The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team now knows the path to back-to-back national titles and it won’t be an easy road.
The Cougars (38-1), who earned the No. 2 seed in next week’s NJCAA national tournament in West Plains, Mo., will open against West Texas College (21-12) on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 10 a.m. MST. The winner will come back and play the winner of the North Idaho College (22-9) and the College of Central Florida (40-6) match-up Thursday evening.
WNCC coach Giovana Melo said the road will not be an easy one.
“We have played West Texas already this season and they are a pretty good team,” she said. “It will be extremely difficult as always to win at nationals. We have very good teams on our side of the bracket.”
The two squads faced each other at the Seward Invite the first week in October and the Cougars won 25-18, 25-12, 25-18. West Texas made the tournament by defeating Midland College 25-17, 25-19, 25-21. WNCC earned its 13th straight trip to the national tournament by sweeping three its three opponents at the regional tournament last weekend, defeating Northeastern Junior College 25-12, 25-18, 25-21.
The interesting match-up, however, could occur in the second round if the College of Central Florida tops North Idaho. CCF is coached by former WNCC volleyball player Flavia Siqueira, who guided the first-year program to the national tournament. Siqueira and Melo were teammates when they played volleyball for Chris Green in 2001.
Melo is downplaying the fact that the former teammates could face each other.
“The match will be just like any other strong opponent,” she said. “She [Flavia] has a very good team.”
Other teams on WNCC’s side of the bracket include No. 3 Western Wyoming Community College (36-2) facing Barton Community College (29-12), and No. 6 Iowa Western Community College (42-7) facing Temple College (22-18). WNCC has come up against three of those opponents this season --sweeping Western Wyoming 25-20, 25-20, 25-18; sweeping Barton 25-17, 25-15, 25-20; and splitting with Iowa Western. The Cougars defeated the Reivers in September 25-16, 25-20, 25-15, before Iowa Western handed the Cougars their first defeat of the season in October 27-25, 24-26, 25-22, 26-24.
Melo said her team needs to play the same way they did at regionals and take things one match at a time and not look ahead.
“It will take a lot of heart and desire to win,” she said.
The bottom half of the bracket will see Blinn College (34-0) battle Gadsden State (32-8), Eastern Arizona (28-3) take on Miami Dade College (23-4); College of Southern Idaho (22-10) facing Mineral Area (33-5), and San Jacinto College (30-3) taking on Wallace State/Hanceville (41-3).
The Cougars will depart for the national tournament Monday morning after the public send-off that will be held at 10:50 a.m. in the Pit at the college.
Tournament Pairings
All times MST
Thursday, Nov. 17
8 a.m. – Western Wyoming vs. Barton County, Iowa Western vs. Temple
10 a.m. -- North Idaho vs. Central Florida, Western Nebraska vs. Western Texas
12 noon -- Blinn vs. Gadsden State, Eastern Arizona vs. Miami Dade
2 p.m. -- College of Southern Idaho vs. Mineral Area, San Jacinto vs. Wallace/Hanceville
4:30 p.m. – Winners of 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. matches
6:30 p.m. – Winners of noon and 2 p.m. matches
Tournament continues through Nov. 19
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