WNCC picks up 28th win with sweep over EWC

               TORRINGTON, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team didn't play their best Tuesday night against a red-hot Eastern Wyoming College squad, but the Cougars found a will and swept the Lancers 25-19, 25-12, 25-22 on Breast Cancer Awareness night in Torrington, Wyo.

               "This is hard because we have been playing so well before [tonight]. We got here and we did not perform up to our level," WNCC coach GIovana Melo said. "We definitely have some things to work on . Hopefully, this weekend, we do a little better job of representing ourselves."

               The Cougars, however, had their backs against the wall against a Lancer squad that has improved by leaps and bounds from their first meeting on Sept. 8. Tuesday night, the Lancers were close to stopping a Cougar 62-set win streak.

               WNCC trailed 16-9 in the third set and the Lancers had the Cougars number early on. WNCC, however, found a way to come back as Debora Araujo had an 8-point service run behind the strong net play of Taylor VanderWerff to take an 18-16 lead.

               That comeback made Melo smile just a little bit.

               "Obviously it was good to see us come back, but we won't be able to do that against everybody," she said. "We have to be able to play a little better and come out and be better from the beginning."

               EWC's explosive start in the third set all started with timely serves. Shelby Brewer started things with four points followed by Karson Dingman collecting two more for a 7-2 lead. The Lancers led 9-3 on a Kassie Woodie point.

               EWC coach Verl Petsch was pleased with how his team played against the top-ranked Cougars, especially early on in the third set.

               "We executed really well in the third set early on and did a nice job," he said. "We got a little passive late and you can't do that against a quality team."
               EWC held a 16-9 lead after Dakota Clough recorded a kill. Fernanda Goncalves stopped that with a setter dink and that is when Araujo took over at the service line in putting the Cougars up 18-16. EWC came back to tied the set at 18-18 on a Dingman point only to see Lais Soares and Danika Youngblood pound home two kills for a 20-18 lead.

               Dani Grace pushed the lead to 23-19 with three service points before the Cougars captured the match on a missed service.

               The way the Lancers played in the third set was really the way they played all night, they were not going to back down. In the first set, they hung with the unbeaten WNCC squad, coming back from a 16-12 deficit to trail 17-16. EWC was with the Cougars at 20-18 on two Austin Daley points and trailed 21-19 on a Abby Welniak kill. But, a Youngblood kill and three Goncalves points sealed up the first set 25-19.

               The second set started out as a battle as the Lancers trailed 11-10 on a Daley kill. Youngblood came back with a kill and then she had three service points for a 17-11 lead. After a Jodi Huddleston kill to make the score 18-12, Alex Rivera served seven service points, including three kills by Megan Johnson to finish the set at 25-12.

               Petsch was pleased with how his squad played, especially after they lost two of three last week.

               "I as overall pleased with the way we played," he said. "I thought we were in a slump last week and I am pleased of how we came back against a quality team like the Cougars. They executed really well against us and did a nice job. They are, unquestionably, a very, very talented team. I thought our kids played really hard with a lot of heart and we did a lot of good things that will help us the rest of this week and next week."

               WNCC was led by Araujo with 13 kills and nine digs, while Soares had 10 kills and two blocks. Youngblood finished with eight kills, three blocks, three aces and eight digs, while Jodi Huddleston had six kills and four blocks.

               Also for the Cougars, Goncalves had three kills, two blocks, 33 set assists, and 12 digs; Rivera had 12 digs; Johnson had three kills, three blocks and two digs; and VanderWerff had two kills.

               The Lancers were led by Daley Welniak each with seven kills, followed by Alanna Freel with six kills. Brewer finished with 12 set assists and five points, while Kassie Woodie had 10 set assists. Kassie Dingman had two blocks and five points, while Clough had 11 digs.

               The Lancers will be back in action Thursday when they travel to Casper College followed by a road contest against Western Wyoming Community College.

               The Cougars, 28-0, return to Cougar Palace with three sub-region contests on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday's contest against Otero Junior College has a 6 p.m. start time.