WNCC volleyball ranked 5th in preseason poll

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team is living up to its pre-season hype.

The Cougars, fresh off a 5-0 start at the South Sub-region tournament Saturday, learned Monday that they are the pre-season 5th-ranked team in the nation after the National Junior College Athletic Association released the poll earlier that morning. For some, the ranking did not sit well; they thought it should have been higher.

“I think we are good and I don’t think we should be ranked that low. We should be ranked higher” sophomore Hailey Mueller said. “I was expecting more. I thought we were going to be third again like last year. But that is O.K., we can move up.”

Miami-Dade, last year’s national tournament runner-up, sits atop the pre-season rankings. The Sharks finished last season 33-3 and return three starters back from last year. Miami Dade eliminated WNCC in the Final Four last year at the national tournament, and then fell to the College of Southern Idaho in the championship game.

Other teams ahead of the Cougars in the poll include Hutchinson Community College, Missouri State University-West Plains and the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Southern Idaho, last year’s national championship, is absent from the polls after being placed on one year’s probation for seven rules violations stemming from illegal visits, giving extra financial assistance and other violations. The probation means there is no post-season play as well as national rankings for the seven time national champs.

WNCC’s presence, on the other hand, in the polls is due in part to the tradition Cougar coach Chris Green has brought to the program. And, this weekend, the Cougars will face several national-ranked teams at the Salt Lake Invite.

The Cougars will face Snow College, Yavapai College, Southern Idaho and Salt Lake Community College on Friday, before playing Northern Idaho College on Saturday. Salt Lake is ranked 6th and North Idaho is ranked 12th. Also at the tournament is 2nd-ranked Hutchinson and 3rd-ranked MSU-West Plains.

“This weekend will be really tough. There will be some really hard teams,” Mueller said. “It is going to take a lot of effort and team work [to repeat what we did last year at this tournament].”

Other notables in the pre-season rankings include Northeastern Junior College at number-9, who the Cougars defeated Saturday at the sub-region tournament. WNCC will also face Seward County Community College (No. 15), Iowa Western Community College (No. 13) and Casper College (honorable mention) later in the season.

Actually, what the pre-season poll did was make the Cougars hungrier to improve to show they deserved to be higher.

“I know we can do better and we will improve,” Mueller said. “I know we will go up higher. There are a lot of areas we can improve on, but it just takes time and effort. We are still trying to feel each other out.”

Cougar soccer drops two on Sunday

It was a so-so Sunday for the Cougar soccer team in Ft. Dodge, Iowa. The men fell to Marshalltown Commnity College 3-0 to even their record at 1-1. Coach Todd Rasnic said his team just wasn't there, coming out flat.

The women also lost, but played a lot better then the previous day loss to Iowa Central Community College. Sunday, the women fell 3-2 to Rochester Tecnichal College. Freshman Breanne Perkes scored both goals for WNCC, but it wasn't enough. The players played with just 11 players due.

The men will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to Hastings to face the Hastings College junior varsity. The women will be back in action this weekend when they will host Butler County Community College at 1 p.m. at the Allan Landers Memorial Soccer Complex on Sept. 2. They will then travel to Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne for a 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 3.

Cougar soccer split with Iowa Central

The Western Nebraska Community College men's soccer team received a goal from Francisco Gianzanti at the 70 minute mark to down Iowa Central Community College 1-0 in the team's season opener. Drew Oesterle recorded the assist for the Cougars, who are 1-0 on the season.

The women were not as fortunate falling 7-0 to the No. 6 ranked Iowa Central Community College on the road.

Both teams will play against Sunday when the men face Marshalltown C.C. and the women meet Rochester Technical College.

Cougar volleyball undefeated in sub-regional tourney

The WNCC volleyball team opened the 2006 season in impressive style at the South Sub-region tournament in La Junta, Colo., Saturday finishing the tournament with an unblemished 5-0 mark. The team defeated all of the south sub-region teams, including a big win over Northeastern Junior College.

The Lady Cougars started the day by rolling over Trinidad State Junior College 30-9, 30-16, 13-15. The team followed that up with impressive, hard-fough victory over Northeastern Junior College 30-26, 23-30, 15-11. The team also claimed a win over Otero Junior College 30-10, 30-14, 15-12 to start the season at 3-0. WNCC coach Chris Green said that freshman setter Soriana Pacheco has been playing well, while freshman Stacie Meisner had a strong serving game in the win against NJC.

The Cougars finished off the tournament by sweeping Lamar Community College 30-11, 30-13, 15-12 and then running through McCook Community College 30-11, 30-15, 15-11. Leticha Kuhn paced the team with 10 kills against McCook. Assistant coach Amy Winters said that they played everyone and was running different lineups throughout the final two games.

The Cougars will now head to the the Salt Lake City Invitational next Friday and Saturday, Sept. 1-2.

Go Cougars!