The battle between No. 1 and No. 2 went the way of Western Nebraska Community College as the Cougars swept past Western Wyoming Community College behind 14 kills from Debora Araujo to open the Wyo-Braska Shootout on a positive note Friday at Cougar Palace.
The Cougars earned the much anticipated match with Western Wyoming by earning the sweep over the No. 2 ranked Mustangs 25-20, 25-20, 25-18. WNCC followed that marquee match with a sweep over No. 15 Barton Community College 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 to push their record to 17-0. The mustangs fall to 18-1 after the first day of the tournament.
WNCC sophomore Lais Soares said the win against Western Wyoming was sweet, but she was surprised to get a sweep over a talented Mustang squad.
"We played like a team. we played together," she said. "It is surprising that we won in three sets because I thought it was going to go five sets. The team, however, did a good job today."
This marquee match up was all it was made out to be as both squads fought like two prize fighters going for the championship of the world. The opening set was nip and tuck after Western Wyoming sliced the lead to 15-14. WNCC rebounded as Megan Johnson hammered down a kill and then served three points to go up 19-14.
This marquee match up was all it was made out to be as both squads fought like two prize fighters going for the championship of the world. The opening set was nip and tuck after Western Wyoming sliced the lead to 15-14. WNCC rebounded as Megan Johnson hammered down a kill and then served three points to go up 19-14.
Western Wyoming bounced back to 19-18 as Olivera Medic served four points. WNCC came back to take a 21-18 lead and then went up 24-18 on a Jodi Huddleston and Fernanda Goncalves block. The Cougars won the first set as Araujo put down a soft hit for the winner.
Western Wyoming held a 17-16 lead late in the second set until Alex Rivera came in to serve three straight points to put the Cougars up 24-20. Moments later, Araujo hammered home another kil for the winner.
The third set saw Western Wyoming lead 11-7 and 13-11 in the third set. Araujo changed the momentum as she served five points, including a hammering kill by Danika Youngblood and two backrow kills from Araujo to go up 17-13. WNCC put the game away as Youngblood served four points to go up 24-15 before winning 25-18.
Araujo paced the Cougars with 14 kills, two blocks, and five blocks. Also for the Cougars, Youngblood finished with seven kills and five digs; Soares had seven kills and three blocks; Johnson had four kills and four blocks; Huddleston had two kills and two blocks; Goncalves had two kills, two blocks, 31 set assists, and six digs; Rivera had 13 digs and four aces; and Dani Grace had five digs and two aces.
The Cougars were just as impressive against Barton behind a 22-kill performance from Araujo. The sophomore also had 14 digs in the win. Soares also came up big against Barton with 11 kills, followed by Youngblood with nine kills, and Huddleston with six.
Youngblood also had two aces and 11 digs, while Rivera had 13 digs; Grace had four digs; Soares with six digs; and Goncalves with 10 digs and 40 set assists.
The Cougars will have two more matches in the Wyo-Braska Shootout on Saturday as they face Air Force Prep at 12 noon and Laramie County Community College at 4 p.m. Air Force Prep topped Casper College on Friday in five sets 23-25, 25-19, 25-27, 28-16, 15-10.
Soares says they need to keep taking one match at a time and keep playing as a team like they did on Friday.
"We are playing strong and we are not going to let down," she said. "We are No. 1 and we have to keep coming out hard."
The Eastern Wyoming College Lancers went 1-1 on the first day of the tournament. The Lancers opened with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-22 loss to Barton Community College, before picking up a five-set win over Williston State 21-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22, 15-9.
In other scores in the tournament at EWC, Seward County topped Laramie County 25-11, 26-24, 25-23; Air Force Prep over Casper 23-25, 25-18, 25-27, 25-16, 15-10; Laramie County over Williston 25-13, 25-19, 25-16; Northeastern Colorado over Sheridan 25-20, 25-23, 25-15; and Casper over Seward County 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23.
In other scores at Cougar Palace, Northeastern Colorado topped Northwest Wyoming 17-25, 25-19, 25-20, 29-27; Sheridan defeated Lamar 32-30, 25-22, 25-18; Northwest Wyoming over Lamar 22-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-20; and Western Wyoming over Air Force Prep 25-20, 25-16, 25-14.
Saturday’s Schedule
At WNCC
10 a.m. – Northeastern Colorado vs. Laramie County, Northwest Wyoming vs. Williston State; 12 noon – WNCC vs. Air Force Prep; 2 p.m. – Casper College vs. Williston State, Northwest Wyoming vs. Barton; 4 p.m. WNCC vs. Laramie County, Casper College vs. Lamar C.C.
At EWC
10 a.m. – Barton vs. Sheridan, Western Wyoming vs. Seward County; 12 noon – EWC vs. Lamar C.C.; 2 p.m. – Sheridan vs. Seward County; 4 p.m. – EWC vs. Air Force Prep, Western Wyoming vs. Northeastern Colorado
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