WNCC women's basketball set to tip off Thursday at Williston State

The Western Nebraska Community women’s basketball team will begin the road to another regional title Thursday afternoon at Williston, N.D., and for the Cougar women the season opener doesn’t come any time too soon.

“You are always excited for that opening weekend. It has been a long four weeks and there is no question that they are tired of the same old thing every day in practice,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish said. “We are ready and it is time to get after it.”

The Cougars, who finished last season with a 27-2 record and come into the season ranked No. 9 in the pre-season poll, will travel to Williston, N.D., for a 3-day tournament. WNCC will face Salish Kootenai Thursday at 2 p.m. followed by contests against Williston and Lake Region Friday and Saturday.

Harnish is so much worried about the wins and losses this weekend, he is more worried in playing well.

“The biggest thing we need to do this weekend is worry about ourselves. It is pre-season in a sense that these games don’t mean anything for the region. It is nice to always win but this time of year you are trying to execute offensively and defensively, and play to the best of our ability and not worry what other teams are doing.”

And, with a young team like the Cougars have this year, the first month of the season will be a learning experience.

WNCC returns just five players from last year, in which the season ended in disappointment – a Region IX championship game loss to Casper, which snapped the Cougars four-year reign as regional champs.

“I have 10 freshmen and I really don’t know what to expect out of them in a game situation,” Harnish said. “Every tournament will be tough when you play your first nine games on the road. We will have to grow up very quickly, and with not having Chelsea there the first month of the season, which means we only have four returners, every game will be tough for us early on. Of our six guards, five are freshmen with Alison the only one back.

This weekend’s games should give Harnish an indicator of what to expect from this year’s team. The only difference is that sophomore Chelsea Lyles, a 6-foot forward from Colorado Springs, Colo., will miss this weekend as she will be competing at the Region IX volleyball tournament.

“How talented we are is yet to be seen,” he said. “I think we will shoot the ball well. We are not a very big team, so we will have to. We will have to be a very strong defensive team and create turnovers and try to push the tempo more then we ever have and make up for some our liabilities.”

Harnish said the one weakness on this year’s team is height. But he said, what they lack in height, they should make up in other areas.

“Every year is a little bit different team and there is no question that this year is different,” he said. “There definitely are some holes and weaknesses. I thought we would have a little bit more height. What we lack in size we try to stress to be a bit more aggressive defensively and get after people a little bit more, both on the half-court and full-court side.”

Besides Lyles, other sophomores returning include 6-0 Dana Iverson and 6-0 Carly Glisan of Ft. Collins, Colo., and 6-0 Emma Beddome of Melbourne, Australia.

WNCC’s freshman class looks promising. Leading the class are three Scottsbluff high gradauates in 5-9 SeLina Ysac, 5-9 Maribel Arellano and 5-4 Ashley Burns.

The rest of the talented freshmen include 5-3 Cheri Palmer and Eli Cosmo-Gonzalez of Denver, Colo., Michelle Lighthall and Shaquilah Davis of Colorado Springs, Colo., Maggie Murtagh of Berthoud, Colo., Tawny Drexler of Golden, Colo., and Jena Colwell of Townsville, Australia.

“You can’t really look at anybody standing out right now. practices and scrimmages are all a different environment and until you get these freshmen kids into a game situation and find out how they perform in a game, you don’t know who will do well at this time. You are just trying to find what best combinations work and who works well together,”

After this weekend’s contests, WNCC will continue their road swing with tournament games in Colby, Kan., Nov. 8-10 and then Colorado Springs, Colo., 16-18 before returning home for the Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 23-24.

2007-08 WNCC Women’s Basketball Roster
10 – Cheri Palmer, 5-3 freshman from Denver, Colo., 12 – Dana Iverson, 6-0 sophomore from Ft. Collins, Colo., 13 – Emma Beddome, 6-0 sophomore from Melbourne, Australia, 21 – Michelle Lighthall, 6-0 freshman from Colorado Springs, Colo., 22 – SeLina Ysac, 5-9 freshman from Gering, Neb., 23 – Shaquilah Davis, 5-7 freshman from Colorado Springs, Colo., 24 – Maggie Murtagh, 5-6 freshman from Berthoud, Colo., 32 – Alison Cheney, 5-8 sophomore from Ault, Colo., 33 – Tawny Drexler, 6-0 freshman from Golden, Colo., 34 – Jena Colwell, 5-10 freshman Townsville, Australia, 40 – Eli Cosme-Gonzalez, 5-7 freshman from Denver, Colo., 42 – Chelsea Lyles, 6-0 sophomore from Colorado Springs, Colo., 44 – Maribel Arellano, 5-9 freshman from Scottsbluff, Neb., 52 – Carly Glisan, 6-0 sophomore from Ft. Collins, Colo., 54 – Ashley Burn, 5-4 freshman from Scottsbluff, Neb.

