WNCC Cougars take down Lamar in three games, run record to 34-1

For more photos of the Cougars' match with Lamar, visit the WNCC athletic photo album at wncccougars.albumpost.com

The last time Western Nebraska Community College and Lamar Community College played each other, the Cougars allowed just 20 points in three games. Thursday night, the Cougars had a much tougher contest with the Runnin’ Lopes, but in the end the top-ranked Cougars prevailed in straight games 30-15, 30-11, 30-18.

“When we played them at the first of they year, they struggled,” sophomore Kendra Schauermann said. “Tonight, they didn’t have very many errors and I thought they played pretty good for the most part. We can step it up a lot more and play better. It is hard to play a team at a lower level. We definitely can play a little bit better tougher the next two nights.”

The win was the Cougars 34^th of the season to just one defeat. More importantly, it kept the Cougars unbeaten in sub-region play at 2-0 and pushed the team’s match winning streak to 25 since losing Sept. 1 to Salt Lake Community College, the No. 2 team in the country.

The Cougars might not of played a perfect match, missing 10 serves in the games, what WNCC did do was flex it’s depth once again. Everyone say action and contributed in some fashion in the win.

Sophomore Jennifer Eichler paced the Cougars with another routine contest, finishing with 12 kills, two blocks, five digs and five points. Soriana Pacheco also chipped in 16 points, three aces, two kills, five digs and 25 set assists.

Also for WNCC, Schauermann netted four kills, eight points and seven digs; Stacie Meisner had three kills, six points and five digs; Cassie Vrooman had three kills, two points and eight set assists; Aida Bauza had eight kills; Daphine Da Silva had six kills, six points and eight digs; Fatima Balza had nine kills, four points and two blocks; and Chelsea Lyles had five kills and three blocks.

WNCC started the match as if they were going to run through Lamar quickly as Pacheco served the Cougars to a 7-0 lead. Lamar bounced back, slicing the lead to 15-10 three April Sanchez points. WNCC quickly responded to Lamar’s challenge as Chelsea Lyles hammered home a kill followed by six Pacheco service points for a 22-10. The Cougars never looked back for the 30-15 win.

The Cougars played like a top-ranked team in the second game, jumping out to a 16-4 lead on six service points by Da Silva. Moments later, Balza served up four more points for a 21-5 lead. Schauermann added three service points later on and the Cougars cruised to a 30-11.

WNCC started the third game slow as Lamar tied the game at 3-3. The Runnin’ Lopes kept staying with the No. 1 team in the country, trailing 15-11. Things changed in a heartbeat after that as the Cougars stepped it up as Schauermann recorded two points, one on a kill for a 20-12 lead. Schauermann finished off the Runnin’ Lopes the same way, hammering home a kill and then serving up the final point of the match.

WNCC return to action today when they host Otero Junior College in a 7 p.m. contest. WNCC will then host Trinidad State Junior College at 1 p.m. on Saturday, before hosting Eastern Wyoming College and Northeastern Junior College on Monday and Tuesday.

“Otero had some new recruits this year and they look really good,” Schauermann said. “We faced them in the South Sub-region Tournament and they are a pretty tough team. I hope we come out strong and play hard.

“We also have NJC on Tuesday and we are looking forward to that. Then, next weekend, we have a big tournament where we will play Frank Phillips and Hutch, who are both good teams. Playing the tougher competition the next week will be fun.”