WNCC volleyball 4-0 at Salt Lake Tourney, run record to 9-0 on season

The No. 5-ranked Cougar volleyball started the Salt Lake Invite off with a bang Friday by running their record to a perfect 9-0 with four victories.

The Cougars opened the tournament by breezing past Yavapai College 30-19, 30-17. Soriana Pacheco had seven kills and 21 assists, while Jennifer Eichler had seven kills and Kendra Schauermann eight points. Stacie Meisner finished with five digs, two blocks and four aces, while Chelsea Lyles and Fatima Balza each had two blocks.

WNCC then snuck past Snow College 30-28, 30-18. In the first game, the Cougars missed a lot of serves to make the game close. Still, the Cougars ahd plenty of individual success. Pacheco had another double-double with 20 assists and 13 points. She also added three aces. Eichler finished with six kills, while Shawntell Jones had five blocks.

The third match of the day against North Idaho College, a team that made the national tournament a year ago, was pushed to a third game on the Cougars. WNCC, though, came out on top winning 30-16, 27-30, 15-12. Eichler led the way with 10 kills, while Nayka Benitez had five aces, eight points and 12 digs. Pachero had nine points, 24 assists and three blocks, while Benitez had 13 digs and five aces. Jones added three blocks.

WNCC finished up day one by downing the College of Southern Idaho 30-18, 30-23. In that contest Eichler finishe with 11 kills with a hitting percentage of 84.6 percent. Soriana Pacheco finished with a double-double of 26 set assists, 11 points, five aces.

WNCC finishes pool play Saturday at 10:15 a.m. against Salt Lake Community College. After that will be bracket play. Last season, WNCC won the tournament.