Danika Youngblood and Debora Araujo combined for 28 kills and the No. 2 ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team swept past Otero Junior College 25-12, 25-13, 25-10 in the second day of the Region IX South Volleyball Tournament at Cougar Palace on Friday.
Youngblood finished with 15 kills, including 14 in the first two sets, to power the Cougars to the victory. Youngblood also had a block and eight digs. Araujo finished the contest with a block, nine digs and three aces.
Also for the Cougars, Alex Rivera finished with 11 digs; Dani Grace had seven digs; Lais Soares had six kills, two blocks, five digs and two aces; Jodi Huddleston had seven kills; Megan Johnson had seven kills and two blocks; and Fernanda Goncalves had five digs and 42 set assists.
The two squads battled back and forth early in sets one and two. In the opener, WNCC led 8-7 before a monster kill by Johnson and the Goncalves ran off three points for a 12-7 lead. Otero cut the lead to 15-11 on a Jayde Comfort kill and service point, but Soares served six straight points three kills each from Youngblood and Huddleston. Huddleston finished off the set with a kill from the middle.
WNCC trailed in the second set 6-5 but it was only momentarily as Huddleston had a kill and then Rivera ran off five service points for an 11-6 lead. The Cougars widened the lead as Goncalves had a four-point service run for a 16-7 lead. Huddleston finished off the set with another kill for the 2-0 lead.
The final set was all Cougars as Araujo served up two aces for a 4-1 lead. Otero cut the lead to 9-6, but Aruajo hammered home a kill and then Rivera served eight straight points for an 18-6 lead. WNCC’s Soares finished off the match with a kill from the rightside.
With the win, WNCC advanced to the winner’s bracket final at 5 p.m. Friday in the double-elimination tournament. The tournament continues through Saturday.
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