WNCC Women’s Basketball Schedule
November
1-3 – Williston State Tournament, Williston, N.D., 8-10 – Colby Ambassador Classic, Colby, Kan., 16-18 – Air Force Prep Tourney, Colorado Springs, Colo., 23-24 – Thanksgiving Classic, Scottsbluff, 29 – South Sub-region tourney, Lamar, Colo.
December
1 – South Sub-region tourney, Lamar, Colo.; 6-8 – Lady Cougar Holiday Classic, Scottsbluff.
January
9 – McCook Community College, Scottsbluff, 11 – Lamar Community College, Lamar, Colo., 12 – Otero Junior College, La Junta, Colo., 16 – Casper College, Scottsbluff, 23 – Northeastern Junior College, Sterling, Colo., 26 – Northeast Community College, Norfolk, Neb., 30 – Eastern Wyoming College, Scottsbluff.
February
2 – McCook Community College, McCook, Neb., 9 – Lamar Community College, Scottsbluff; 12 – Casper College, Casper, Wyo., 16 – Northeast Community College, Scottsbluff, 20 – Northeastern Junior College, Scottsbluff, 23 – Otero Junior College, Scottsbluff, 27 – Eastern Wyoming College, Torrington, Wyo.

WNCC defeats NJC, moves record to 47-2

STERLING, Colo. – Western Nebraska Community College’s Aida Bauza powered down 19 kills and the No. 5 ranked Cougars swept Northeastern Junior College Wednesday evening in the team’s regular season finale.

WNCC won in straight games 30-21, 30-25, 30-19 and improves its record to 47-2. The Cougars now turns their focus to the Region IX tournament which begins next week in Trinidad, Colo.

“We need to go down to Trinidad and play better then we did today,” WNCC coach Chris Green said. “Hopefully, we will play better because we really need to improve before the national tournament if we get there. NJC is a tough team and if they are hitting well, they will be a tough team to beat.”

Bauza, though, was just one of a handful of players that sparkled against NJC. Nayka Benitez finished with a double-double collecting 15 points and 15 digs. Benitez also had four aces in the match.

Also collecting double digits in the match was Kendra Schauermann with 10 digs, Daphine Da Silva with 13 points and Soriana Pacheco 40 set assists.

The one thing that impressed Green, though, was the team’s defense as the Cougar defenders saved balls and kept rallies going all night.

“We had some great defensive plays, too, to keep rallies going. NJC had some hard hits that we kept alive by our defensive,” he said. “They served the ball very tough and we didn’t get much of an offense going. We had a lot of one passes and a lot of passes where Sori had to bump set it. That can be contributed to their tough serving.”

As much as the defense was providing strong defensive play, Green said his hitters struggled.

“Aida played very well and had a nice night. She led the team in kills, easily,” he said. “It was nice to see us win with two of our five hitters not doing so well as we normally see.

It was the third game where the Cougars defense stepped up. After the Cougars won the first two games 30-21 and 30-25, the two ranked squads were locked into a battle. Both teams were tied at 3-3, when both teams put back-to-back long rallies, which was highlighted by some eye-popping saves by the Cougars.

Later, WNCC’s Pacheco served up three straight points, which included a Pacheco kill and a Benitez save that opened the NJC fan’s eyes to help WNCC to a 9-5 lead. WNCC couldn’t shake NJC, though, as the Plainswomen came back to slice the lead to 15-13.

That was as close as NJC got as Pacheco recorded a kill and then Benitez’s strong serving pushed the lead to 19-13. WNCC added to the lead as Stacie Meisner served up four points for a 29-19 lead before Fatima Balza tipped the ball over to end the match.

Besides Bauza’s 19 kills, Balza had eight kills and four blocks; Pacheco had seven kills four blocks and six points; Jennifer Eichler and Chelsea Lyles each had six kills; Shawntell Jones had five kills, four blocks and six points; Schauermann had 10 digs and four points; and Meisner had six digs and four points.

“It is likely that we will play them on Friday and Saturday [at regionals next week],” Green said. “We will see them some more and hopefully all of our hitters will have good matches next time we play them.”

WNCC soccer teams end season by falling to LCCC in Region IX finals

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams saw their seasons come to an end at the Region IX playoffs on Sunday.

The Cougar women had 13 shots on goal, but succumbed to the No. 8 Laramie County Community College women 5-1. The Cougar men managed just four shots on the day and fell 3-0 to LCCC. Both LCCC teams advance to the district playoffs starting Nov. 2.

“We certainly played an off game and unfortunately the Region IX finals match is not the game to do it,” WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said about the women’s game. “We were still battling [to the end] and we can’t take anything away from LCCC. They are a ranked team and they are one of the top teams in the nation. They played us smart and played us hard, and they came out and got the victory.

