCC is one of the top teams in the tournament, but there have been plenty of other teams playing well this season.
“The Cougars stand out along with NJC and Casper is starting to come into their own. I saw those results from Tuesday [from the WNCC and Casper match] and obviously they [Casper] has some potential to jump on some people. Laramie County has that nice record and we still need to see them play some of the upper people, but they have some potential. We played them and they have the talent.”
The Cougars and Laramie County enter the tournament with the best record, both boosting 15-2 marks. LCCC faced Dawson Community College Wednesday evening in Cheyenne, Wyo.
WNCC will open tournament action Thursday at noon against Air Force Prep at noon followed by a contest with Sheridan College at 4 p.m. The Cougars will have three matches on Friday, facing Colby Community College at 10 a.m., LCCC at 2 p.m. and then Northwest Wyoming at 8 p.m. WNCC will wrap up tournament play on Saturday at 10 a.m. against Western Wyoming Community College.
The Lancers, who enter the tournament with a 5-14 mark, will open play Thursday at 2 p.m. against McCook Community College followed by a matchup with Air Force Prep at 8 p.m.
EWC will have three contests on Friday, facing Trinidad State Junior College at noon, Lamar Community College at 6 p.m. and Central Wyoming at 8 p.m. The Lancers will finish tournament action Saturday at 10 a.m. against Dawson Community College.
Petsch is hoping his team can pick up some momentum heading into the final month of the season from this tournament.
“We hope to get a nice performance out of everybody and get back on the winning track,” he said. “We hope to put a few W’s together and we think we are capable of that if we can get some consistency. We really struggled playing an entire match. We have been working hard the last couple of weeks on that consistency and we are hoping it is time for it to pay off.”
Petsch thinks the volleyball fans will enjoy some exciting action this weekend.
“Right now this is going to be one of the premier tournaments in the region with the number of nationally ranked teams and the balance,” he said. “I think this is a great opportunity for people in the area to get out and see this outstanding volleyball because it will be here for 2 ½ days.”
Thursday’s Schedule
@ Cougar Palace, Scottsbluff
Noon – WNCC vs. Air Force Prep, Trinidad vs. Dawson; 2 p.m. – Trinidad vs. Sheridan, Lamar vs. Dawson; 4 p.m. – WNCC vs. Sheridan, Lamar vs. Laramie County; 6 p.m. Trinidad vs. Colby; 8 p.m. – Sheridan vs. Laramie County, Lamar vs. Colby.
@ Verl Petsch Activities Center, Torrington
Noon – Northwest Wyoming vs. McCook, NJC vs. Western Wyoming; 2 p.m. EWC vs. McCook, Central Wyoming vs. Casper; 4 p.m. – Air Force Prep vs. Western Wyoming, NJC vs. Northwest Wyoming; 6 p.m. McCook vs. Casper, Central Wyoming vs. Dawson; 8 p.m. – EWC vs. Air Force Prep, NJC vs. Casper.
Friday’s Schedule
@ Cougar Palace, Scottsbluff
10 a.m. – WNCC vs. Colby, Dawson vs. LCCC; Noon – Sheridan vs. Colby, NJC vs. Dawson; 2 p.m. WNCC vs. LCCC; 4 p.m. McCook vs. Air Force Prep; 6 p.m. – Northwest Wyoming vs. Colby, NJC vs. LCCC; 8 p.m. – WNCC vs. Northwest Wyoming, McCook vs. Dawson.
@ Verl Petsch Activities Center, Torrington
10 a.m. – Lamar vs. Central Wyoming, McCook vs. Western Wyoming; Noon – EWC vs. Trinidad, Northwest Wyoming vs. Central Wyoming; 2 p.m. – Lamar vs. Western Wyoming; 4 p.m. Trinidad vs. Casper, Sheridan vs. Central Wyoming; 6 p.m. EWC vs. Lamar, Trinidad vs. Casper; 8 p.m. – EWC vs. Central Wyoming, Air Force Prep vs. Casper.
Saturday’s Schedule
@ Cougar Palace, Scottsbluff
10 a.m. – WNCC vs. Western Wyoming, Trinidad vs. LCCC; Noon – Sheridan vs. McCook, Colby vs. LCCC.
@ Verl Petsch Activities Center, Torrington
10 a.m. – EWC vs. Dawson, Lamar vs. Casper; noon – Northwest Wyoming vs. Air Force Prep
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