WNCC well represented on Omaha World Herald all-Nebraska team

WNCC volleyball is well represented on the Omaha World Herald all-Nebraska Junior College, and leading the team as captain was sophomore Bianca Rivera.

Rivera, who will be attending Creighton University next year, earned the honor after helping the Cougars to a 56-2 record this past year, including a runner-up finish a the national tournament. Rivera was just one of four Cougars to make the first team. The other include freshmen Jennifer Eichler and Leticia Kuhn at outside hitters, and freshman Soriana Pacheco at setter.

The rest of the first team went to Central Community College-Columbus. They included sophomores Heidi Zoucha and Alissa Tonniges as rightside and middle hitters, and Cassie Hall at defensive specialist.

One Cougar earned earned honorable mention recognition in sophomore Barbara Freitas. The other honorable mention recognition included Leah Anderson and Amanda Nelson, Central CC; Sara Cappel, Crystal Zwickl and Cayla Skaritka, McCook; Melissa Miller, Megan White, North Platte CC; and Kim Belina and Ashley Grube, Southeast CC.

In the Omaha World Herald article, Green said Rivera was one of the best hitters in Puerto Rico with her 39-inch vertical jump, but she made the switch to libero with ease.

"She just passes balls perfect for us," he said. "Teams learned not to serve to her. When she passes the ball, we're able to run a very quick, effective offense."

In other divisions, Chadron State College had two players named honorable mention to teh Division II all-Nebraska team. They include Patrice Henson and Jamie Mills. The Division II honorary captain was Emily Schroedeer of Wayne State.

The complete article can be viewed on the Omaha World Herald website at omaha.com or in Tuesday newspaper.

WNCC men soccer players make all-region

Eight Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer players made all-region with their play during the following season with four of the players earning first team honors.

The first team recipients include sophomores Daniel Ocampo and Romeo Jaramillo of Lojo, Ecuador, Drew Oesterle of Austin, Minn., and freshman Eloy Matos of Puerto Rico.

Second team honors went to sophomores Andreas Artunduaga of Quito, Ecuador, and Francisco Gianzanti of Salta Argentina, and freshmen Adam Rivera of Gering, and Carlos Saenz of Denver.

Other members of the first team included Rodney Chiweshe, Chris Gold, Vaughn Jolomi, Jose Rodriquez and George Hunt of Laramie County Community College; and Seth Lancaster ad Eric Nieters of Western Wyoming Community College.

Second team honors also went to Andrew Johnson, Jacob DeGennaro, Jose Arenas and Bryon Marshall of Laramie County; and Tanner Brimhall, JJ Facinelli and Victor Hiller of Western Wyoming.

There will not be a Region IX women’s soccer all-region team because there were just two teams, LCCC and WNCC, represented.

Top Cougar Events of 2006

What were your top five Cougar athletic highlights of the year?

That is the question that is being posed right know and you have a chance to voice your opinion. Yes, there were several memorable times from the women's basketball team's fourth straight regional title, the volleyball team's runner-up finish at nationals, the softball team's runner-up finish at regionals, baseball's Phillips Orta being drafted by the Mets, soccer's Bre Perkes breaking the school record for most goals in a season, John Jungers taking over the men's basketball, and many, many more. I could be typing forever to name then all. That is where you come ing.

So, let's see what you have to say about your top five and reasons why. Remember, any slanderous comments will be deleted. Just post a comment here and the results will be posted in the next Cougar Newsletter and on the athletic website.

WNCC coach Harnish pleased with 14-0 start

Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball coach Dave Harnish was more then satisfied with how his team capped off the first semester Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace.

The Cougars, 14-0 after the first semester, used their patented intense defense to stymie the Williston State College Teton potent 3-point shooting offense in claiming a 73-37 win in the final day of the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic.

In fact, Harnish said Saturday was the best the team has played in the last two weeks.

“I thought from these three games, this was our best game. I thought this was a complete game where defensively we played well, but it seemed like the offense had a better rhythm,” Harnish said. “We shot the ball a lot better. It just felt we had better rhythm then Friday where we struggled. I thought we played well on both sides of the ball.”

One of the areas that stood out for the Cougars against Williston is the team’s depth, All 12 players on the roster scored. Early on, the team was powered by Emma Beddome and Carly Glisan, who earned starts on Saturday.

Both freshman started the game canning 3-pointers to give the Cougars a 6-1 lead and from there, they never looked back. Beddome finished the game with 12 points, while Glisan had five. Chelsea Lyles, another freshman, came off the bench to also pour in 12 points to tie Beddome for the team lead.

Harnish said this could be one of his deepest teams that he has coached in his 19 years.

“We started the game rotating a lot of kids in and out,” he said. “It is always nice to have depth, and I thought all the kids had a lot more energy and mentally tougher. It was also nice to see everyone was able to play, score and they did their job and did well.”

Harnish said unlike other years, he is not to play anyone on his roster in pressure-cooker situations.

“This is a team this year that you can play any kid at any time. Sometimes you can go deep on the bench, but you are afraid to play kids in certain situations,” he said. “There is no question that we are deep and these kids play well when they are out there and they have done that. What is nice about this team is they do play both ends of the floor well.”

Saturday, the Cougar players showcased just how good they are. The team utilized an intense defense in the tune of generating 20 steals, blocking four shots and holding a potent 3-point shooting team to 2-of-14 (0-11 in the first half) to just 37 total points.

WNCC held a commanding 43-18 lead at intermission on the strength of Beddome’s nine points. None of the other 10 players that saw action in the first half scored more than two buckets. The team also shot 53 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. More importantly, the Cougars’ bench outscored Williston’s 40-23.

Harnish said one of the reasons for the team’s over whelming victories this year – the team is winning by an average of 40 points a game – is the team’s all-around athleticism.

“This team has a little bit more size in all the positions then previous teams,” he said. “We have been good defensively with other teams but w hat makes this team so good is we can start anybody and anybody can play anywhere on the floor. This team has played better then I thinked they were.”

The Cougars will know head into the break with their next game Jan. 10 at home against McCook Community College. Harnish said that is when the next installment of the season starts.

“We have the break coming up and really there is three parts to the season,” he said. “The first part is the first semester, which we just finished 14-0. We have played well in all games and didn’t take one game off, where some years we haven’t.
The girls have played well night in and night out. The second part coming up is the second semester and that includes sub-regional games and the seeding for the regional tournament. The third part is the regional tournament.”

In the other game of the Holiday Classic, Colby Community College and Little Big Horn hooked up in a high-scoring affair that saw Colby winning 126-86. Colby knocked home 20 3-pointers on the night, including 12 in the first half, but still only held a 63-48 halftime lead.

Erin Goodhue led Colby with 26 points, including 7-of-8 from the 3-point arc. Little Big Horn put two players in the 20-point plateau. Raylee Pretty Weasel finished with 26 points including five 3-pointers, followed by Misty McCormick with 25.

Little Big Horn 48 38 – 86
Colby CC 63 63 – 126
LITTLE BIG HORN
Misty McCormick 25, Brittany Smith 8, Raylee Pretty Weasel 26, Shaleen Old Coyote 4, Laval Spotted Horse 17, Tasha Carpenter 6.
COLBY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Courtney Frimmer 16, Katie Joens 1, Jacci Tinkel 16, Erin Goodhue 26, Tamara Thomas 8, Jamie Schroeder 15, Loree Siruta 7, Vanja Zelenovic 7, Shanice Johnson 8, Sandra Sormaz 18, Ingrid Pudiner 4.

Williston 18 19 – 37
WNCC (14-0) 43 30 – 73
WILLISTON STATE
Erika Stewart 3, Sam Botsfiled 4, Kirsten Hernandez 7, Leigh Sifuentes 4, Kim Oyloe 9, Heidy Bouchard 1, Kia Herbel 9.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Kiki Taylor 3, Dana Iverson 1, Emma Beddome 12, Tiara Scott 4, Lesley Olson 4, Aurelle Derenoncourt 6, Victoria Martin 4, Alison Cheney 9, Shiraya Soto 6, Chelsea Lyles 12, Britney Hayes 5, Carly Glisan 5.

WNCC wrap up first semester with win over Southeast

NORTH PLATTE -- Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball coach John Jungers will take Saturday’s win against Southeast Community College, but he didn’t like how his team blew a commanding led to squeak by the Storm 79-73 in the final day of the Region IX shootout.

“I thought for a 40-minute game, we played well for 30 minutes,” he said. “We had some lapses and we didn’t finish them off like I hoped we would. We had several opportunities to do that.”

The Cougars held a slim 39-36 halftime lead and on several occasions in the second half, pushed the lead to 15 and 16 points much of the second half. Jungers said he challenged his team to step it up a notch in the second half.

“I told them there is 20 minutes left in the semester and I sure don’t want to be sitting down to Christmas dinner and trying to explain how we lost our last game and I don’t think they wanted to be in that situation either,” he said. “I challenged them a little bit to leave it on the floor. We have a break ahead of us and let’s get to work out there.”

They did and Matthew Akins had an excellent game finishing with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting. He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished off three assists. He also nailed a couple of 3-pointers as well.

“I have really challenged Matt and I have been hard on him because I know he has a tremendous amount of ability and potential,” Jungers said. “I think he has really responded and I was pleased with his effort tonight.”