“It was a tough one. The weather conditions weren’t good, the wind were up. We had several opportunities early to get some momentum going and we couldn’t do it. Unfortunately, we paid for it and that is how the results ended up. Not a whole lot to say. We just need to regroup and build on that for next season.”

The Cougar women had plenty of scoring opportunities early on with three good shots in the first 10 minutes of the game. Bre Perkes missed on a good shot just six minutes into the match. Then, freshman LeAnna Paxton had two good shots, the second just hitting the top crossbar.

After that, LCCC rattled off three goals in a five minute period to take a 3-0 lead. Shauna Fuentez scored the first goal off an assist by Kim Yacouta at the 18 minute mark for a 1-0 lead. Just 45 second later, Megan Erickson scored off an assist by Meredith Hogan.

LCCC went up 3-0 at the 22:40 mark on an unassisted goal by Ayla Fowler.

The Golden Eagles wasted little time in notching the first goal in the second half scoring within on minute. Yacouta scored the goal off an assist by Hogan. Five minutes later, LCCC went up 5-0 on a Hogan goal, which was assisted by Kendall Clement.

WNCC avoided the shutout as Ashley Quintana took a pass from Paxton and drove the field in blasting the ball past LCCC goalkeeper Natasha Troxler for the final goals of the match by both teams.

WNCC finished with 13 shots, five on goal, compared to 15 shots for LCCC, and 11 on goal. Cougar goalkeeper Terri Huntington had 10 saves to Troxler’s four.

While the women’s team had plenty of scoring opportunities and did find the back of the net, the men’s team was not as fortunate. The Cougar men had just four shots, two on goal, compared to 14 shots, eight of which were on goal.

The difference in the game was Cougars came out flat and watched LCCC dictate play.

“I said the other day if we come out and play a first half like we did against Western Wyoming, we would be in trouble. That is exactly what we did,” Rasnic said about his men’s play. “We came out and played flat and we couldn’t get our organization going. We really just stepped out of our game, and whether that is pressure from the opponent or from our guys, we just have to learn to play consistent soccer in every game.”

The Golden Eagles scored first at the 20:28 mark on a set piece, a direct kick that Conrrado Deniz blasted into the net from just outside the circle. The Golden Eagles added another goal seven minutes before half as Jordan Byram scored off an assist by Carlos Saenz to give LCCC a 2-0 lead at halftime.

WNCC had some scoring opportunities in the second half early. The Cougars missed on a prime opportunity with 21:40 on the clock. Five minutes later, WNCC had another scoring chance that just missed.

LCCC added an insurance goal at the 15 minute mark as Lance Vue connected on an unassisted goal.

Rasnic said that both teams has good seasons. The Cougar women finished 9-7-2, while the men at 8-10

“The good news is for us on both squads is that our record has improved over the last three years on a gradual basis and I am planning on keeping that improvement going,” he said. “With that improvement comes the better possibilities of getting out of Region IX and getting to districts. We are going to keep pushing that toward that and with the players I am looking at, we should be competitive on both sides.”

Both squads lose some talented sophomores. For the women, the team will say goodbye to Stacey Agnew, Bre Perkes, Paige Achatz, Nancy Boyack, Kiwi Wingert and Amanda Arrant. All six were part of two years of rebuilding the women’s program after the team was suspended for a season.
The men’s team will also say goodbye to seven players, including Diego Campoverde, Renato Segalla, Edwin Enriquez, Eloy Matos, Geoff Critzer, Aaron Oesterle and Steven Estrada.

“We are just going to keep working and improving upon our players for next season with our recruiting and get a team in here that will compete and play strong against LCCC,” Rasnic said. “Hopefully, you will see that happen in the next year. It is one of those things were we had a couple of years of rebuilding, and hopefully we will get the kinks worked out and get the players here to be very competitive.”

WNCC volleyball team claims two sub-region wins over Otero, Lamar on Saturday

The WNCC volleyball team made school history in its match against Otero Junior College on the road. The Cougars earned an impressive 30-8, 30-9, 30-8 over the Rattlers, and it was the first time since rally scoring was started in the 2001 season that an opponent failed to score double-digits in all three games of a match. The 25 total points that the Cougars allowed is a school record for least points allowed in a 3 out of 5 match in rally scoring. The previous best was set in 2002 when McCook scored just 30 points on Sept. 12.

In fact, the Cougars win Saturday morning was a team effort as assistant coach Amy Winters said they played very well. Chelsea Lyles and Shawntell Jones paced the team with 10 kills each. Lyles also had two blocks, while Jones had three blocks. Jennifer Eichler finished with eight kills and four blocks, while Aida Bauza had nine blocks.

Also for the Cougars, Soriana Pacheco had seven aces, 22 points and 23 set assists, while Nayka Benitez had six aces and 16 digs.

