Oct. 15, 2011 -- The emotions were aplenty Saturday afternoon as Western Nebraska Community College unveiled the 2010 NJCAA national championship banner in a special ceremony.
After the unveiling, the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team showed why they are the No. 1 ranked junior college team as they swept through Trinidad State Junior College 25-7, 25-7, 25-12 for the team's 31st win of the season against no defeats. It was also the team's 70th straight set win.
WNCC sophomore Jodi Huddleston, a member of last year's national championship team, said it was emotional on the sideline watching the special national championship video and seeing the banner unveiled.
"That unveiling was very emotional for all of us because we were missing last year's sophomores." the Scottsbluff High graduate said. "Just remembering that day was really emotional in a good way, though."
After the ceremony, the Cougars had little trouble with the Trojans as they used strong serving and timely hitting from everyone in posting the win.
"We played awesome today with a lot of energy," Huddleston said. "That was a really good game because we used all the energy that we had. We play well when we play with a lot of energy and a lot of excitement. That is how we should play every time."
WNCC dominated the first set by racing to a 14-3 lead behind five service points from Dani Grace and some huge kills from Danika Youngblood and Megan Johnson. THe Cougars pushed the lead to 21-4 as Youngblood served six points behind two kills from Huddleston. WNCC won the contest as Debora Araujo hammered home the set winner.
WNCC dominated the second set as well. The Cougars were up just 10-5 before Alex Rivera served seven points behind three kills from Araujo for an 18-5 lead. WNCC widened the lead as Alyssa Olson served four points before Alyssa Ostrander and Youngblood finished off the set with back-to-back kills.
The third set was a touch closer, but still the Cougars led from start to finish. Trinidad cut the lead to 12-8 at one moment, but Grace served three points while Ostrander and Abbey Wade collected kills for a 16-8 lead. Tasha Meyer then served four points before Youngblood finished off the match with consecutive kills.
Araujo paced the team with 12 kills, seven digs and six points; while Youngblood had 10 kills, seven digs, and eight points. Also for the Cougars, Johnson had five kills, Huddleston had three kills; Ostrander had three kills; Wade had four kills; Fernanda Goncalves two kills, three blocks, five points, and 20 set assists; Rivera had 11 digs and 10 points; Grace had six digs, nine points, and two aces; Olson had 18 set assists and four points.
Huddleston said that she never thought they would be undefeated this late in the season.
"It is awesome to know that we are undefeated because it shows that we have all the talent," she said. "But we still need to improve. It is just hard to explain that feeling, but I never thought we would be undefeated ever any of my volleyball career."
The schedule gets even tougher next week as the Cougars will face Iowa Western Community College Monday in Council Bluffs, Iowa, before taking on McCook on Tuesday. The Cougars will then return home for the team's final home contests on Friday and Saturday against Northeastern Junior College and Casper College.
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