Also playing well for the Cougars was Erik Smith, who finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. WNCC also received nine points and four rebounds from CJ Hampton, and eight points each from Doradji Wilson and Ricardo De Bem. De Bem also had seven rebounds.

The Cougars will next be in action Jan. 5-6 with the New Year’s Classic at Cougar Palace. Jungers said the 10 of 12 road games this semester should pay dividends down the stretch.

“We had a decent first semester and we all grown each day. We showed we can play on the road and that will help us down the stretch,” he said. “I am encouraged going into the break at 9-3. We have made progress and gotten better from game to game. I think we have found some guys that are learning and getting better each day. That is all I can ask for.”

Southeast 36 37 – 73
WNCC 39 40 – 79
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Matthew Akiins 18, Erik Smith 17, CJ Hampton 9, Doradji Wilson 8, Ricardo De Bem 8, Chance Wallesen 5, David Busma 4, Maurice Wright 4, Keron McKinzie 2, Carl Buck 1.

WNCC women earn 13th win of season

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team overcame the shooting blues to down Colby Community College 68-39 Friday in the second day of the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic at Cougar Palace.

The Cougars show just 39 percent from the field, including an 0-11 performance from beyond the arc in the first half. But, while WNCC’s offense was struggling, its defense was superior holding Colby to 31 percent shooting and forcing 24 turnovers. In the first half along, the Cougars No. 2-ranked defense forced two 30-second clock violation and one 5-second violation as the defense stymied the Trojans defense.

“The biggest thing was that we shot the ball well all season long and we go 0-11 in the first half, which is not indicative for this team,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish, who was honored with a plague before the game for collecting his 500th coaching victory Nov. 19, said. “Defensively we were solid all night long. Offensively, it wasn’t that we weren’t getting good looks, it was we weren’t knocking them down. We got very tentative in the first half and the start of the second half. Finally, Kiki (Taylor) hits a three, and then Chelsea (Lyles) and Emma (Beddome) hits a three and finally we got more relaxed.”

The first half was ugly offensively for both teams. WNCC the game from start to finish, but the Trojans battled tooth and nail cutting the lead to 8-7 on a Sandra Sormaz bucket and then later 13-10 on a Jamie Schroeder 3-pointer.

Then it became the Victoria Martin show as the 5-foot-11 post player scored nine straight points for the Cougars to vault them to a 17-10 lead. WNCC went ahead to lead 30-23 at halftime.

Colby quickly took control in the second half as Vanja Zelenovic hit a bucket and then Schroeder had two free throws to cut the deficit to 30-27. In fact, WNCC’s shooting woes continued early in the half as they didn’t connect for their first bucket until the 17:09 mark on a Taylor 3-pointer.

WNCC, though, still struggled offensively as Colby was within 39-33 with 14 minutes to play. Things changed quickly after that as Taylor ignited the Cougars offensively converting on a four-point play after being fouled making a 3-point shot. That ignited the Cougars as Lyles and Beddome converted on 3-pointers to push the lead to 49-35.

WNCC kept the run going by scoring the next eight points for a 57-37 lead before Colby finally converted two free throws. But, it was too late as Beddome scored on back-to-back buckets to help WNCC to their 12th victory of the season.

Harnish said if it wasn’t for the defense, the result could have been different.

“We made a couple mistakes the first half where we gave up a couple threes and didn’t get out on people,” he said. “We were really good in the second half. We didn’t give them many open looks, we rotated very well. The defense kept us in there since we weren’t shooting the ball well. If we weren’t playing good defense, then it would have been a long night.”

WNCC placed there players in double figures. Martin finished with 19 points of which 12 came in the first half. Also collecting double-digits were Taylor and Tiara Scott with 11 points each.

Douglas, Wyo., graduate Jamie Schroeder led the Trojans with 16 points followed by Sormaz with 14.

The tournament continues today with Colby facing Little Big Horn College at 1 p.m. followed by WNCC taking on Williston State College at 3 p.m. Williston State was a 87-60 winner over Little Big Horn in the opening game Friday. Williston State was led by Anne Hanson with 22 points, including six 3-pointers. Misty McCormick led Little Big Horn with 25 points.

Little Big Horn 26 34 – 60
Williston State 51 36 – 87
LITTLE BIG HORN
Misty McCormick 25, Brittany Smith 2, Raylee Pretty Weasel 15, Shafeen Old Coyote 2, Laval Spotted Bear 12, Tasha Carpenter 2, Ida Backbone 2.
WILLISTON STATE
Kayla Barenthsen 7, Kayla Miller 13, Erika Stewart 6, Sam Botsfield 2, Kirsten Hernandez 6, Leigh Sifuentes 3, Alicia Long 4, Kim Oyloe 11, Heidy Bouchard 6, Anne Hanson 22, Kia Herbel 7.

Colby 23 16 – 39
WNCC 30 38 – 68
COLBY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Jacci Tinkel 4, Erin Goodhue 1, Jamie Schroeder 16, Vanja Zelenovic 4, Sandra Sormaz 14.
WESTERN NEBRASKA CC
Kiki Taylor 11, Emma Beddome 8, Tiara Scott 11, Victoria Martin 19, Alison Cheney 6, Shiraya Soto 5, Chelsea Lyles 8.

WNCC men pick up first sub-region win over North Platte

WNCC downs North Platte for sub-region win

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team took the first step in hosting this year’s Region IX tournament, and they did it in impressive fashion downing North Platte Community College 83-74 in an East sub-region tilt Wednesday at North Platte.

WNCC coach John Jungers said what the makes the win even more special is the fact they won on the road. “It is a good win for us. We are 1-0 in the sub-region and that puts us in the drivers seat,” he said. “We went on the road and took care of business. That is a tough thing to do and we went in there and took care of it.”

The key in the game was the team’s defensive effort. The Cougars held the Knights to 35 percent shooting and out-rounded the North Platte team 48-30. Ricardo De Bem, who is headed to Texas Tech next year, led the team with a double-double, 21 points and 13 rebounds.

“Our defensive field goal percentage where we held North Platte to 35 percent for the game was a big key. That was something we really wanted to focus on,” he said. “Combine that to us out-rebounding them 48-30, and with those two things, we dominated on that end of the floor for the majority of the night. We spent the last two practices really talking about that. The guys listened and I am very proud of their effort.”

The Cougars played hard throughout the contest taking a 38-31 lead into halftime. From there, they built the lead to double digits and maintained that until late.

“We extended the 7-point halftime lead and then at the end we kind of pulled our same old self of not taking very good care of the ball and making silly mistakes,” he said. “But, there weren’t as many as there have been in the past. We have gotten better.”

The Cougars placed four players in double figures. Besides De Bem’s 21 points, Erik Smith blistered the net for 19 points. CJ Hampton finished with 16 points and Matthew Akins had 11 points.

Smith, Hampton and David Busma each pulled down six rebounds, while Akins had five boards.

The Cougars will have one game left before break when they travel back to North Platte to face Southeast (Neb.) Community College on Saturday. After that, the Cougars will open the second semester with the New Years Classic at home Jan. 5-6 before playing their second sub-region contest Jan. 10 against McCook Community College Jan. 10.

“We really do have a good team. We have good players and I think when the good players come together will are a very good team,” he said. “We have one more game before exams and then we will get ready for second semester.”

WNCC 38 45 – 83
NPCC 31 43 – 74
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Chance Wallesen 6, Maurice Wright 4, Matthew Akins 11, CJ Hampton 16, David Busma 4, Erik Smith 19, Doradji Wilson 2, Ricardo De Bem 21.

Cougar men fall to Iowa Western

The Western Nebraska Community College men hung tough, but fell to Iowa Western Community College 90-79 in the second day of the NJC Classic.

The Cougars trailed 38-31 at halftime and were down by nearly 20 points in the second half, but managed to cut the lead to single digits with a minute to go on 3-pointers by Erik Smith and CJ Hampton. But, the comeback was not to be as the Cougars fell to 7-3 on the season.

Mathew Akins led the Cougars with 16 points followed by CJ Hampton with 15, Ricardo De Bem with 15, Erik Smith with 10 and Chance Wallesen with eight.

The Cougars will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to North Platte Community College for a sub-region contest. That game was scheduled for last week, but postponed to Dec. 6 after the refs were stuck in Denver because of the snow.

Cougar women go to 11-0 on season

The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team ran its record to 11-0 with a 77-58 win over Iowa Western Community College at the NJC tournament Saturday.

The Cougar women placed four in double figures in getting the win led by Victoria Martin with 15. Tiara Scott and Alison Cheney finished with 11 points each followed by Dana Iverson with 10. Also scoring for the Cougars are Chelsea Lyles with 8, Lesley Olson with 7, Aurilea Derencourt with 5, Kkik Turner with 2, and Shiraya Soto with 8.

After 11 games on the road spanning over a month, the Cougar women will be at Cougar Palace next weekend with the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic Nov. 7-9. The Cougars will open with Little Big Horn College Thursday at 7 p.m., Colby C.C. at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Williston State Saturday at 3 p.m.

Cougars claim wins at Air Force Prep Tournament

The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team not only moved to 10-0 on the season, but they set a new school record for least points allowed in downing Buckley Air Force Base 94-16 Friday afternoon in the NJC Classic at Sterling, Colo.