The Cougars followed that contest up with another impressive win, downing Lamar Community College Saturday afternoon 30-18, 30-15, 30-12.

WNCC, now 46-2 on the season, will close out the regular season with a big match against Northeastern Junior College on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Sterling, Colo.

WNCC volleyball turns back Trinidad on Friday

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team picked up a 30-24, 30-17, 30-18 win over Trinidad State Junior College on Friday, raising their record to 44-2 on the season.

The No. 5-ranked Cougars received plenty of support in the win. WNCC was led in hittin gby Fatima Balza with 13 kills. Stacie Meisner served for 15 points, while Soriana Pacheco had five aces and 35 set assists. Defensively, Nayka Benitez had 22 kills.

Zigray's goal with 1:27 to play sends WNCC into regional title game on Sunday

Mark Zigray became the hero for the Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team Friday in the Region IX Playoffs.

The freshman from Windsor, Colo., avoided sending the match into overtime as he drove about a 35-foot shot into the wind to score with 1:27 left in regulation to give the Cougars the 1-0 win over Western Wyoming Community College at the Landers Soccer Complex.

“I am very happy with the win. It was my second goal of the season and it most importantly will boost my confidence,” Zigray said. “I am really happy that the game didn’t go into overtime.”

The win sends the Cougar men into the Region IX championship at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Landers Soccer Complex against Laramie County Community College. The WNCC and LCCC women will precede the men’s contest at noon in the women’s regional title contest.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic was relieved that Zigray found the back of the net because he didn’t want to play any overtime.

“Mark is a player that when he makes mistakes, he never gives up until the very end of the match,” Rasnic, who was celebrating his birthday Friday, said. “I have to take my hat off to Mark, I have been on him from time and time, but he is always on the ball and looking for scoring opportunities. He did a great job today and got the goal when we needed it.”

In fact, Zigray gave Rasnic a perfect birthday present, the game winning goal and now the Cougars are one step away from a Region IX championship.

“We will have to be more focused on Sunday and do whatever it takes to win,” Zigray said. “Rasnic has never beaten Laramie County and it would be nice to get coach the first win [over LCCC].”

WNCC almost didn’t get the win, especially how they were playing in the first half. Rasnic said his team came out unbelievably flat.

“I can’t tell you how disappointed I was in the first half,” Rasnic said. “We couldn’t get our game going and we didn’t play organized. We had a pretty loud discussion at halftime because I didn’t think our guys came to win. They got motivated at halftime and decided to play the style of play that wins soccer games. They came back and did that, getting the late goal. Thank goodness because I didn’t want to go to an overtime. We were fortunate today. We can’t repeat any halves like that when we come up against Laramie County. We will work on it and I think we will come out more focused when we come out in the Region IX final on Sunday.

Zigray’s game winner was a beauty going into a stiff 35 mph wind. Zigray scored the goal after Steven Estrada’s pass deflected off a Mustang defender. Zigray found the ball and blasted the ball past Western Wyoming’s goalkeeper Shawn Coryell.

“Once I saw the deflection, I went to the ball immediately,” he said. “It was a good scoring opportunity and I finished it.”

The goal not only lifted the spirits of the Cougars, it put the Mustangs into a must-score opportunity. And, with over a minute to play and Western Wyoming shooting with the wind at their backs, they received one good shot on goal. WNCC’s goalkeeper Cesar Bazana, though, stopped the threat and the Cougars ran out the clock.

WNCC out-played Western Wyoming in both halves, holding possession of the ball for well over 60 minutes. What stood out was the team’s defense, which only allowed the Mustangs four shots, two of which were on goal. WNCC, however, had 16 shots and the majority of them were in the first half, when the Cougars balked on prime scoring chances.

Zigray said they didn’t come ready to play in the first half.

“Coach kept telling us at halftime to play harder against the wind,” he said. “The first half we thought we cold easily score.”

That wasn’t the case as WNCC had seven shots that could have been good, but the wind either blew them over the bar or the shots sailed just left or right of the net. The real big scoring threat came with 3:39 left in the first half when Edwin Matos fed Lazzaro Torres with a pass, which just missed.

In the second half, each team had two prime scoring chances. WNCC’s came with 26 and 18 minutes to play. The Mustangs came with seven and six minutes to play. In fact, the Mustangs’ shot with seven minutes left in regulation was at point-blank range, which sailed over the bar.

The winners of the two Region IX championship matches on Sunday will advance to the District playoffs the first week in November. The men’s winner will head to Overland Park, Kan., while the women’s champion will play in Salt Lake City, Utah.

WNCC women’s basketball ranked No. 9 in pre-season poll

When the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team opens up in two weeks, they will have plenty of motivation to build upon after the NJCAA released their pre-season polls.

The WNCC women earned the No. 9 spot in the pre-season Top 30 national polls released Wednesday. Last season the Cougar women ended up 27-2 and fell to Casper College in the finals of the Region IX tournament. Casper College, 26-9 a year ago, earned honorable mention votes in the first poll.

