The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team made Dig Pink a success with an overwhelming sweep of Otero Junior College Friday evening at Cougar Palace. The Cougars received an 11-kill performance from sophomore Fatima Balza and a 10-dig outing by Nakya Benitez as WNCC won 25-13, 25-13, 25-12 for their 34th win of the season.
WNCC coach Giovana Melo was definitely pleased with the team’s performance on the evening in front of a very pink audience in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness.
“They were playing as a team together and having fun. I was very pleased with the way they played today,” Melo said. “The crowd was great [with a lot of pink]. I thought the crowd got into it and it was awesome seeing all the pink. We are very supportive of that.”
The Cougar women definitely showed why they are the No. 1 team in the nation with a complete match, with everybody contributing in some fashion. Melo is pleased with the depth that this year’s team possesses.
“Anyone of our players can come in and do well,” she said. “Everybody on the court is playing well so this is really a great team that I can put anybody in there and they are able to step up.”
Friday night, everybody did step up. Balza not only had 11 kills, but she finished with eight points, three aces and eight blocks. Benitez finished with 10 digs, six points and five aces, followed by Gregner Quinonez with nine points and two aces.
Also for WNCC, Naomi Flinders had six points and three digs; Brooke Blomenkamp had four digs and seven points; Paulina Piegza had four points and four kills; Paloma Alvarez had nine kills, nine points and two aces; Sabina Piegza had four points, 24 set assists and three kills; Whitney Roth had two kills and two blocks; Cami Weimer had four kills; and Kaleinani Kabalis had three kills.
WNCC dominance started early as the Cougars raced to a 11-2 lead behind four service points from Flinders and five from Balza, including three aces. WNCC kept the margin around eight to 10 points as Paulina Piegza finished off the Rattlers with four service points.
The Cougars started set two just as dominating with Alvarez serving the Cougars to a 6-1 lead. After Otero cut the deficit to 11-6 on a Amanda Haarberg point, Benitez served up four points, including three straight aces for a 17-7 lead.
WNCC continued to roll as Weimer connected on three kills in the game, including the game winner to give the Cougars the 25-13 win.
Quinones got the Cougars started in the third set with a 3-0 lead. Otero, however, came storming back as Mariah Howell served up two points to slice the lead to 5-4. Benitez, however, started to put some distance between the Cougars and Rattlers with three points, including two aces.
Quinones came back with three more points to push WNCC to an 18-8 lead and the Cougars coasted to the 25-12 lead as Kabalis unloaded on two monster kills for the win.
WNCC will look for win No. 35 and their fourth win in sub-region play today when they host Trinidad State Junior College at 1 p.m. at Cougar Palace. Trinidad battled Northeastern Junior College early on in their Friday contest before the Plainswomen prevailed 25-18, 25-21, 25-11. Today’s match will be Girl Scout day as the college recognizes all the Girl Scouts in the valley.
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