WNCC takes down Lamar in three sets for 33rd win of season

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team started slow, but quickly heated up as they registered their 33^rd win of the season, topping Lamar Community College 25-19, 25-9, 25-10 in a sub-region contest Thursday at Cougar Palace.

The Cougars, who claimed the top spot in the nation on Wednesday, were paced by a variety of players. But it was the play of freshman Paulina Piegza who stepped up from not only at the net, but also from the service line. The 6-foot-1 middle blocker from Poland registered 11 points, seven blocks and six kills in the win.

“We played better today than Tuesday [against McCook],” she said. “We played more as a team.”

The Cougars weren’t exactly sparkling with their serves in the first set, missing eight serves to help Lamar stay in the contest. The second and third set, the team did much better, only missing three serves in each set.

Piegza said missing serves is all in their head right now.

“It is because when someone misses serves, the other people think about missing a serve,” she said. “It is all mental right now.”

Even with the missed serves in the opening set, the Cougars athleticism took over against an 8-22 Lamar ball club. The Runnin’ Lopes were within four points at 15-11 on a Emily Schaefer ace serve at one time, but after that, the Cougars started to heat up as Fatima Balza served three points behind two blocks and a kill by Piegza.

The Cougars pushed the lead to 25-15 before Lamar tried to make a service run behind Jennifer Long’s serving, but it wasn’t enough as the Cougars registered the win.

The second set started out much better for the Cougars as Brook Blomenkamp served up three points followed by three more points by Naomi Flinders for a 7-1 lead. A few rotations later, Blomenkamp served up four more points behind three straight kills by Flinders for a 20-6 lead. WNCC went on to win 25-9 on a Sabina Piegza kill.

Lamar started the third set by taking a 3-2 lead, but it was short-lived as Paulina Piegza went on an eight-point service run for a 14-4 lead. Paloma Alvarez and Blomenkamp each added two more points later before Sabina Piegza dumped the ball the net for the match winner.

Alvarez also sparkled in the match, finishing with 10 kills and five points. Also for the Cougars, Balza continued her all-American season with 12 points, eight kills, and nine digs. Flinders also came up big with six points, five kills, five digs and seven blocks; Sabina Piegza had five points, 23 set assists, six kills, four blocks, seven digs; Blomenkamp had nine digs, 10 points and three aces; and Whitney Roth had one kill and four blocks.

WNCC, 33-2, will continue its streak of home matches with another sub-region match today against Otero Junior College at 7 p.m.. Tonight’s match is Breast Cancer Awareness with spectators are urged to wear pink, with $1 going to the Dig Pink Breast Cancer Awareness promotion. The WNCC and Otero teams will also be wearing pink socks donated by Scottsbluff Screen-printing in recognition of the event.