For WNCC sophomore Alison Cheney, she was surprised by not only the team ranking, but by the fact that she was a pre-season second team all-American selection.

“The rankings come to a surprise to me,” Cheney, the sophomore from Ault, Colo., said. “The rankings prove that we deserve the ninth-ranking. I didn’t think we would be ranked that high. Being ranked that high, we definitely need to prove that we should be up there.”

For Cheney, who averaged double figures scoring a year ago, was surprised in learning that she was a pre-season all-American candidate.

“I is an honor to be a second team all-American. I will be shooting for that honor [after the season now] and try to make first team,” she said. “Trying to stay there will be one of my goals.”

The Cougar women, though, will be faced with a dainty task of staying ranked, especially with an inexperienced squad. The Cougars return just four players from last year’s 27-2 squad. Besides Cheney, who averaged 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals a game, other sophomores include 6-foot Chelsea Lyles, 6-0 Dana Iverson, 6-foot Emma Beddome and 6-0 Carly Glison.

“The sophomores help out the freshmen a lot, telling them what they need to do,” Cheney said. “They come and ask us questions.”

The rest of the squad are freshmen, and Cheney said there is some raw talent that will push the best from the sophomore squad.

“The freshmen are just as talented and knowledgeable as our team was last year. They work very hard and that makes up for a lot,” she said. “They arte young and as they get more experience and know what is going on, get a feel for the college game, they will start playing like they know how. Some of the freshmen are stepping up and proving themselves and I think that makes us sophomores work harder. That means that we will need to earn our spots in the line-up.”

The one goal for the Cougars is to get back to the national tournament, something that still brings a bad sense to the returning players. They desperately want that trip to Salina, Kan., in March.

“Hopefully going higher in the polls will be great for our team,” Cheney said. “We just need to prove to ourselves [we are deserving of the rankings] and play like we know how and play as a team. I really want to get to the national tournament. Last year was a big disappointment.”

Teams ahead of WNCC in the polls include Seward County Community College coming in as the pre-season No. 1 ranked team. The rest of the top include Trinity Valley Community College at No. 2, Midland College at No. 3, Chipola College at No. 4 and Central Arizona College at No. 5.

The rest of the top 10 seed Copiah-Lincoln Community College at sixth, Southeastern Illinsoix at seven, Gulf Coast Community College at eight, WNCC at nine and the University of Arkansas-Ft Smith at No. 10.

No other Region IX team is ranked in the top 30. Several teams, however, received honorable mention votes, including Casper College and Miles Community College.

WNCC opens the season Nov. 1-3 in a tournament in Williston, N.D. The Cougars will open with Salish Kootenai College followed by contests with Williston State College and Lake Region College.

Cheney is hoping the team is ready to tip off the season in two weeks. In the meantime, they will have two scrimmages to work out the kinks between the newcomers and the sophomores. WNCC will scrimmage South Dakota Tech on Oct. 23 at WNCC and then travel to Chadron State for a scrimmage Oct. 27.

“We are not fully all the way there to play in a few weeks. But, hopefully in the next two weeks we will be,” she said. “We will be all-right. We keep working hard and people play like they know how to play, we will be all-right.”

1	Seward County Community College	Liberal, KS	36-2	0	0	0
2	Trinity Valley Community College	Athens, TX	24-7	0	0	0
3	Midland College	Midland, TX	20-11	0	0	0
4	Chipola College	Marianna, FL	30-7	0	0	0
5	Central Arizona College	Coolidge, AZ	33-3	0	0	0
6	Copiah-Lincoln Community College	Wesson, MS	30-5	0	0	0
7	Southeastern Illinois College	Harrisburg, IL	33-3	0	0	0
8	Gulf Coast Community College	Panama City, FL	27-4	0	0	0
9	Western Nebraska Community College	Scottsbluff, NE	27-2	0	0	0
10	University of Arkansas-Fort Smith	Fort Smith, AR	18-12	0	0	0
11	College of Southern Idaho	Twin Falls, ID	25-7	0	0	0
12	Georgia Perimeter College	Decatur, GA	25-7	0	0	0
13	Tyler Junior College	Tyler, TX	28-8	0	0	0
14	State Fair Community College	Sedalia, MO	22-9	0	0	0
15	Monroe Community College	Rochester, NY	30-3	0	0	0
16	Shelton State Community College	Tuscaloosa, AL	31-14	0	0	0
17	Northeast Mississippi Community College	Booneville, MS	19-7	0	0	0
18	Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College	Miami, OK	25-8	0	0	0
19	Yavapai College	Prescott, AZ	25-7	0	0	0
20	Rend Lake College	Ina, IL	24-8	0	0	0
21	Sauk Valley Community College	Dixon, IL	14-17	0	0	0
22	Coffeyville Community College	Coffeyville, KS	30-4	0	0	0
23	South Plains College	Levelland, TX	31-2	0	0	0
24	Walters State Community College	Morristown, TN	23-12	0	0	0
25	Barton County Community College	Great Bend, KS	27-3	0	0	0
26	Wallace State Community College-Hanceville	Hanceville, AL	22-11	0	0	0
27	Tallahassee Community College	Tallahassee, FL	23-8	0	0	0
28	Meridian Community College	Meridian, MS	17-11	0	0	0
29	Louisburg College	Louisburg, NC	24-4	0	0	0
30	North Dakota State College of Science	Wahpeton, ND	23-9	0	0	0

