WNCC volleyball wins Molten Classic with unblemished record

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team will soon make Council Bluffs, Iowa, their second home after capturing another title in less then a year.

WNCC, after capping off the 2007 season with a national championship at the Mid-America Center, started their defense of the national tournament by capturing the Molten Classic championship by finishing the two-day tournament with an unblemished record.

After winning all four matches on Friday, the Cougars started day two with three wins in straight games. WNCC registered a 25-17, 25-15 win over Southwest Missouri-West Plains, and toppled Hutchinson Community College 25-16, 25-20. The Cougar women followed up with an impressive showing against Hillsborough Community College out of Florida, 25-9, 25-15.

The Cougars capped the tournament with a thundering victory over Cloud County Community College 25-10, 25-18.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo couldn’t be happier with the accomplishments of her team after the first tournament.

“It feels good to be 8-0 and I can take a little breath now,” she said. “We can enjoy this accomplishment for a day and then work on things for next weekend with other ranked teams.”

What was impressive about WNCC’s eight victories was that five of the teams they faced were ranked in the pre-season poll.

“They are excited,” Melo said. “They are happy to beat teams that were ranked and to prove to everyone that we should be ranked.”

WNCC started the day with an impressive win against Southwest Missouri-West Plains. In that contest, Fatima Balza finished with seven kills and 10 blocks.

Also for the Cougars, Paulina Piezga had eight kills and eight blocks; Kaleinani Kabalis had three kills, 10 digs, one ace and six points; Cami Weimer had three kills; Sabina Piegza had five blocks, 1 ace, eight points and 26 set assists; Brooke Blomencamp had four digs; Nayka Benitez had seven digs; and Grenner Quinones had seven points and two aces.

WNCC followed that win with a hard-fought win against Hutchinson as they used strong serving and hitting to get the win.

Kabalis paced the team with a double-double, recoring 10 kills, 11 digs, one ace and four points. Balza finsihed with nine kills, four blocks, and four points.

Also cor WNCC, Paulina Piegza had six points and three blocks; Sabina Piegza had seven digs, two aces, five points and 24 set assists; Benitez had six digs and one ace; and Naomi Flinders had one ace.

Then, the Cougars flexed their depth in a quick match against pre-season ranked Hillsborough. In fact,.

Paulina Piegza paced the Cougars with 11 kills and six blocks. Kabalis finished with six kills, nine digs and five points, while Balza had five kills, six blocks, three aces and 10 points.

Also for WNCC, Sabina Piegza had four blocks, three aces, six points and 25 set assists; Quinones had eight digs, one ace and five points; Benitez had five digs; and Flinders had five digs.

WNCC finished off the championship run by disposing of Cloud County 25-10, 25-18 as Paulina Piegza finished with 10 kills, two aces and four points.

Also for the Cougars, Whitney Roth had five points and five blocks; Weimer had three kills and three digs; Balza had five kills; Kabalis had four kills and three solo blocks; Blomenkamp had four points; and Sabina Piegza had 27 set assists.

Melo said that what really contributed to the championship drive was the talent of players as every one that played, contributed and played well.

“Every single player that got in did a good job and I was able to play around with the line up this weekend,” she said. “They all did well.”

The Cougars (8-0) will need that kind of same performance next weekend whtn they compete in the Salt Lake Invite in Salt Lake City. Melo said they will face Indian Hills, Hutchinson and North Idaho College in pool play on Friday.