The Cougars defensive effort was one point better then the previous low of 17 set back in 2000 by the Air Force Junior Varsity. The team held Buckly to just eight points in each half, but neither of those were school records. The record for least points by an opponent in the first half is four set by Air Force Junior Varsity in 2000, and the record for least points in a second half is seven points set by Central Nebraska Tech back in 1979-80.

The Cougar men were also victorious with a 97-91 win over Air Force Prep to run their record to 7-2 on the season. Ricardo De Bem was the big key for the Cougars pouring in 3x points, including 16 in the first half. The team also received double figures scoring from Erik Smith with 15 and Matthew Akins with 12.

The big key was free throw shooting where the team was 29 of 32 from the free throw line for a whooping 91 percent. Smith was a perfect 10 of 10 from the line.

The Cougar women and men will face Iowa Western Community College Saturday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the second day of the tournament. That contests will be broadcast on the radio and Internet at www.kpnyfm.com.

WNCC's Panhandle Volleyball Club tryouts Sunday, Dec. 3

Western Nebraska Community College volleyball coach Chris Green will conduct tryouts for the Panhandle Volleyball Club on Sunday, Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. at Cougar Palace. The tryout fee is $5 and the club fee is $500. Anyone in the seventh grade on up is welcome to tryout.

Panhandle volleyball club practices on Sundays and travels to tournaments in Colorado from January to April. Green has coached the Cougar women to eight straight national tournaments, including finishing second in the nation this season with a 56-2 mark.

For more information contact Green at greenc@wncc.net or 635-6028 for questions and/or more details.

WNCC game with North Platte postponed until Dec. 6

The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball game with North Platte Community College scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 29 in North Platte has been postponed until Wednesday, Dec. 6. The game was pushed back a week because the referees couldn't make if from Denver because of all the snow in northern Colorado and the Denver region.The Cougars, 6-2, will next be in action Friday and Saturday when they compete in the NJC tournament. WNCC will face AIr Force Prep on Friday and Iowa Western Community College on Saturday. Both contests will begin at 4 p.m. in Sterling, Colo.The WNCC men's basketball team have one other schedule change. The home game with the Rapid City Hardrockers on Dec. 9 has been cancelled. Instead, the Cougars will take part in the second day of the Region IX Shoot-out in North Platte against Southeast Community College.

WNCC men take on North Platte in first sub-region contest

The Western Nebraska Community College and North Platte Community College men’s basketball games will take on a different meaning this year.

Instead of just regular season contests, the contests this year will be sub-region games after WNCC was shifted to the East Sub-region after Southeast Community College dropped to Division II status.

So, tonights’ 6:30 contest at North Platte is the first sub-region contest of the year for either team. And, what makes the sub-region games even more important is the winner of the East sub-region hosts the Region IX Tourney in March.

“Whoever wins the sub-region has a chance to host the regional tournament and that is a goal that we have set,” WNCC first-year coach John Jungers said. “I don’t think anybody is going to go undefeated in the sub-region. So, I think it will be a battle and this is the first scrimmage in the battle.”

Other teams in the East Sub-region are Northeast (Neb.) Community College and McCook Community College. Previous years, the Cougars were in the Central Sub-region, which included Eastern Wyoming, Laramie County, Casper College and Western Wyoming. WNCC will still play EWC, LCCC and Casper, but they will not be count toward seedings for the regional tournament.

With that, Jungers is just hoping his team rides into North Platte and plays well. And, really, that is all he can ask of his team.

“It is an important game, but it won’t make or break our season,” he said. “It is important to go and play on the road, and North Platte is a tough place to play. They have a good team and if we can come out and steal one on their home court, that would put us in a good position in the sub-region.”

WNCC has been off since Nov. 19 when they defeated Luke Air Force Base 83-67 in the final day of the Air Force Prep tournament. Since then, the team has had a good nine days of practice and relaxation, and Jungers said they will be ready to go.

“I wasn’t really sure how the guys were going to handle this break, but I think we got some rest,” he said. “We were a little road weary and we received some time to get our legs under us and to refine some things both offensively and defensively. I think they are going to be ready to play.”

The Cougars feature three players averaging in double figures. Sophomore Ricardo De Bem is averaging 15.875 points a game. De Bem, who is headed to Texas Tech next year, is also 6.6 rebounds a game, while shooting 62 percent from the field.

Sophomore CJ Hampton and freshman Maurice Wright are also averaging double-digits. Both are scoring 14.375 points a game. Hampton has already netted 17 3-pointers on 60 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Also lighting up the nets from downtown is Bridgeport’s Chance Wallesen, who has made 15 treys on 35 attempts.

Jungers said his team is getting better each day.

“We need a better defensive effort from a consistency standpoint,” he said, “Overall, though, we are doing a better job. We are moving the ball. We are taking care of the ball and running our concepts that we want to integrate into our offense.”

North Platte, on the other hand, will feature a roster loaded with talent, including two former WNCC players, Sean Burnham and Drew Frahm, who transferred to North Platte. Burnham nailed four 3-pointers in a win against Hastings College Junior Varsity earlier this month.

After tonight’s contest, the Cougars will compete in the NJC classic Friday and Saturday. Friday the team faces Air Force Prep before facing Iowa Western Community College Saturday. Both contests are at 4 p.m.

A Fan at National Volleyball Tournament Congratulates Team

(Received this on email from a fan from the National Volleyball Tournament).

Dear Cougars Volleyball Team,

Congratulations, you girls did great! Some day I hope I will be as good as you girls. I was at the tournoument,in West Plains. My name is Lexie Waggoner, and I am 10 and from Junction Hill school. I was amazed at how high Bianca Rivera could jump!

From,
Lexie Waggoner
P.S I hope all of the girls got home in time for Thanksgiving!

Cougars fall in title match

WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Western Nebraska Community College’s bid for a first-ever national championship came up short as the Iowa Western Community College Reivers sparkled offensively and defensively in earning the National Junior College Athletic Association title Wednesday evening.

The Reivers won the title in sweeping fashion earning a 36-34, 31-29, 30-22 win over the previously No. 1 ranked Cougars. Iowa Western’s Luciana Rapach tallied 14 kills and 14 digs to earn the tournament Most Valuable Award. The honors, the national title and MVP honor, came as a surprise for Rapach.

“It is just unbelievable. I never expected that,” the sophomore from Porto Alegre, Brazil said. “We worked so hard this year and we worked together. We played so good together and everybody did a great job. Our defense was unbelieveable. We dug up every ball.”

Iowa Western coach Terry Gamble said the win is great for his school, but he also considers Western Nebraska a No. 1 team as well. It was just that his Reivers got the win Wednesday night.

“It is a national championship match so it is a huge win for us. It is a great win for this school and it is great to bring home a national championship,” he said. “Western Nebraska is a great team. We happened to win tonight and fortunate to win tonight. I still consider them as one of the best in the country and we happened to win tonight.”

WNCC coach Chris Green was a little down after the match wondering what happened to his team’s stellar defense that was near flawless throughout the tournament.

“We came in thinking we would pass and play defense better then they would, and you have to give them credit, they passed and played defense better then we did,” Green said.

Still, Green is pleased with the season his team had. The Cougars finished the year at 56-2, which is the best winning percentage in school history. It was also the team’s highest placing at a national tournament.

“it was a great season, but not a great night,” he said. “We didn’t pass well and we couldn’t get our offense going. It was a frustrating night for us. Iowa Western was the team that frustrated us and they played a great match. The first two games, we had a couple of missed opportunities. In Game one we had an opportunity for game point on a free ball hit and didn’t get it accomplished and then in game two we had an over pass to put us ahead 30-29, and that didn’t happen either. A point here and a point there, and this match might be different.”

The first game went back and forth with Iowa Western leading for most of the match until Bianca Rivera went on a six-point scoring run to put the Cougars up 25-21. Iowa Western came back and went up 30-29 before a Shawntell Jones kill stopped game points.

From there, it was back and forth until Julia Kenealy hammered home a kill for the Reivers and then served the next two points for the game one win.

Game two saw the Cougars come back from a 22-14 deficit to tie the score on a Leticia Kuhn kill and Kendra Schauermann service point. Tourney MVP Rapach stopped the momentum with a kill and then Juliana Paz had back-to-back kills for the win.

Green said losing those two games in heartbreaking fashion was momentum killers for his team.

“After losing those first two games the way we did, being so close, it really took the win out of sails,” Green said. “In the third game they had the momentum and they kept it in the third game.”

Leticia Kuhn paced the Cougars with a double-double with 27 kills and 15 digs. Jenny Eichler also had a big match finishing with 19 kills and three blocks. Barbara Freitas had six blocks and five digs, while Soriana Pacheco had 47 set assists, seven digs, five points, two aces and four kills.

Schauermann finished with three kills, five points and 12 digs, while Bianca Rivera had 15 digs an six points.

Iowa Western was paced by Paz’ 18 kills, while Rapach ahd 14 kills and 14 digs. Gabby Pfannenstiel led both teams with 24 digs, while Paz had 16 digs. Rachel Green also has 10 digs. Kerley Becker finished with nine kills followed by Julie Kennedy with eight points.

For WNCC, Rivera, Kuhn and Pacheco all made the all-tournament team.