WNCC soccer teams prepare for regional playoffs Friday, Sunday

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams will enter the post-season with optimism of winning at Region IX title after finishing the regular season strong the last couple of weeks.

The Region IX playoffs begin Friday when the WNCC men play a semi-final contest against Western Wyoming Community College at 3 p.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex. The winner advances to the finals against Laramie County Community College at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Soccer Complex.

The Cougar women, in the meantime, will have a one-match playoff with No. 8-ranked Laramie County Community College for the right to move on to the district playoffs. The women’s title match is slated for noon on Sunday at the Landers Soccer Complex.

Soccer coach Todd Rasnic said both teams have the potential to win the regional title, but it will take playing at the top of their game to achieve the goal.

“I think both men and women have a very real shot at winning the Region IX Playoff,” he said. “The men have a big task; they have to win the next two games to advance. We are going to take that one game at a time. We are completely focused on Western Wyoming.”

Both Cougar teams will have stiff paths to the title. The men must win two matches for the title. First, they must get by a Western Wyoming squad that comes into the match with an 8-8-2 record, while WNCC comes in at 7-9. The two squads split contests this season with the Mustangs earning a 1-0 win in Rock Springs before the Cougars won 4-1 10 days ago in Scottsbluff.

“We need to continue to play consistent soccer. Over the past three or four games, we certainly have gotten back into our rhythm and we seem to be moving into a direction that is positive,” he said. “I think as long as the guys can maintain the organization and remember to bring the team effort to the field, we will be in good shape.

“We certainly have the ability and talent to beat Western Wyoming, as evident in the last game we played, but we have to play consistent. That has to be achieved by any team that wants to advance to the district playoffs.”

Rasnic said the key to victory is finding the back of the net, something they have struggled at for the majority of the season. As of late, though, they have been connecting on their shots, including a big 2-1 double overtime win over Dodge City Community College on Sunday.

Against Dodge City, Gering’s Chris Thompson and Scottsbluff’s Geoff Critzer scored the winning goals. But, all season long, the Cougars have been getting scoring from a variety of players.

WNCC has received scoring from sophomores Eloy Matos and Renato Segalla, as the two lead the team. Also netting goals on a regular basis include freshmen Lazzaro Torres, Morgan Wall and Antonio Herrera-Young.

“We have been plagued a couple of games in not being able to find the back of the net, and we seem to be getting back on track from that. Hopefully, this weekend will be successful for the gentlemen,” Rasnic said. “They certainly are in a position where they have some momentum right know, and that is a big thing.”

Rasnic said if they get into the Region IX championship match, they can win the title against a LCCC team the team knows they can beat.

“We lost to LCCC twice, once in overtime, and the second time 1-0. It was just two of our bad games during the season and we didn’t play to our full potential,” Rasnic said. “We even had more or just as many opportunities as LCCC to win the game, and we didn’t pull it off. We are on track now and we have the talent and the ability that if we get out of Region IX, can compete well in districts.”

The women team, who are 9-6-2 on the season and winners of their last three matches, are finding success in finding the back of the net. The Cougar women started the winning streak with an 8-0 win over Western Wyoming followed by a 1-0 win over Garden City and then an impressive 3-2 win over Dodge City.

WNCC’s Bre Perkes, who set a school record last season with 26 goals, is starting to find her stride again, after missing several games with injuries and a bad knee. This past weekend, Perkes scored a goal against Garden City and then notched two goals against Dodge City. She now has 10 goals and 23 points on the season.

“The women are playing extremely well. They are very organized,” Rasnic said. “I have been moving players around all year, trying to find the right mix of players to get a little bit more speed on top.”

Other offensive threats for the Cougars include sophomores Paige Achatz, who tied a school record with four goals against Western Wyoming on Oct. 9, Amanda Arrant, Kiwi Wingert and Nancy Boyack. The team is also getting plenty of offensive threats from freshmen Ashley Quintana and Tamika Smith as well. Achatz and Smith each have five goals on the season.

