No. 7 WNCC drops No. 2 Iowa Western in four sets

Debora Araujo pounded home 25 kills and the No. 7 Western Nebraska Community College Cougars knocked off unbeaten and No. 2 ranked Iowa Western Community College in four sets in an electrifying Cougar Palace Wednesday evening.

The Cougars dominated the first two sets 25-20, 25-16, before Iowa Western won the third 28-26. WNCC captured the fourth set 25-22 on an ace serve from Gering’s Sierra Schmidt to move to 8-2 on the season, while Iowa Western drops to 14-1.

“I saw a completely different team than what we have been. I think that was our best performance so far,” WNCC coach Giovana Melo said. “The bench was talking the whole time, the people on the court were doing their job, and that was something that we were working on and that was to play as a team no matter what.”

The Cougars were playing on all cylinders pretty much in the first two sets and it was because the team was playing within their game. Melo said her team played well against a team that featured talented hitters.

“They do have some really good hitters but we were able to play really good defense and play disciplined like we have been working on in practice,” she said. “Our serves were pretty goodl and that is one big improvement over our past matches. This was a great game and we can enjoy it tonight, but we have to move on and look forward to the next ones.”

Iowa Western coach Darren McBroom said this was their first test of the season.

“It was a great match with two very solid teams. It was a great match and we ended up on the short end tonight, but that happens,” he said. “We did play pretty well since this is our first real test against another nationally ranked program. This was a good test for us. We played well, but not well enough.”

The Cougars took an early 7-3 lead after Fernanda Goncalves served six points to put WNCC up. The Cougars pushed the lead to 17-10 before the Reivers made a comeback, slicing the lead to 22-20 on a Mariana Lisboa kill. Araujo came back with two big kills and Goncalves had two straight ace serves to give WNCC the first set win.

The second set was back and forth early on as Iowa Western tied the set at 6-6 on a Lisa Gregerson kill. After a sideout, Kuulei Kabalis served four straight points, aided by two Araujo kills to put the Cougars up 11-6. WNCC pushed the lead to 16-8 on a Tania Torres kill.

Iowa Western fought back slicing the lead to 20-16 on a Lisboa kill, but a missed serve gave WNCC the service and Goncalves served four straight points, including an ace serve on the set winner.

Both teams went back forth early on in the third set before the Reivers started to put some distance between them and the Cougars as Heidi Lloyd served six straight points for a 20-14 lead. Iowa Western kept playing strong going up 23-18 before an Araujo kill changed the momentum.

Araujo then served three straight points to slice the deficit to 23-22. A block by the Reivers’ Tarrah Sweet gave Iowa Western set point, but the Cougars got a sideout. Kathryn Stock and Lais Soares then teamed up on a block to tie the set at 24-24. Moments later, WNCC had match point after an Araujo kill, but Iowa Western got the sideout and Mariangel Perez served out the third set for Iowa Western.

The fourth set was a nail-biter throughout as neither team held more than a 3-point lead. WNCC finally started to gain momentum as Araujo hammered home two straight kills to put the Cougars up 19-16. Iowa Western fought back slicing the lead to 21-20 and later 23-22. WNCC got the serve back and Schmidt served up an ace for the match winner.

The Cougars had a plethora of stars in the game. Araujo had a double-double with 25 kills and 11 digs, while Stock and Austin each had nine kills. Stock also had three solo blocks, 10 digs and seven points. Goncalves also had a double-double, finishing with 41 set assists, 15 points and four aces.

Iowa Western was paced by Cook with eight kills and 4.5 blocks, while Lisboa had 11 kills and Gregerson had seven kills. Sweet finished with 16 digs and 15 set assists, while Bailey Lupardus had 24 set assists.

McBroom said he was proud of the way his players fought back in the third set, but they just ran out of gas.

“I am proud of our kids in coming back in game three and not losing heart,” he said. “We kept coming back in game four but we ran out of gas and couldn’t get it done. Tonight was a good test for us. We got to see a lot of things that we need to improve upon.”

Iowa Western, 14-1, will continue its road trip as they face No. 11 Northeastern Junior College on Thursday before taking part in the NJC Invite over the weekend. The Cougars will next be in action Friday and Saturday in the NJC Invite when they face Hastings College junior varsity and Colorado Northwestern on Friday night.