MCCOOK – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team had three players register double figure kills in leading the Cougars to a four-set sub-region win over McCook Community College Tuesday in McCook.
Debora Araujo finished with 14 kills in the 25-12, 23-25, 25-13, 25-11 win over the Indians. Ariel Austin also chipped in 11 kills, while Kathryn Stock had 10 kills. The win was also the Cougars’ 20th victory of the season.
Sophomore Emily Hoehn said this was a wake-up call for the team as they took the Indians lightly.
“I think we came in a little relaxed and we were taken back on our heels when they beat us a game,” she said. “Eventually we had to really focus on our game and not play to their level to come out with a win.”
The Cougars dominated the opening set, capturing the win 25-12. The team then stumbled a bit in set two as McCook fought hard to register the 25-23 win. WNCC rebounded in set three and four to capture the match with ease.
Hoehn said they can take a lot from this match for the rest of the season.
“This game showed us that we can’t take a team lightly. Every team that plays us will be out for blood. Everyone wants to beat us. We are the team to beat so we have to realize that teams that look easy to beat will be ready to play us. We have to be ready for that and take these games a little more seriously and go into them with the intent that we are going to make ourselves better.”
WNCC played everyone in the contest as Araujo finished with eight digs to go with her match-leading 14 kills. Stock had seven digs and two aces.
Also for the Cougars, Tania Torres had eight kills, two blocks and four digs; Jodi Huddleston and Tori Bozzo had two kills; Fernanda Goncalves had 34 set assists, six digs and four aces; Sierra Schmidt had six set assists and an ace; Emily Hoehn had two aces and seven digs; and Kuulei Kabalis ahd nine digs.
The Cougars, 20-3, will return home this weekend for three sub-regional matches as they host Otero Junior College Thursday at 6 p.m. followed by a contest against Lamar Community College Friday at 7 p.m. and Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Hoehn said they will be ready for the weekend matches.
“I really think we will take a lot from this game,” she said. “Losing a game from McCook was an eye-opener to us that we can’t just walk in and expect to win. We actually have to go in and play. We can’t anyone for granted and we can’t be relaxed.”
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