But, for the Cougars to advance to districts, they will have to get past a LCCC team that is 12-2-1 and riding plenty of momentum after knocking off previous No. 1 ranked Young Harris College over the weekend 2-1. One day later, LCCC fell to No. 3 Schoolcraft College 4-3.

“They [LCCC] is a good soccer team. They have a lot of talent,” Rasnic said. “We started off the season with a pretty bright outlook and through some unfortunate key injuries; we were put into a situation where we had to fight through every game. Honestly, we have done very well. The women have a winning record this year and they are in a position where they can win Region IX.

“The first game against LCCC was a 6-2 loss and then we went to a 3-1 loss, but the game was a lot closer. In think having all our players back and healthy could be a big advantage. We are still missing some key players that we lost for the season, but one thing we did in the past, including last season, is fight through difficult situations and give 100 percent in every minute of every game. They have every chance to win as much as LCCC.”

The winners of the regional playoffs will advance to the district playoffs Nov. 2-4. The men’s districts will be held in Overland Park, Kan., while the women’s districts will be held in Salt Lake City.

WNCC volleyball wins final home match, improves to 43-2 on the season

More photos of the match are on the Cougar Athletic photo album under the Volleyball Folder. The address of the album is wncccougars.albumpost.com

For the six Western Nebraska Community College sophomores, Tuesday’s home finale was emotional.

Sophomores Jennifer Eichler, Shawntell Jones, Soriana Pacheco, Kendra Schauermann, Cassie Vrooman and Stacie Meisner put all the emotion aside of their final match in Cougar Palace and helped the Cougars to a 30-13, 30-20, 30-8 win over Laramie County Community College.

"There was a lot of emotion out there. We all are really close these past two years, especially last year with most of the team being freshmen and with us all coming back this year,” Meisner said. “We really enjoyed our two years here, so there was a lot of emotion of happy and sad.

The six sophomores racked up a 99-4 record in two years so far, after Tuesday night’s win over Laramie County. WNCC is now 43-2 on the season and used a balanced attack in getting the win over a decent Laramie County squad.

Meisner said the second game wasn’t pretty, but they finished strong, registering the 30-8 win in game three.

“Our second game was that good, but we came out in the third game and we really wanted to go out on a good note since this was our last game at Cougar Palace. We made sure that third game was really good and we accomplished that.”

Jones and Meisner paced the Cougars from the service line recording 16 and 14 points each. Jones added six ace serves in the win as well as three kills and four blocks. Meisner added three digs in her last match at Cougar Palace.

In fact, all six sophomores contributed. Jennifer Eichler was her typical self finishing with seven kills and two blocks; Schauermann had six points and four digs; Pacheco finished with seven points, three digs, 26 set assists and three kills; and Vrooman had one block.

The first-year players also came up big Tuesday night. Aida Bauza finished with 12 kills and three digs; Fatima Balza had nine kills and six blocks; Chelsea Lyles had seven kills and four blocks; Nayka Benitez had 11 digs and 10 points; and Daphine Da Silva had seven points.

The Cougars, though, started slow as both teams were knotted at six in the first game. Then, the Cougars strong serving came alive as Schauermann added two points, followed by Jones with a 3-point service run and Da Silva with a six points run. Schauermann finished off the Golden Eagles with the final two points.

Game two was a little iffy for the Cougars. LCCC came out and took a 10-6 lead on a Kodi Cartwright ace serve. LCCC kept hanging with WNCC leading 14-13 on a Dayane Souza ace serve.

Finally the Cougars came alive as Pacheco served for four points, followed by Schauermann with three points for a 22-16 lead. Jones continued the strong serving with a 6-point run, before the Cougars won the game on a Golden Eagle missed serve.

The third game was all WNCC. Laramie County did, however, start strong as they trailed 4-3 on a Cougar missed serve. The Cougars rebounded quickly on a Eichler kill and then Jones went to work again from the service line with eight straight points, including three aces, for a 13-3 lead.

Meisner added to the lead moments later with a 12-point serving spree for a commanding 26-4 lead. WNCC finished off the match on a Benitez ace serve for the Cougars 43^rd win of the season.

WNCC will be back in action this weekend when they face Trinidad State on Friday and then Otero and Lamar on Saturday. The Cougars wrap up the regular season Oct. 24 when they travel to Northeastern Junior College.

“We are looking forward to this weekend. Every time we step onto the court, we are hoping to get better and better,” Meisner said. “We are going to use these next four matches to prep for regionals and hopefully get us ready for nationals. Every step of the way we are getting better every match.

“After this past weekend, we realized that there are some things that we still need to work on. That loss might be a good thing to get back into the gym and practice a few days and really fine tune some things, that the loss pointed out that we need to work on before we get down to Council Bluffs.”

WNCC volleyball hosts Laramie County in regular season home finale

The Western Nebraska Community College will be action Tuesday, Oct. 16 in its regular season home finale against Laramie County Community College.

