The 13 players on the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team have a chance to be a part of history when the Cougars make a remarkable 13th straight trip to the NJCAA national tournament.
WNCC not only will have a chance to win back-to-back national titles when they take to the court Thursday, but they will also have a chance to add more highlights to a volleyball year which included being ranked No. 1 for much of the season.
The Cougars have impressively rolled to a 38-1 season and have only dropped games in four matches this season. What many don’t realize, however, this storied program has the chance to put a couple more stamps of excellence into the record books. WNCC volleyball first took to the courts in 1974, and now in its 38th year, these 13 girls have a chance to move the program closer to 1,100 career wins. The Cougars currently have a 1,094-518-5 overall win-loss-tie record. The Cougars need just three wins to accomplish that milestone and that trek begins against Western Texas College Thursday morning at 10 a.m.
WNCC fourth-year head coach Giovana Melo, who also played for this storied program in 2001 and 2002, said as usual, there is nerves playing at the national tournament.
“There is obviously a little bit of nerves coming into a national tournament, but I think that goes with everybody and every team,” she said. “No matter how experienced they are or how they have been playing, there will be some nerves, but it is more like anxiety to just there and start playing. I think they will be ready when it comes down to it.”
The Cougars definitely know what it takes to win at the national tournament. WNCC enters as the defending champions after capturing the title last season with a five-set, heart-pounding win over San Jacinto College. The championship was the programs second national title in four years after winning its first national crown in school history in 2007.
WNCC’s success at nationals has been consistent in recent years, where the Cougars have appeared in the Final Four the last seven years, and have finished in the top four nine of the past 10 seasons. And, to accomplish this feat, it is not easy as anything is possible at the national tournament. The Cougars first trip to nationals came in 1988 when they finished fifth in the nation, but ever since Chris Green took over as head coach in 1999, the Cougars have been a regular participant at nationals.
Even more impressive to the Cougars consistent winning ways is the fact that this program has won 30-plus matches the past 15 seasons. WNCC has also won 40 or more matches in 11 straight seasons and needs two win at nationals to keep that streak alive.
To even achieve what the Cougars have accomplished at nationals in the previous 12 trips is amazing considering Melo said that all 16 participants are at nationals for a reason -- because they won their region and have one goal in mind, a national title.
“When you get to nationals, you can say this team is the best or this team is coming in with a little bit of an advantage, it is nothing like that at nationals,” she said. “Every team that is there, is there because they have done something good throughout their season and they are there because they earned it. So, anybody we play will come ready to go and play their hardest in this tournament.”
WNCC’s trek to a national title will definitely not be easy. The Cougars open against Western Texas College (21-12) and even though they have beat Western Texas earlier in the season, this team has to be ready.
The road doesn’t get any easier to accomplish a national title, or move the program even closer to the program’s 1,100th career victory. After their opener, WNCC will then play the winner or loser of the contest between North Idaho College (22-9) and College of Central Florida (40-6). Also on the Cougar’s side of the bracket, and a possible semifinal matchup are Western Wyoming Community College and Iowa Western Community College (42-7).
Iowa Western is the only team to defeat the Cougars this season, dropping them in four games. WNCC defeated Western Wyoming in straight sets back in September. Also, the interesting match-up could be in the second round against Central Florida as Melo could coach against her former WNCC teammate Flavia Siqueira. Both players played for WNCC in 2001.
Through it all, Melo said the players know what the tradition of Cougar volleyball is all about.
“The freshmen have realized the tradition and what it takes to win by winning Region IX and what this program is all about,” she said. “They will experience the tournament atmosphere at the beginning and it will take the sophomores to lead them as the tournament goes on.”
Melo said, however, this team is focused at the task at hand and excited for post-season play whatever the outcome might be.
“We are ready,” she said. “We definitely need to be focused and they just need to give their all at every point and every play. If it turns out that we win it; that is great. But, if we give it our all and it turns out that someone else is better than us at the moment; that is OK. They are ready to play their hearts out.”
Thursday, Nov. 17
First Round
8 a.m. – Western Wyoming vs. Barton C.C.; Iowa Western vs. Temple College
10 a.m. – North Idaho vs. College of Central Florida; WNCC vs. Western Texas College
Noon – Blinn College vs. Gadsden State; Eastern Arizona vs. Miami Dade.
2 p.m. – College of Southern Idaho vs. Mineral Area College; San Jacinto vs. Wallace State-Hanceville.
No comments:
Post a Comment