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.
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