No. 1 WNCC volleyball team takes down McCook

For more photos of the WNCC and McCook volleyball match, go to the Cougar athletic photo album at wncccougars.albumpost.com

The No. 1 Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team didn’t flash all their talents Saturday night against McCook Community College. Then again, they didn’t need to as the Cougars, 32-1, flashed plenty of offensive and defensive weapons in claiming a 30-9, 30-30-12, 30-21 win over the visiting Indians.

“The first two games I think we played pretty well. We had a little bit of a let-up in game three and two many errors,” WNCC coach Chris Green said. “McCook played pretty well. They are an improved team from last year. They passed well and they had a couple players out there that hit the ball well, especially in the third game.”

Jennifer Eichler led WNCC with another impressive performance. The left-handed rightside hitter hammered home 15 kills, while collecting nine digs and five points in the win.

Saturday’s contest, though, was definitely a tune-up for a tough string of home matches, where the Cougars will have six matches over the next 10 days. The team is looking forward to the home stand.

“We are pretty excited that we are here for a week and a half at home,” Eichler said. “It is a big advantage to be at home for a while. We are excited to be here and play and show everybody how we play on our home court and everything”

The Cougar’s will next be at Cougar Palace on Tuesday when they host a talented Casper College squad at 7 p.m. Even though they have beaten the Thunderbirds three times in straight games, it won’t be easy.

“Casper is a good team and we will have to play much better then we did tonight if we are going to come away with a win even,” Green said. “We would like to play well for all three games and play well for the entire match. Maybe we didn’t do that tonight, so that is something to work on for Tuesday night.”

While the McCook match wasn’t the most flashy win, it was a win that should keep the Cougars No. 1 for a fourth week. It was also the Cougars 23^rd straight match win. The Cougars have also won their last 58 straight games.

Saturday night, McCook tried snapping at least one of those streaks, but couldn’t get the job done.

WNCC had little trouble in the first two games, dismantling a much-improved McCook team from last year. Still, it was the Cougars depth that reigned supreme. WNCC quickly took control as Stacie Meisner served six points, including three straight aces, to put the Cougars up 13-3 and the 30-9 win.

WNCC continued its domination in game two, where Daphine Da Silva served up six points or a 9-1 lead. Eichler added to the Cougars lead with three late points to put the Cougars into a commanding 27-10 lead before Fatima Balza finished off the Indians with a kill.

Game three was a little bit more intense with McCook hanging with the No. 1 team for a good percentage of the game. WNCC held a 16-11 lead on a Heather Steggs service point only to watch the Indians claw back into things on three straight points by Ashley Cordova to slice the lead to 17-16.

That was it as Balza served up three service points for a 21-16 lead. Eichler then pounded home three crucial kills followed by four points from Kendra Schauermann for a 28-19 lead.

Besides Eichler’s match-leading performance, Balza finished with nine kills, six blocks and six points. Also for WNCC, Meisner had 11 points, three ace serves, four kills, six digs and three blocks; Da Silva had 11 points and six digs; Soriana Pacheco had nine points, two ace serves, five kills, four blocks and seven digs; Nayka Benitez had four kills, six points and 15 digs; Schauermann had five points, three kills and five digs; and Steggs had three points.