In other action in national tournament, University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith overcame a 10-4 and 14-10 fifth game deficit to down Miami-Dade Community College 28-30, 30-26, 30-27, 22-30, 16-14 for ninth place; Hutchinson Community College needed four games to get past San Jacinto College 30-16, 32-30, 30-24, 30-26 for fifth place; Blinn College overcame Frank Phillips College in five games 23-30, 30-19, 28-30, 30-17, 15-12 for fifth place; and Missouri State-West Plains needed five games to down North Idaho 30-17, 21-30, 26-30, 30-22, 15-13.

Semi-final photos of North Idaho College Match

Cougar volleyball players excited for opportunity to play in title match

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball players were still bouncing off the walls with excitement after earning a spot in today’s NJCAA national championship match.

Two hours after earning the spot in the title match, assistant coach Amy Winters said the team was still wired with excitement. “They are wound up,” Winters said after the team had a late celebration supper Tuesday night. “They are bouncing off the walls and everybody is excited for Wednesday.”

Even before the team left the West Plains Civic Center, where the national tournament is played, they were still floating on air with excitement.

“I don’t think it has set in yet [that we are in the national championship match],” freshman Jenny Eichler said. “I think it will tonight when we are laying in bed ready to turn off the lights, not wanting to go to bed. We will be too excited to play. We can’t wait until 6 p.m. [Wednesday].

Yes, Wednesday and the national championship match. It is a match that no one really thought about at the beginning of the year, especially with such a young team with only two players back that played a year ago.

“At the beginning of the season, no I didn’t think we could do it,” Eichler said. “As the season progressed and we kept winning games, it showed that everything was coming together real well. It was about the middle of the year that we realized we could do it and once we got here, I knew we had a chance.”

Now, after 57 matches and 56 wins later, the team has achieved one of their goals and their next goal is a national championship.

“It is still unbelievable,” an excited Stacie Meisner said after downing North Idaho College for the title match berth. “We all know that it is one more step to achieve our total goals of the season and that is to get a national championship. We are not satisfied, yet, we have one more game to go.

“But, winning a national championship was always in the back of my mind. I think throughout the season, getting to the nationals was one step and getting a national championship was the next step. A national championship was always in the back of our minds, but we just wanted to take it one step at a time.”

The team didn’t really realize that a national championship was a reality until midway through the season. That was when the players realized, “Hey, we are good.” Just ask Cougar sparkplug Kendra Schauermann, who has high praise with how talented this team is.

“Our team is awesome. I knew we were going to make it here and I always knew we could do this. This is our year and we are going to win it,” Shauermann said. “We are definitely the best team here. We definitely improved to get here. We are the best team and we showed that for being the No. 1 seed. Iowa Western is an amazing team, but we know how to shut them down.”

The Cougars play at nationals, and even through the season, has people wondering whether this is one of the best teams ever at WNCC. The Cougar volleyball team’s appearance in a championship match will be only the second time a team has played for a national title. The first Cougar team who appeared in a national championship game was the 2003 when the women’s basketball team made it that far. On top of that, the women's basketball team, they weren't the favorite to get to the championship game, but put together three impressive wins, played as a champion, to get to the college's first title contest. After winning some impressive contestst, the women's basketball team they fell to a very talented Gulf Coast Community College team to finish second.

The Cougar volleyball team, on the otherhand, play a team that they already beat this year in two very tough games. The Cougar women might be the favorites to win the title after running through the season so far with a 56-1 record as well sitting atop the national polls for seven straight weeks, but Wednesday night the contest will be anyones for the taking.

The team knows that they still need to show up to play against a talented Iowa Western Community College squad.

“The win against North Idaho was huge. I can’t even exclaim it,” Eichler said. “But we
have to play that much harder [today] and if we play as well as we did tonight, hopefully we can win it.”

Meisner is still trying to pinch herself to see if it wasn’t a dream.

“It is really exciting right know. I can’t really put it into words,” she said. “It tops a great season. I don’t know what to really say right know except it is exciting.”

While the team remains at an all-time high, Barb Freitas said that they are looking forward to today’s title contest.

“It is awesome and I am so excited for [today]. I can’t wait. I want to win,” she said. “We worked so hard this victory and I am so proud of my team and my coach. [In today’s match] we have played against them before, but there is a lot of game and we have to play hard every single point, every single ball and we need to do our best.”

Cougar volleyball team makes national championship match

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team is just one win away making school history after qualifying for the NJCAA national championship match against Iowa Western Community College.

The Cougars earned the championship match trip in impressive fashion sweeping through both Frank Phillips College and North Idaho College to earn the volleyball team’s first trip to the title match. First serve is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The match can be heard on KPNY radio or the Internet.

WNCC march to the title contest was done in impressive style. The Cougars saved some of their best volleyball for Tuesday’s match. Against Frank Phillips, the team earned 30-22, 30-11, 30-18 win as the team recorded 16 aces, 43 kills and 50 digs as a team.

But, as well as the team played against Frank Phillips, they stepped it up even higher against North Idaho College, the only team to have beat the Cougars this season back in early September. This time, the Cougars ran through North Idaho 30-16, 30-18, 30-19.

WNCC coach Chris Green described his team play as some of the best volleyball they have played all season.

“It looks like Iowa Western will be the team we will be playing and they are an excellent team. They have great hitters and good ball control,” Green said. “But, if we can play like we did tonight, which was probably the most complete game that we have played, we have a great shot of winning the national championship.”

What was impressive about the Cougars win against North Idaho was the way the entire team clicked as a unit. Green said one of the biggest heroes on the night was freshman setter Soriana Pacheco. Pacheco finished with 34 assists, but had seven kills, two blocks, three points, and nine digs.

“All of our hitters did a great job and our defensive players were great out there, but Soriana deserves more credit then she has gotten throughout the year,” he said. “She makes our offense run. Without her, we wouldn’t be as successful as we are. Bianca is great, but Soriana really makes our team. She runs the offense so well and she is isolating our hitters one on one with our opponents and when we are hitting one on one, we usually get kills. Soriana did a good job, but our passing was also great tonight. We played a complete game and hopefully we can play a complete game tomorrow night.”

Pacheco, though was just one of many players that contributed in some fashion in the semi-final win. Freshman Leticia Kuhn was her typical self finishing with a match high 17 kills. She also had eight points, eight digs and two aces. Red-shirt freshman Jenny Eichler also stood out with 10 kills, four blocks and three digs.

The three sophomores, who will be playing their last game at WNCC, also made an impact. Bianca Rivera, who is headed to Creighton University next year, finished with 16 digs and 11 points. Barb Freitas, playing in her first national tournament, was sensational as well collecting eight kills, six points, five points and five digs. Hailey Mueller also collected some huge kills and blocks finishing with two kills.

In fact, the way the team played Tuesday wasn’t a surprise to the team. They knew all along that they were ready for this tournament.

“It is not really a big surprise that we haven’t lost a game at the national tournament,” Eichler said. “We came in here ready. I know once we stepped on the court, we don’t worry about anything but the game and how we are going to play. I’m not really surprised that we are doing this well.”

Freshman Kendra Schauermann put Tuesday’s games in prospective, it was a total team effort.

“We don’t have one go-to player. Everybody can play,” she said. “We have an amazing defense. Bianca is like the most amazing defensive person I have met in my whole life and Soriana can always make the set off any pass. Plus, she can go up to block or hit herself. We have amazing hitters and it is not just one hitter, we have Leticia, Jen, Barbara, Shawntell.”

That all-around team play wasn’t only evident in the semi-final win against North Idaho, it was huge in the sweep of Frank Phillips earlier in the day. In that match, Kuhn and Eichler led the way with 16 and 11 kills. Khn also had seven digs, 12 points and four aces.

But, what really one the game for the Cougars in the earlier match was the team’s blocking. The team tallied 20 blocks in the “block party” that they put up against Frank Phillips. Eichler, Freitas and Pacheco each had five blocks in the win.

Pacheco continued her march for tournament MVP with another all-star performance with 13 points, two aces, eight digs, 36 set assists, five blocks and three kills.

Today’s championship match between WNCC and Iowa Western will start at 5:30 p.m. It will also be taped to be rebroadcast on CSTV television on Sunday. Other matches today will see the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith facing Miami Dade for 9th place; San Jacinto College facing Hutchinson Community College for 7th place, Frank Phillips meeting Blinn College for 5th, and North Idaho taking on MSU-West Plains for 3rd place.

A Special Note from a Former Cougar Volleyball Player

Just received this email from Diana Marques, who played for the Cougars in 1999 and was a member of coach Chris Green's first regional championship. She is doing well and the website when she visited brought back many memories of her two years in Scottsbluff. Here is the email of what Diana remembered about her times at WNCC.

"Hi Mark, I am not sure if you will remember me. I was one of the two first brazilians that played at Western Nebraska, Diana Marques, remember me? I was looking at the WNCC website the other day, and I was remembering the old good times I had in Nebraska. I miss practing at the Cougar pPalace, having art classes right by the court, running down to your office to get some copies of the pictures, talking to coach Green before lunch time at the dorm cafeteria, and the nice and warm embracing I had from the whole College community there.
I am back in Brazil now, working at an ad agency (using the degree I started at WNCC and finished at Metro State - Denver). I have been here for about 2 years now, and I am loving it, but I sure think about my experience in the US, and with great warmth in my heart, I remembered my second homeland, Scottsbluff.

