Soriana Pacheco, Jennifer Eichler and Kendra Schauermann had a whirlwind past week after helping the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team capture its first national championship in school history.
Two days after capturing that first place trophy, the three officially inked with four-year colleges to continue their playing days. Pacheco signed with Kansas State University out of the Big 12, while Eichler inked with Division I Tulsa University. Schauermann is headed a little closer to home, putting her signature on the Metro State University letter of intent Monday afternoon.
All three capped their Cougar careers in style and are looking to add another chapter in their memory book.
“I think I have improved a lot here,” Eichler, the Rapid City Stevens graduate, said. “I think it helped me prepare a lot of Tulsa. It is DI and when I see that, it looks a little bit tougher.
“I went to visit there a couple months ago and I love everything about the campus, the girls are amazing and the coach seems to know what he is talking about. Their record is amazing and I just want to play for them.”
Eichler led the team in kills this season and had two break-out matches in the first two rounds of the national tournament last week, tallying 63 kills in four matches. She led the team with 16 kills against Hillsborough Community College in the opening round, and then tallied 15 kills against the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith in the quarter-finals.
Eichler also earned all-region and all-tournament honors at the Region IX tournament this year.
Green said Eichler improved a ton since she got here three seasons ago. Eichler red-shirted her first year year because of a stomach virus.
“She is someone that didn’t play club volleyball in high school and she kept improving her athletic ability since when she first got here,” he said. “We are going to miss her a lot on the rightside.”
Pacheco will be another player that will missed next season. Green said that his 5-foot-10 setter was the quarterback of the team. In her two seasons at WNCC, Pacheco made the national tournament all-tournament team two straight years, was a first-team NJCAA all-American her freshman year, and was all-Region IX both years.
“Soriana will be competing in the Big 12 and we don’t want to root against Nebraska too often, but when she is playing against Nebraska, we might have to change to purple and white,” he said. “We are hoping Soriana does a good job down there.”
Pacheco said that she has many ties to this area and loved her two years at WNCC. Now, she is ready for the next step.
“I went to Kansas State and I really liked the campus and I am going there because my coach told me it was very good,” she said. “I really loved it here and I am going to miss a lot of the girls and the coaches.”
While Eichler and Pacheco are headed to the Division I level, Schauermann signed with a Division II school. In fact, Schauermann said this is the school she has always wanted to attend.
“I have wanted to go to Metro State since I was younger because they have the major I want to go into of meteorology,” she said. “I went on a visit there my senior year of high school and I have beenn planning on going there for a while. I am excited to be close to my family. All my brothers go to CU Boulder, so I will be closer to them in the Metro area.”
Schauermann, along with Eichler, will be graduating in December. Schauermann said that she loved her 1 ½ years at WNCC.
“I loved it here. The community was awesome and going to a smaller school right away was definitely the right choice,” she said. “Obviously we had a really good team, so that helped me get prepared for the next level of volleyball.”
Green said that Schauermann should help out the Roadrunner volleyball program at the libero position.
“Kendra was already a pretty polished player when she got here and she has done some great things here,” he said. “I think she has improved her passing and I think she will do some great things at Metro State probably as their libero.”
Green said these three players will do well at the next level. “It will be a big step up for these three young ladies,” he said. “But, I think they are prepared for it.”
Green said that Stacie Meisner, a Gering graduate, and Shawntell Jones are also expected to sign to play at the next level later on.
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