WNCC volleyball team opens practice in defense of their Region IX title

Fundamentals were the rule of the day for the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team as begin defense of their Region IX championship last fall. And, for the Cougar volleyball team who have won eight straight Region IX titles and finished runner-up at last year’s national tournament, Monday’s fundamental sessions were just routine. In fact, this year’s team is more like reloading then rebuilding, as 12 players, including six sophomores, took to the court for the first time this morning at 6 a.m. to begin practicing for the upcoming season.

“The first day is all the basic fundamentals, making sure everyone is on the same page with the basic skills,” sophomore Stacie Meisner of Gering, said. “If you don’t have the basics down, there is no need to do the more advanced stuff. We are doing our basics of passing and serving right now.”

The biggest focus in practice during the first day of practice was passing, especially to find someone to replace all-American libero Bianca Rivera, who now is at Creighton University.

“We just did some ball control drills (Monday) and I think losing Bianca will be kind of tough, but we have some people that can step in and take over where she left off,” WNCC nine-year head coach Chris Green said. “Statistically, she was one of our best passers, but I think we have both freshmen and sophomores that can step into her roll and contribute as far as ball control. That first contact is so important in the game of volleyball. I think we have good players that will do a good job in getting the ball to the setter.”

The Cougars opened practice with 12 players -- six from last year’s 56-2 team. Returning players include 5-foot-10 setter Soriana Pacheco, 6-0 rightside hitter Jennifer Eichler, 6-0 middle blocker Shawntell Jones, 5-8 outside hitter/defensive specialist Kendra Schauermann, 5-9 setter Cassie Vrooman, and 5-9 defensive specialist/outside hitter Stacie Meisner.

The freshman class is just as talented, including 6-3 middle hitter Fatima Balza, 5-10 outside hitter Daphine da Silva, 5-6 outside hitter/defensive specialist Nayka Benitez, 5-10 Aida Bauza and 5-9 outside hitter Heather Steggs. Steggs, who started at Alliance High School a couple of years ago, joined the team this weekend after Jazmuhn Carlson of Cheyenne left the team.

Meisner said she is excited for the coming season with all the talent this team possesses. “I think it is looking really good. We are really optimistic about this season and we know we have great potential for this team,” she said. “I have been excited for the season since last season got over. I am ready to go.”

The Cougars will have two weeks of two-a-days before their first competition Aug. 18 with the Alumni Scrimmage. After that they will host the South Sub-region tournament on Aug. 24-25. After that, they will compete in the Salt Lake tourney the next weekend, which they won last season.

For Green, he has the recipe to success down to a tee in preparing teams for the regular season. Green needs just one win to notch career win number 400, and his main focus is priming his team for that first competition. And, it all begins with fundamentals.

“We want everyone on the same page, so we take it pretty slow and make sure everyone is doing those fundamental skills right,” he said. “(Monday afternoon) we will play a little bit and play some doubles, and we will continue with passing.”

Even though the team had a light workout of going over basics, Meisner said practices will start to pick up in intensity.

“So far we haven’t did a whole lot, but I think everyone is excited to get going and working hard to see what we all can do,” she said. “Today was more about just getting out on the court and playing some ball. We didn’t get to do that at all last week, it was all conditioning, so everyone is excited today to play some volleyball.”