I was just sending you this e-mail to keep contact, even though I am so far away now, and to tell you ( the one person that kept track of all my stages of getting used to the american culture there) thank you for all your dedication to the volleyball and all the athletics at WNCC. You made my passage there memorable with all your talent to freeze the moment. I hope to hear from you soon, and tell me how are they doing there without the first brazilian pioneers. The cougars were and will always be MY TEAM.

Take Care,
Diana Marques (volleyball alumini of 2000) - brazilian citizen - adopted daughter of Nebraska"

National volleyball photos from Frank Phillips Match

WNCC volleyball team advances to semi-finals

The Western Nebraska Commnity College women's volleyball team advances to the semi-finals of the National Junior College Athletic Association Volleyball Tournament for the third straight year wiht a commanding three-game win over Frank Phillips College Tuesday afternoon 30-22, 30-11, 30-18.

The Cougars utilized a block party and a ace serving attack in collecting the win. The Cougars had 20 blocks as a team led by Barbara Freitas, Jenny Eichler and Soriana Pacheco each with five. The team also finished with 16 ace serves as Leticia Kuhn had four aces and six points. Kuhn Also finished with 16 kills and seven digs.

Also for the Cougars, Eichler had 11 kills, Bianca Rivera had 14 digs and five points, Kendra Schauerman had 13 digs and eight points; and Frietas has six kills, five points and three aces.

The Cougars will now face North Idaho College today (Tuesday) at 5 p.m. with the winner advancing to the National Championship match Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

First Day Photos at National Volleyball Tourney

Cougars win opener at nationals

WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Western Nebraska Community College left little doubt in the minds of the Cape Fear Community College players of who the better volleyball team was Monday afternoon in the first round of the National Junior College Athletic Association Volleyball Tournament.

The Cougar’s Leticia Kuhn finished with a double-double and the team combined for 16 ace serves in routing the Sea Devils 30-10, 30-17, 30-15 to earn a trip to the Elite Eight. The Cougars advance to play Frank Phillips College, who were a four-game winner over Hillsborough Community College 27-30, 30-25, 30-24, 30-27 today at 11 a.m.

WNCC coach Chris Green said they will need to play well in all their games from now on out to be able to move into the national championship match on Wednesday.

“I think we passed and served well in the first game. The second game we had a little bit of a lapse. We didn’t stay focused,” he said. “We maybe weren’t as pumped up as we were in the first game. But, overall it was a pretty good match.”

The Cougars came out and dominated the Sea Devils from start to finish in game one. And, it was a plethora of players that got the job done. Barbara Freitas opened the game with four service points, including two aces, to give WNCC a 7-2 lead.

A couple rotations later, Kendra Schauermann had six straight points to push the Cougars lead to a commanding 16-4 lead, and they continued playing tough the rest of the way until Freitas and Shawntell Jones finished off the game on a block.

The second game was a little more scarier; that was until Bianca Rivera stepped to the service line with the Cougars trailing 8-7. Rivera, with her sizzling jump serves, served up five points, three of which were aces, for a 12-8 lead. Soriana Pacheco closed out the Sea Devils with two ace serves for the 30-17 win.

WNCC flexed it’s depth even more in the third game running all over the Sea Devils. Schauermann helped the Cougars jump out to a 9-2 lead on five kills, including a floor-denting kill by Rivera. Moments later, Freitas had four points to push the lead to 18-6.

Cape Fear mounted a comeback as Stephanie Ford served up two straight ace serves, but Leticia Kuhn silenced the run with a kill and then three straight points for a 21-9. Several rotations later, Jillian Kelly had the final two points for the match.

Kuhn paced the team with 14 kills, 10 digs, four points and two aces. Jenny Eichler also had a good match, finishing with 10 kills, while Freitas had nine kills, seven points and two aces. Also for the Cougars, Pacheco finished with 38 set assists, eight points, six aces, four digs, five kills and two blocks; Schauermann collected 16 points, one ace and six digs; Rivera netting eight points, four aces, six digs and four kills; Stacie Meisner serving four points; and Jones with two blocks.

Green said while the team had 16 ace serves, they had a number of missed serves, 13 to be exact. That is one area that needs to be corrected for today’s matches.
“We had quite a few missed serves and it wasn’t from our jump serving, it was from our other serves,” he said. “When we are aggressive and miss serves, I am not too concerned. But when we are missing serves that are not the aggressive type of mistakes, then those are the bad ones.”

And, today’s matches will be a tad more difficult then Monday’s opener.
“We know the top eight seeds are very good and the 9-13 seeds are also good, so we will have to play a lot better then we did today,” he said. “We will have to play at a high level all three games
instead of one game.”

In other tournament action, there were a few upsets in the first round. On the Cougar’s side of the bracket, Hutchinson Community College upended last year’s national runner-up with a thrilling five-game win 30-23, 30-20, 29-31, 21-30, 18-16, while North Idaho College defeated Western Wyoming Community College 30-17, 25-30, 30-19, 30-16.

The other side of the bracket saw Iowa Western Community College crushing Temple College 30-21, 30-24, 30-9; Blinn College scurrying past 26-30, 30-25, 30-23, 30-27; San Jacinto College taking out the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith 34-32, 26-30, 30-25, 22-30, 15-5; and Missouri State-West Plains defeating Northwest Shoals Community College 30-12, 30-19, 30-16. In elimination matches Monday night, Salt Lake took care of Temple College 30-16, 30-28, 30-17 and Ft-Smith sent Northwest Shoals home 30-23, 30-23, 30-21, 30-14. The late matches Monday say Miami-Dade winnng in five games over Western Wyoming and Hillsborugh beating Cape Fear in three.

Today’s schedule has Iowa Western facing Blinn and San Jacinto meeting MSU-West Plains at 9 a.m.; WNCC taking on Frank Phillips and Hutchinson meeting North Idaho at 11 a.m.; Salt Lake taking on Arkansas-Ft. Smith and the winners of Today’s late matches at 1 p.m.; the losers of the morning games taking state at 34 p.m. followed by the winners of today’s morning games at 5 p.m.

Cougar men, women finish Husky Invite with wins

The WNCC men's and women's basketball team registered wins in the final day of the Husky Invite in Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunday.

In the women's contest, WNCC coach Dave Harnish picked up his 500th win with an 86-42 win over North Platte Commnity College. Alison Cheney led the charge as the freshman poured in 19 points. The Cougar women are now 8-0 on the season and will next be in action Dec. 1 and 2 at the NJC Classic.

The Cougar men, on the otherhand, rebounded from an 82-80 loss to Air Force Prep on Saturday, to down Luke Air Force Base 86-67. The Cougar men, 6-2, had two players record over 20 points. Freshman Maurice Wright poured in 26 points while Ricardo De Bem had 23 points. WNCC will next be in action Wednesday, Nov. 29 when they face North Platte Commnity College in a East Sub-region contest.

Cougar women win, Harnish gets win No. 499

The WNCC women's basketball team went 8-0 on the season with a 75-41 win over Kansas City Kansas Community College in the Husky invite Saturday. The Cougars led 43-24 at half. The win was also 499 for WNCC coach Dave Harnish, who will go for caree win No. 500 Sunday at 1 p.m. against North Platte Community College.

Chelsea Lyles led the team with 19 points and Alison Cheney finished with 13 points.

Cougar men fall at Air Force Prep Invite

The Cougar men seem to love heart-wrenching games. This time, though, the Cougar men were on the opposite end falling 82-80 to Air Force Prep in the second day of the Husky Invite in Colorado Springs. The men held an 11-point lead in the second half and held a 3-point lead late, but couldn't hold on to the lead. Ricardo De Bem led with 21 points followed by CJ Hampton with 21 points.

The loss drops the team to 5-2 on the season. They will next be in action Sunday against Luke Air Force Base at 1 p.m. There is no radio or internet of that game.

Cougar men down Air Force J.V. at Husky Invite

The WNCC men's basketball team needed two free throws by Erik Smith with just over four seconds to play for the 3-point win 78-75. The Cougars led by 11 at halftime and led by as many as 10 and 12 points on many occasions, only to see the jayvee squad cut the lead to two and one point, the latter with 5.8 seconds to play.

WNCC had four players in double figures. Ricardo De Bem and Erik Smith each had 18 points followed by Maurice Wright with 16 and Chance Wallesen with 14. Also scoring for the Cougars were Matthew Akins with six, and Carl Buck, CJ Hampton and Antonio Jones with two each.

WNCC will be back in action Saturday afternoon against Air Force Prep and then wraps up the tournament on Sunday at 3 p.m. against Luke Air Force Base.

Women's Basketball wins first game of Air Prep Classic

WNCC coach Dave Harnish is now two wins from career win No. 500 after his ladies basketball team defeated Arizona Western 79-50 in the first day of the Air Force Prep Classic on Friday.

In the contest, Alison Cheney led the team with 17 points followed by Kiki Taylor with 17, Tiara Scott, Chelsea Lyles with eight, Lesley Olson with seven, Shataya Taylor and Victoria Martin with six, and Dana Iverson with three.

The Cougars, 7-0, will be back in action Saturday at 6 p.m. against Kansas City Kansas Community College and Sunday at 1 p.m. against North Platte Community College. Saturday's contest will be on the air.

Cougars receive police escort out of town -- for trip to national tournament

WNCC Volleyball Team sent off to Nationals with a police/fire department escort and a pep rally wishing them the best at the national tournament in West Plains, Mo. The team's first action is Monday, Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. (MST) against Cape Fear Community College.