Tuesday’s contest will have plenty of festivities as it will be Parent’s Day, Sophomore Night and also Girl Scout Night.

The Cougar women, 42-2 on the season after suffering their second defeat of the year this past weekend, will be looking to start a new win streak against the Golden Eagles.

Last weekend, the Cougars finished third at the Seward County Invite in Liberal, Kan. After defeating No. 14 Hutchinson Community College and No. 9 Barton County Community College on Friday, the Cougars fell to No. 7 Frank Phillips College 30-27, 28-30, 15-12. WNCC rebounded with a 30-17, 33-31 win over Arizona Western for third place. Frank Phillips went on to win the tournament with a 30-15, 30-24 win over Northeastern Junior College.

After Tuesday’s contest, the Cougars will have four regular season games remaining – all sub-region contests. WNCC will face Trinidad State on the road on Friday followed by contests against Otero Junior College and Lamar Community College on Saturday.

WNCC finishes the regular season Oct. 24 when they travel to Sterling, Colo., to face No. 17 ranked Northeastern Junior College. The Region IX tournament is slated for Nov. 1-3 in Trinidad, Colo.

WNCC softball offering winter pitching and hitting academies

The Western Nebraska Community College softball team will hold winter pitching and hitting academies for girls in grades Kindergarten through the 12 grade this winter.

The academies will be held Nov. 4, 11, 18 and Dec. 9. The cost is $40 per session or $30 if attending two or more sessions. The academies will be held at WNCC’s indoor softball/baseball facility located at 1209 2^nd Avenue in Scottsbluff.

The pitching academy will be held for beginning pitchers from 3-4 p.m. and advanced pitchers from 6-7 p.m. The hitting academy will be held from 4-5 p.m. for beginning hitters and 7-8 p.m. for advanced hitters. There is a limit to the number of participants in each session.

To download a flyer for the winter academies, go to the WNCC athletic website at sports.wncc.net.

WNCC men, women defeat Dodge City in soccer in regular season finale

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team have won three straight matches after making it a perfect weekend on Sunday by defeating Dodge City Community College 3-2.

The men also found the going positive as they earned a hard-fought win over Dodge City 2-1 in double overtime.

Both Cougar teams will now turn their focus to the Region IX playoffs, which will be played at the Landers Soccer Complex Friday and Sunday. The Cougar men will play a semi-final match Friday at 2 p.m. against Western Wyoming Community College with the winner facing Laramie County Community College at 2 p.m. on Sunday for the championship.

The women will next play Laramie County Community College Sunday at noon for the Region IX title. Both winners on Sunday will advance to the district title.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said that his teams are beginning to come around and he feels confident that, if they play like they did this past weekend, they can get to that district playoffs.

“Things are clicking on all cylinders with the women’s team,” he said. “The women are equivalent to 11-6 now and that is up there with the teams that are ranked. We just need to step up our play Sunday [against a team that beat the No. 1 ranked team in the nation]. If we win that one, we can go on to the districts.”

In fact, the Cougar women tallied three goals in the second half to earn the win. After trailing 1-0 at halftime, sophomore Bre Perkes nailed a penalty kick to tie the match. It wasn’t too much long that Perkes recorded her second goal of the match, taking a pass from Ashley Quintana for a 2-1 lead.

WNCC added an insurance goal as Gering’s Nancy Boyack found Quintana for the goal and the 3-1 lead.

Dodge City scored a late goal which didn’t have an effect on the contest. Both teams had four shots on goal. Dodge City had more corner kicks then WNCC, 6-4. WNCC’s Terri Huntington picked up the win in net with three saves.

Rasnic said that he was especially proud of his women’s team as they found the will to win against a very physical Dodge City team.

“It was the most physical match that we played all year,” Rasnic said. “We stuck with it and the they girls said they were tired of being pushed around and did a good job of taking control in the second half.

The women came through in the 35 mph winds and it carried over to the men’s team. Rasnic said his men’s team not only controlled play, but they kept their composure in another very physical match.

“It was the most physical match that we have played all year,” he said. “The guys played really good. They [Dodge City] did everything they could do to get us frustrated and our guys stepped up and played a complete game without losing their control. It was a rough contest, but the right team won.”

WNCC scored first in the contest as Scottsbluff’s Geoff Critzer took a deflection off a defender and buried into the back of the net at the 36^th minute of the first half.

Dodge City tied the match six minutes later on a shot as both teams went into intermission at 1-1. Neither team scored in the second half, forcing overtime.

Just four minutes into the first overtime, Scottsbluff’s Shayne Tower delivered a pass to Gering’s Chris Thompson for the go-ahead goal. The Cougars then got defensive as they shutout Dodge City the rest of the 16 minutes of overtime for the win.

WNCC had just three shots on goal in the 35 mph winds. WNCC’s Cesar Bazana picked up the win in net with six saves.