That drive will begin Thursday when the Cougars open tournament play at 2 p.m. against Wallace State-Hanceville in West Plains, Mo.
WNCC enters the national tournament seeded fourth with a 39-4 record while the Lady Lions are seeded 13th with a 52-1 mark. This will be the second straight year WNCC has faced Wallace State in the opening round, having beaten the Alabama school 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 last year.
The nearly 15-hour drive wasn’t terribly long for the team as they broke the trip up, including a practice stop at the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Monday. The Cougars had a hour-long practice at the West Plains Civic Center Wednesday afternoon.
Sophomore Emily Hoehn said the long bus trip shouldn’t affect them on bit, especially since they made a stop at her house in Kearney on the way to stretch their legs.
“We have had quite a few long travels through the season, so it was nice that it was broken up into two days,” Hoehn said. “It wasn’t as hard, especially getting off at Kearney to practice and stretch our legs. It really hasn’t seemed like that long of a ride. I think everybody is thinking about playing at nationals so it distracts us from the long ride. We even stopped at my house and saw my wiener dog, Chaz, who is good luck.”
Ariel Austin said the team is ready and focused for the tournament.
“We had to really focus last week. We had hard practices all week to get better,” the Woodland Park, Colo., rightside hitter said. “I think it really helped us just getting off the bus in Kearny and just moving around. Having a few extra practices has helped before we hit the court for our tournament.”
When the Cougars hit the court on Thursday, sophomore Kathryn Stock said they will be ready.
“We are really excited and we think and talk about it all the time,” she said. “We good goose bumps and chills every time we think about it because we know we can really go in there and do some damage.”
WNCC is ready as any of the top 16 teams in the nation that are here for this tournament to try to bring home a national title. Hoehn said they are the only ones that can win or lose a match.
“At the national tournament there are a lot of good teams and there will be a lot of good play, so we will have to really focus on our game and our side of the court,” Kearney Catholic graduate said. “If we do what we have been doing all season, come together and play as a team, be disciplined, we are going to come out with a championship.”
Austin said they have one of the toughest roads to haul. A win in the first round could put them up against No. 5 Blinn College, who has five players 6-foot or taller. After that, there is the possibility of playing either No. 1 Miami Dade College or Salt Lake Community College, a team that defeated the Cougars earlier this season.
“I think the tournament is pretty evened out in talent. All these teams that made it to nationals are all good teams,” Austin said. “I think, however, we have the hardest bracket. It is like coach said; we are going to have to think about every point and come out as hard as we can to get those points to win the games.”
Wallace State comes into the match with a near-perfect 52-1 campaign after dropping Gadsden State in straight sets to earn their second-straight national tournament appearance. Wallace State’s only defeat came in a four-set loss to Loyola University out of New Orleans. The Lady Lions have just one player above 6-0 in Alysha Smith.
WNCC, on the other hand, has plenty of national tournament experience. The Cougars are making their 12th straight appearance in the tournament field having made the Final Four the six previous visits to the tournament, including a national runner-up in 2006 and a national championship in 2007.
Hoehn said she can’t remember anything about last year’s match with Wallace State; it is all about how her team comes out and plays.
“I am not going to lie, I really don’t remember a lot about Wallace State. I remember we played them last year but coach hasn’t talked to us about any of their strategies,” she said. “I think really to beat this team, or all these evenly-matched teams; everyone has a the talent and it will come down to who has the most heart.”
The player’s heart for a national title will be crucial as well as performing well in all areas on the court. Stock said they will definitely need their A game this weekend.
“It will be really tough. There are a lot of really good teams in the tournament,” Stock said. “But I know we all have the confidence that we know we can win if we give it our all and go and play our game every game.
“We have to play confident. We have to play as a team. And, we have to go hard every single point.”
While the extra practices along the bus trip was a welcomed sight, anything thing that the Cougars have in their favor is uniforms. Stock said they are not bringing their white uniforms with blue trim.
“We are not taking those uniforms,” Stock said. “Those are bad luck, I guess.”
The Cougars’ losses this season came while they were wearing those “uniforms,” including the Region IX tournament loss to NJC, as well as the semi-final five-set loss to Missouri State-West Plains at last year’s national tournament.
Still, the Cougars have to show up and play like they did during their 21-match winning streak because the tournament field is up for grabs. But, having been pushed in the Region IX tournament might be beneficial in the long haul.
“When I think about regionals, it gives us motivation to work that much harder,” Austin said. “I still think about it every day in winning that Region IX title and the awards I worked for. It makes me want to work that much harder to win a national title.”
Stock said for them to come away with wins at nationals, they need to stay upbeat. Stock said the team is going in the attitude that they can survive anything that comes their way.
“We all believe we can win a national title,” Stock said. “It is just a matter if we go in and do it. It is our choice, but we definitely have the potential.”
The Cougar games can be heard on KOZY 101.3 FM as well as the Internet at kozy1013.com. The games will also be video streamed live at psblive.com.
NJCAA First Round Games
No. 3 San Jacinto (26-9) against No. 14 Jefferson College (21-10) and No. 6 North Idaho College (26-6) against No. 11 Iowa Western (42-6) at 8 a.m.; No. 7 Florida State-Jacksonville (30-7) against No. 10 Eastern Arizona (30-4), and No. 2 Western Wyoming (37-5) against No. 15 Barton County (25-8) at 10 a.m.; No. 1 Miami Dade (33-0) against No. 16 Gadsden State (29-9) and No. 8 Salt Lake (26-6) and No. 9 Midland College (33-5) at noon; and then the Blinn/Temple and WNCC/Wallace State matches rounding out the first round at 2 p.m.
Quarterfinals will be played Thursday night with semifinals Friday afternoon. The championship is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
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