Cougar volleyball team making habit of Final Four appearances

Final Four appearances is becoming old hat for the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team over the last seven trips to the National Junior College Athletic Association National Volleyball Tournament.

Just once, though, WNCC coach Chris Green would love to break that string and take the team to the next level – the National Championship match. If there is any year that change could happen, it is this year’s tournament. WNCC enters the national tournament, which begins Monday, as the top-ranked team in the NJCAA polls and the No. 1-seed in the 16-team tournament.

With everything the team as accomplished this season, it is not automatic that the No. 1 team will get to the championship game. But, Green likes his teams changes after playing a rigorous schedule this season.

“Over the last few years, we have scheduled tough tournaments where we have played top 10 teams throughout the season,” Green said. “I think the players are confident and experienced when they step on the court. They know exactly what needs to be done when we play a top opponent.”

The Cougars strong schedules over the past years definitely have paid dividends at nationals. WNCC boosts a 14-13 record over the past seven years at the national tournament, including four Final Four appearances. The highest the team has placed was third in 2001, when they defeated Southwest Missouri State on their home turf.

Green said that 2001 team boosted plenty of talent that played their hearts out to gain the Cougar’s highest finish at nationals.

“We had a very good team with a great quarterfinal upset [over Utah Valley State College in five games] to get into the final four,” he said. “ We did not play well in the semi-finals against Miami, but we finished strong with a third place win over the home team Southwest Missouri-West Plains.”

For the next two seasons, the Cougars had a slight hiccup, falling out of the Final Four perch before restoring the magic in 2004 and 2005, where they finished fourth both years.

This year, the Cougars are hoping to get out of that “third-place match” and play for a national title. And, as the No. 1 team in the nation, the eyes will be focused on the Cougars, who enter the tournament with a eye-popping 53-1 mark.

“We are going into the national tournament as the number one seed and that puts a target on our back. Everyone will be gunning for us,” he said. “It would be a great accomplishment to make it that far, especially given the level of talent in all the top 10 seeds.”

WNCC begins its march to the championship Monday at 1 p.m. against Cape Fear Community College, a team that comes into the tournament 21-7 and winners of their last eight matches. Barring an upset by Cape Fear, the Cougars road to the national championship will take a steep climb in talent. The Cougars will face either Frank Phillips College or Hillsborough Community College.

If anything, it is that second round match-up that is giving Green butterflies. “Our first round will not be against a top ten team, but our second round will be very dangerous,” he said. “If we get by the first round as we are expected, from there on it will be very difficult. The second round match may be against the Frank Phillips/Hillsborough winner, both teams being very talented.”

WNCC, though, always finds a way to win the early matches – against some good teams. It is the semi-finals that the Cougars stumble. Green said teams that make the Final Four will play twice in one day, exerting lots of energy against powerhouse teams.

“It is very difficult to play at the highest level for three straight days,” Green said. "This year, there are no dominant teams in the country. I believe that any of the top 10 seeds have a chance to make it to the championship match because of this year’s parity.”

What makes the mission for a championship match berth more stimulating is the atmosphere, both on and off the court.

"The atmosphere is amazing. The teams are playing at their very best, and it is a great place to play,” he said. “There are always some intense matches and this year will be no different.”

Of all the teams that Green has taken to the national tournament, he has experienced the thrills and the heartaches. Green said the team that overachieved was the 2004 team. That year they finished sixth, but only had four sophomores – Brittany Fornstrom, Brittany Isakson, Leslie Reeh and Jenny Quicke -- and limped into the national tournament with a 45-7 mark.

“To even get to nationals was a feat in itself. We defeated a very talented NJC team on their home court to make it,” Green said. “ We got a good draw in the bracket, but for that team to make it to the final four was a great accomplishment. We did not have a lot of height or a lot of offensive weapons, but we were consistent and played as a team.”

That 2004 miracle team opened play with wins over Pasco Hernando Community College and Western Wyoming Community College, before falling to Miami Dade in the semi-finals. The team then lost to Indian Hills in the third place match.

While the 2004 team stands out, Green had high hopes for the 2002 team. Things didn’t materialize liked he hope. That team went 1-3 after opening the tournament with a win over Frank Phillips, before dropping their next three.

“We lost a heartbreaker to Southwest Missouri in the quarterfinals in five tight games [25-30, 26-30, 30-18, 30-27, 11-15],” he said. “We then ended up losing the rest of our matches, finishing 8th place and 1-3 in the tournament. The team did not continue to fight through the tournament after they lost the chance to win a national championship.”

Unlike that year, this year’s team has plenty of fight having won all the tournaments they have competed in this season, including the always tough Salt Lake tournament. The Cougars also won the Wyo-Braska Shootout, as well as tournaments in Columbus, Garden City, Kan., and Liberal, Kan.

This year’s team is very similar to the 2004 team in the fact they only have three sophomores, and just two – Hailey Mueller and Bianca Rivera -- have seen national tournament before. Barbara Freitas transferred in after taking a year off to help her mom back in Brazil.

“I have asked the sophomores to help explain what it's all about,” he said. “I think they have been exposed to big tournament atmosphere at Salt Lake and at Seward County, so I don’t think it will be a problem.

“Again, the second round will be a very tough match. It will come down to which team is playing the best on that day.”

How the Cougars have fared in their eight trips to Nationals

1988 – The head coach was Cathy Schiller and current head coach Chris Green’s sister Monica was a member that led the team to the college’s first national trip in Miami, Fla. … The tournament was pool play and then single elimination bracket … They beat they No. 1 team in the tournament before settling for fifth place … Finished with a 45-13 overall record.

1999 – It was Chris Green’s first trip to nationals, finishing the tournament at 1-2 … Opened with a loss against Glendale Community College … Rebounded by defeating Iowa Western Community College in three games before losing to Sheridan College in five games … Finished the year at 35-10.

2000 – This was the first year the team became real contenders on the national level … Finished tournament withy a 2-2 record and a fourth place finish … Opened with wins against Illinois Central and Barton County, before falling to Southern Idaho in the semis and then to Utah Valley in the third place match … Finished year at 51-3.

2001 – The Cougars finished third at nationals in the first year at West Plains, Mo. … The team went 3-1 in tournament play … They opened with wins over Illinois Central and Utah Valley before falling to Miami Dade in the semis … Rebounded with a four-game win against Southwest Missouri on their home court. Finished year 57-5.

2002 – One of Green’s most disappointing finishes at nationals … Team finished tournament 1-3 after opening with win against Frank Phillips … Cougars then fell to Southwest Missouri in five games followed by losses to Seward County and Arizona Western … Finished year with a 57-9 record.

2003 – Only the second time the Cougars started the tournament with a loss … The team fell to the host team Southwest Missouri in the first round … The Cougars came storming back with wins over Casper College, Pasco Hernando and Southwestern Illinois for the consolation bracket trophy … Finished season at 43-12.

2004 – The Cougars took nationals by storm, upending NJC in the regional finals … Then went on to nationals to finish and take fourth … The Cougars opened with wins over Pasco Hernando and Western Wyoming before falling to Miami Dade in the semis … Cougars took fourth after losing a heartbreaker to Indian Hills in three games … Finished year at 47-9.

2005 – This year the team came so close to that first championship match appearance … Team opened with two wins, a cake walk through North Central Texas followed by a five-game thriller with Indian Hills … Cougars then lost to Miami Dade in three … WNCC finished tournament 2-2 after dropping third-place match to Missouri-West Plains in five games … Finished year at 53-3.

Brackets for National Volleyball Tournament Released

Western Nebraska Community College’s Chris Green is surprised with the brackets for this year National Junior College Athletic Association national volleyball tournament. WNCC did receive the No. 1 seed, as expected, and will play No. 16 seed Cape Fear Community College at 1 p.m. Monday. After that, the teams were shuffled.

“It was a bit surprising that they did not seed teams according to the last poll,” Green said. “For example, North Idaho got a No. 4 seed when they were ranked No. 8 in the country. I am not sure who decided how to seed the teams and why some teams got moved up and others moved down, but no matter the seeding, after the first round, the competition for us will be very, very tough.”

Green knows very little about Cape Fear, except that they came on strong at the end of the season. “It looks like they have improved throughout the season,” Green said. “They closed out the season with a win over a team they hadn’t beat in their previous match ups.”

After the Cape Fear match, the Cougars will have a tough second round facing either the No. 8 seed Frank Phillips (37-5) or No. 9 Hillsborough (38-3). Green said both squads are salty. "Frank Phillips has one of the best players in junior college and have been very successful this year,” he said. “Hillsborough upset Miami Dade in their last game of the year [for the state championship], so both teams are formidable.”

Other teams that that the Cougars could face in the semi-finals are No. 5 Miami Dade (22-6) who takes on No. 12 Hutchinson Community College (22-13) in the first round, and No. 4 North Idaho College (34-6) or faces No. 13 Western Wyoming Community College (38-5) in the first round.

The other first round match-ups will have No. 3 Iowa Western Community College (56-4) facing No. 14 Temple College (18-17), No. 6 Blinn College (31-3) meeting No. 11 Salt Lake Community College (27-15), No. 7 University of Ft. Smith-Arkansas (37-5) meeting No. 10 San Jacinto College (24-9); and No. 2 MSU-West Plains (38-5) facing No. 15 Northwest Shoals (35-7).
Green, though, doesn’t have a problem with the bracketing realizing that anything is possible at the national tournament.

“I think it looks like a pretty fair bracket,” he said. “Seeds 1 through 13 are all very good teams, so it really didn’t matter how you bracket it. There will be many great match ups early in the tournament.”

WNCC, though, goes into the tournament having played one of the toughest schedules with wins over six of the national tournament participants. The team’s only defeat came against North Idaho the first weekend in September.

Since then, the team has dominated the competition having defeated North Idaho, Salt Lake, Iowa Western, Arkansas-Ft. Smith, Western Wyoming and Hutchinson. The Cougars have won 44 straight matches and have only dropped individual games to Hutchinson and Northeastern Junior College during that stretch.

“We have played well in tournaments,” he said. “I think the fact that we have played many of these teams already this season is going to help us. The tough competition we faced at Salt Lake, at Seward County, and with NJC being so strong, will help us more than anything.”

Cougar men get offensive, pound Buckley 117-109

The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team wanted to make a statement Friday in the Colby Ambassador Classic after Thursday's overtime loss.

And, they did downing Buckley Air Force Base 117-109. The two team's combined scores of 226 points fell six points of the all time record of most points by two teams. That mark of 232 points, was set back in the 1963-64 and 1966-67 seasons. Still, the Cougars had to fend off numorous rallies all night by Buckley, who had just five players suited up.

Playing well for the Cougars was CJ Hampton, who nailed some clutch 3-pointers to finish with over 20 points. Also playing well was David Busma, who nailed some key buckets late in the first half.

WNCC will now face Colby Community College on Saturday in the final day of the tournament.

Women's basketball wins, men lose at Colby tourney

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team went to 4-0 on the young season with a 74-57 win over Pratt Community College at the Colby Tournament Thursday.
The WNCC men’s basketball weren’t as fortunate at the same tournament as the women’s team, falling in overtime to the Colby Replacements 85-80 in overtime. WNCC men’s coach John Jungers wasn’t pleased with the outcome.
“I’m very disappointed in our effort,” he said. “I guess I need to do a better job in getting them ready to play. We are a young team and we don’t understand what it takes to be successful.”
Jungers said his team was up early in the first half and then things went back and fourth until a late rally put the Cougars up 41-30 had halftime. The second half was what got the Cougars in trouble as they went scoreless for the first six minutes of the game. Both teams were knotted at 70 after regulation and then the Replacements outscored WNCC 15-8 in the extra period for the win.
Four Cougars finished with double digit scoring. Maurice Wright and Matthew Akins each had 14 points. Akins also had eight rebounds. Also collecting double digits was Erik Smith with 12 and Ricardo De Bem with 11. De Bem also led the team with nine rebounds.
The Cougars (2-1) will be back in action this afternoon at 3 p.m. when they face Buckley Air Force Base in the second day of the tournament.

Replacements 30 40 15 – 85
WNCC (2-1) 41 29 8 – 78
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Antonio Jones 2, Matthew Akins 14, Keron McKinzie 5, DaRon Kirkendoll 2, Ricardo De Bem 11, Chance Wallesen 3, Maurice Wright 14, Erik Smith 12, David Busma 3, CJ Hampton 5, Doradji Wilson 7.

Cougar men win 73-72 on free throw after the buzzer

Western Nebraska Community College freshman Maurice Wright has never experienced a game like Saturday night against Lamar Community College. With no time on the clock and a deadlocked contest, Wright was standing at the free line knowing that just one charity toss would give WNCC the win. The 6-foot-2 Detroit calmly hit the shot to give the Cougars a thrilling 73-72 win over the Runnin’ Lopes in the WNCC Classic.

“Coach told me to relax that you have two free throws and you put one down and we win the game,” an excited Wright said moments after sinking the winning free throw. “That is the first time I have been in a situation like that. I was nervous but my teammates said be cool you got this. I made the first free throw and we went out of there with the win.

WNCC coach John Jungers said this win shows just how good this team can be. “This is a great win and it showed our true character of our team. We didn’t quit and we didn’t give up. We competed. We battled,” he said. “We had a freshman step with no time on the clock and he made a big free throw. It says a lot about our program and the direction we are heading.

Wright finished with five points on the night, and while his clutch free throw was the winning shot, it was the play of his teammates all night long, that registered the win. “This was a team effort and it is always a team effort,” Wright said. “There is no I in team. It was a team effort and we worked hard. They scored 14 points in the first two minutes of the game and then 14 points in the rest of the 18 minutes of the half. That is our defense that we had in the first half.”

Early on, Lamar took it to the Cougars running out to a 14-2 lead. WNCC regrouped and tied the game at 24 on a Erik Smith 3-pointer with six minutes remaining in the half and went on to lead 29-28 at intermission. The second half was back and forth with nine lead changes. With just under five minutes to play, Lamar took a 65-62 lead on two Darius Joseph free throws. WNCC’s Ricardo De Bem brought the Cougars back scoring five points , including a dunk with 1:40 to play to give the Cougars a 70-69 lead.

Seconds later, Wright took a pass from Smith and drove the lane to put the Cougars up 72-69. Lamar came back and tied the game on a bucket by Mike Bogar with 14.8 seconds to play, which led to Wright’s drive on the baseline that saw him get fouled as time the clock hit zero.

Jungers said the way this team played, shows a lot of promise for the season. “I think we have the ability to be a very good team but it is a team effort. It is just not one guy and it doesn’t all fall on my shoulders,” he said. “We have some kids [that can play] and I thought our fans stepped up and gave us a little energy that we didn’t have early on. We need that here at Cougar Palace.”

CJ Hampton led the Cougars with 23 points, including five 3-pointers. Three of those treys came during a two minute stretch in the second half that brought WNCC from a 49-45 deficit to a 56-53 lead. Ricardo De Bem was the other Cougar in double digits finishing with 22 points. He also pulled down nine rebounds.

“Every night it will be someone different,” Jungers said. “CJ stepped up big for us and Ricardo showed why he should be an all-American and why Texas Tech should really recruit him.”

The Cougars will be in action next week when they compete in the Colby Tournament beginning Thursday.

Colby (2-1) 56 52 — 108
Little Big Horn (0-2) 37 54 — 91
COLBY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Shedric Cole 18, A.J. Stephens 9, Jorge Canedo 12, Tyler Turner 8, T.J. Schmidt 16, Troy Smith 9, Camilo Londono 14, Mike Mosley 20, John Ortiz 2.
LITTLE BIG HORN
Frank Yellowtail 6, Kevin Yazzie 2, Cameron McCormide 8, Darrell Morning 2, Bobby Takes Enemy 11, Isiah Stewart 6, Terrence Fixico 6, Ellis Old Bull 15, Clint Fitzpatrick 20, Andy Roundtree 4, Aaron Stops 7, Robert Hugs 2.

Lamar (2-1) 28 44 — 72
WNCC (2-0) 29 44 — 73
LAMAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Darius Joseph 12, Roman Andrade 2, Brandon Johnson 23, Delvin Franklin 14, DeShawn Wolfe 13, Jerry Nash 2, Mike Bogar 6.
WESTERN NEBRASKA CC
Keron McKenzie 3, Chance Wallesen 3, Maurice Wright 5, Erik Smith 8, Antonio Jones 3, Beno Jaekel 1, Matthew Akins 2, CJ Hampton 23, Doradji Wilson 3, Ricardo De Bem.

WNCC women 3-0 after blowout against Dawson

Don't look know but next week the Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team might just be No. 1 in the country -- that is in scoring offense. That is right, the Cougar women blasted their way to a 116-39 win over Dawson Community College Saturday afternoon in the final day of the Sheridan College Tournament.

The Cougar women led 49-21 at halftime and then scored 67 points in the second half for the win. Four players scored 14 points to lead the Cougars. They were Kiki Taylor, Dana Iverson, Lesley Olson and Alison Cheney.

The Cougars will get a test next week as they head to the Colby Tournament and face Pratt Community College, Colby Community College and Barton County Community College.

WNCC men open season with win against Colby

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team hit for 10 first-half 3-pointers and led from start to finish to open the John Jungers’ coaching era with a 79-69 win over Colby Community College in the WNCC Classic Friday evening.

“The first win is weight off the shoulders,” the first-year head coach said. “Now I worry about winning game number two. One is great, two will be better and 30 will be ideal.”

The Cougars will go for win number two today in the second day of the WNCC classic when they face Lamar Community College at 7 p.m. Colby (1-1) will play Little Big Horn College (0-1) in the opening game at 5 p.m.

Lamar (2-0) was a 95-66 winner over Little Big Horn College to open the Classic, and for the Cougars to pick up their second win, Jungers said they will need to play much better.

“I think we got their attention. The team understands that we didn’t play real well and we weren’t at the top of our game,” he said. “We need to improve defensively, some of the shots that we took were taken sometimes to quickly, and our inside guys need to be more of a presence.”

The thing that stood out was the Cougars’ 3-point shooting in the first half. WNCC shot a blistering 52 percent from beyond the arc, nailing three straight treys to open the game. Bridgeport’s Chance Wallesen did most of the damage from beyond the arc canning four treys for his 12 points.

“We are a good 3-point shooting team and we were living and dying by it [Friday],” Jungers said. “We can’t do that. We are going to have off nights. We shot 1 of 9 in the second half [from beyond the arc0.”

WNCC led 11-2 early on only to see Colby slice the lead to 23-19 on a T.J. Schmidt 3-pointer with six minutes to go. It was then the Cougars hit stride going on a 19-5 run for a 42-24 halftime lead.

Doradji Wilson started the scoring run with a 3-pointer from the left wing followed by a Wallesen down-towner from the right wing. WNCC continued sizzling the nets with three more bombs, two of wich from 6-foot-6 Matthew Akins and one from Erik Schmidt from the left corner.

Jungers said they played good defense in the first half, but wasn’t overly pleased with his team’s lack of movement, which allowed Colby to make 14 free throws in the first half. The Trojans finished the game 33-of-45 from the charity stripe.

WNCC’s dominating first half proved key in the second half. Colby outscored WNCC 45-37, but never could make a dent in the score to single digits. In fact, WNCC held a 77-55 lead with about two minutes to play before Colby made a late 14-2 run to close the final gap.

The Cougars had five players in double figures. Ricardo De Bem and CJ Hampton finished with 13 points each, followed by Wallesen and Smith with 12, and Maurice Wright with 10.

Jungers expects to get an even stiffer test tonight against Lamar, which canned 10 3-pointers in their win against Little Big Horn.

“I expect them to shoot the ball really well. They are athletic and I think their guard play and their perimeter shooting is better,” he said. “We had nervous guys out there. We will get better and tomorrow will be a new day and will improve and go get our second win.”

Little Big Horn (0-1) 34 32 — 66
Lamar C.C. (2-0) 61 34 — 95
LITTLE BIG HORN
Raymond Bullshows 4, Frank Yellowtail 10, Kevin Yazzie 6, Cameron McCormide 8, Darrell Morning 4, Bobby Takes Enemy 3, Isiah Stewart 4, Ellis Old Bull 14, Clint Fitzpatrick 9, Andy Roundtree 2, Robert Higs 2.
LAMAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Jermaine Harris 3, Devin Vandergeest 2, Darius Joseph 7, Roman Andrade 8, Ryan Pelton 2, Brandon Johnson 23, A.J. Green 3, Delvin Franklin 21, DeShawn Wolfe 16, Mike Boger 10.

Colby CC (1-1) 24 45 — 69
WNCC (1-0) 42 37 — 79
COLBY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Shedric Cole 6, A.J. Stephens 6, Jorge Canedo 13, T.J. Schmidt 10, Troy Smith 2, Camilo Londono 21, Mike Mosley 11.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Chance Wallesen 12, Maurice Wright 10, Erik Smith 12, Antonio Jones 5, Matthew Akins 6, Carl Buck 2, CJ Hampton 13, DaRon Kirkendoll 1, Doradji Wilson 5, Ricardo De Bem 13.

WNCC women's basketball 2-0 on young season

The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team continues to rack up the points on the young season with their second win in two tries at the Sheridan Tournament Friday afternoon.

The Cougars, this time, downed Salish Koonai College 99-40. WNCC led 38-19 at halftime. Leading the Cougars in scoring was Kiki Taylor with 20 points followed by Chelsea Lyles with 17.

WNCC will play Dawson Community College Saturday at 2 p.m. in the final day of Sheridan Tournament.

Women's basketball opens with huge win

The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team put five players in double figures as they cruised to a 123-48 win over Little Big Horn College in the first day of the Sheridan Tournament in Sheridan, Wyo.

The Cougars were in control of the game from the get-go as they led 68-15 at halftime. Leading the team in scoring was freshman Dana Iverson with 21 points, including a 3-for-4 performance from the 3-point arc.

Also netting double figures was freshman Alison Cheney and sophomore Tiara Scott with 18 points, sophomore Lesley Olson with 15 and freshman Emma Beddome with 12 points.

The Cougars will play Salish Kooenai College at 4 p.m. on Friday and then Dawson Community College Saturday at 2 p.m.

Cougar volleyball wins 50th match over LCCC

The Western Nebraska Community College finished the regular season portion of its schedule on a good note with a sweep of Laramie County Community College Wednesday at Cheyenne.

The Cougars showcased their No. 1 ranking early in getting the 30-9, 30-14, 31-29 win. It was also the team’s 50th win of the season and pushed the Cougars win streak to 41 matches.

“We served tough in the first two games and they couldn’t run much of an offense because of our tough serving.” WNCC coach Chris Green said. “We had a completely different line up out there in the third game and it is tough to adjust when you mix up the lineup as much as we did.

WNCC’s dominance in the first two games was sparkling, and it was Soriana Pacheco’s serving that baffled the Golden Eagle defenders. Pacheco had 15 of her match high 17 points in the opening two games, including five aces.

In the second game, the freshman from Venezuela started the game with nine straight points before a missed serve stopped the rally. It didn’t matter as WNCC went on to post the 30-14 win and never let the Golden Eagles come within single digits.

The second game was a little tougher as WNCC mixed up the lineup. Still, the Cougars depth was too much. Laramie County held game point at 30-29, until Pacheco put down a kill and then proceeded to serve the final two points, the final an ace, for the win.

Jenny Eichler led the team with 11 kills. The 6-foot rightside hitter also had four blocks. Barbara Freitas also had a good night finishing with eight kills, nine digs, seven points and two aces.

Also for the Cougars, Leticia Kuhn had nine kills, three digs, three points and two aces; Hailey Mueller finished with three blocks and two kills; Shawntell Jones getting three blocks; Pacheco collecting 17 points six kills, three digs, two blocks, 29 set assists and six aces; Kendra Schauermann finishing with three kills, three digs, six points and two aces; Jillian Kelly netting seven points and three kills; Bianca Rivera getting five kills, 11 digs and four points; Stacie Meisner finishing with six points and one ace; and Cassie Vrooman and Becky Hughes with one kill.

The Cougars, 50-1, are now off until they host the regional tournament next week. Green said they had a nice regular season, finishing on top of the NJCAA national polls for the seventh week.

“We worked hard during the regular season and now from here on out the post season is what is counting. If you lose twice, you are done. From here on out it is due or die,” he said. “I hope we can play like we did in the first two games at regionals, where our serving was really tough. If we can do that in Cougar Palace, we will be hard to beat, and then going into the national tournament the No. 1 seed would be a great accomplishment for this team. Hopefully, we can push toward that.”

WNCC sweeps NJC, wins south sub-region regular season title

The No. 1-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team earned another sub-region title and the No. 1 seed in next months Region IX tournament with a 30-25, 30-27, 30-28 win over Northeastern Junior College Wednesday at Sterling, Colo.

The Cougars, now 49-1 and winners of 40-straight matches, used a workman-like performance to register the win against the No. 15 Plainswomen led by Leticia Kuhn with a 15-kill, 14-dig performance. Jennifer Eichler also put a exclamation mark on the game finishing with 14 kills, including the final two kills for the sweep.

“We are happy with the win but I just wish we could play at the highest level all the time and I think we still can improve. I think the girls know that,” WNCC coach Chris Green said. “I think we still can play better then tonight. We had some errors but it was a great win for us to go on the road and get a win against a very good team.”

Defense, though, was the name of the game for both teams. Green said NJC had precision passing all night long. But, as much as NJC dug up ball after ball, it was the Cougars passing that won the game. Bianca Rivera, who committed to play volleyball at Creighton University next year, finished with 22 digs followed by Kuhn and Kendra Schauermann with 14 each.

“NJC passed the ball really well. The first two games we never had an ace serve,” Green said. “You have to give credit to NJC’s passing because our team relies on our tough serving and they passed the ball to the setter all night long. For us to get a win despite their perfect passing says a lot about their team.”

The Cougars also stopped balls from hitting the ground, which is something that the team prides themselves in. It is that defensive toughness that has earned the Cougars their 49-1 and No. 1 ranking for a sixth straight week after the polls were released Wednesday.

“This team plays great defense and defense wins games. You saw a lot of ball saved by our defensive play [Wednesday night],” Green said. “Kendra had a great pancake, which won a point, and she also had some other digs. Bianca had digs all over the place. Those digs are what gives us those extra points and we only won by a few points each of the games. Each of those points we save on defense are very important.”

The Cougars dominated play in the first game only trailing twice before escaping with a 30-25 win on three Schauermann service points.

The second game was a little closer. WNCC held an 11-7 lead on a Kuhn kill. The lead was soon short-lived with NJC taking a 25-23 lead late. With the score tied at 27, Kuhn hammered home a kill and Schauermann served out the game for the 2-0 lead.

The third game was all NJC for the majority as the Plainswomen held a 24-19 lead on three Brittany Palmer serves. WNCC rallied behind a Kuhn kill and four Soriana Pacheco service points to take a 26-25 lead. NJC called a timeout and got a sideout to stop the run momentarily. But it was only temporary as Eicher hammered a kill that dented the floor and two serves later, hammered home the game winner.

The Cougars were led by a variety of players in several categories. Pacheco led the team with 12 points, two aces and five digs; followed by Kuhn with 15 kills, 14 digs, five and five points. Also, Rivera had 22 digs and five points, Schauermann 14 digs, eight points and two digs; Eichler with 14 kills and six blocks; Barbara Freitas with six kills, five blocks and three digs; Hailey Mueller with five kills; and Jillian Kelly with four points.

The Cougars are now off until next Wednesday when they travel to Laramie County Community College
for their final regular season contest before hosting the regional tournament Nov. 9-11.