The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team wrapped up the home portion of their schedule in impressive style, sweeping past Casper College 25-13, 25-18, 25-23 to notch their 45th victory. The Cougars finished this season 13-0 at home and have not dropped a home match since the 2003 season, running their home win streak to 85 matches.
But, the win wasn’t all rosy on a night where the three sophomores – Fatima Balza, Nayka Balza and Paloma Alvarez – were honored. Balza, who is the team captain, said it was an emotional time playing on the Cougar Palace court for the final time.
“I was a little nervous because I played here for the last two years and it is hard to explain in words how I am feeling right now,” Balza said. “We didn’t play like we could have. The last game we didn’t do the job. Finally, at the end, we came on strong.”
WNCC head coach Giovana Melo said they played OK considering everything that was surrounding the Cougars on sophomore appreciation night.
“It was hard because we had Sabina [Piegza] coming back [from an injury and we didn’t have Nayka [because of sickness],” she said. “We were trying to get over that, but we did an OK job. We just need to be a little bit more consistent.”
Balza did finish with a double-double in her last time at Cougar Palace, finishing with 10 points and 14 kills. Alvarez also had a nice night, finishing with nine kills and five digs. Alvarez also had the last two kills for the Cougar’s 45th win of the season.
The third set was a barn-burner as Casper fought tooth and nail against the No. 1 team in the nation. WNCC jumped out to an 8-5 lead on a Balza kill and led 16-10 after three Kaleinani Kabalis service points.
The Cougars couldn’t hold the lead as the Thunderbirds came storming back, slicing the lead to 17-15 on an ace serve by Kristin Gliczinski. Casper followed that by taking a 19-18 lead on three straight points by Katya Kopanarova. Balza stopped the skid with two clutch kills to bring both squads even again at 20-20.
Casper pushed forward, grabbing a 22-20 lead and seemed as if they were going to force a fourth game. Things changed after a missed Thunderbird serve as Paulina Piegza hammered home two monster kills to tie the third set at 23. Kabalis then served up her 13th and 14th points of the match, as Alvarez hammered home the final two kills for the win.
The third set, however, was a lot different from how they started. The Cougars dominated in the opening set, moving to a 7-1 lead behind Kabalis’ six straight points. WNCC pushed the lead to 21-7 as Balza and Gregner Quinones each served five points. WNCC won the set on a Balza kill.
The second set was a little tighter at the end. Kabalis started the Cougars on a good know as she served up two aces for a 3-0 lead. WNCC pushed the lead to 12-4 on a Balza and Naomi Flinders block. In the meantime, Brooke Blomenkamp and Balza each stepped up serving. Blomenkamp served six straight, while Balza had five straight for a 18-7 lead.
Casper fought back, slicing the lead to 20-13 on four straight points by Konefesi Vaisigano. However, that was as close as Casper got as Balza hammered home three late kills for the second set victory.
The Cougars had plenty of players that stepped as well. Kabalis finished the night with 14 points, seven aces, three kills, eight digs and two blocks. Also for WNCC, Sabina Piegza had two points, 19 set assists and four digs; Quinones had 10 digs and seven points; Blomenkamp had six points; Flinders had four set assists and four blocks; Cami Weimer had three kills; and Paulina Piegza had five kills and two blocks.
Gilczinski paced Casper with six kills and nine digs. Vanessa Muir also contributed six kills, while Konefesi Vaisigano had nine digs.
WNCC, 45-2, will now head to the Jefferson College Invite in Hillsboro, Mo., where they will face ranked teams Friday and Saturday. The Cougars will match up with Lake Land College and Indian Hills Community College on Friday, followed by Missouri-West Plains, Miami Dade College and Jefferson College on Saturday.
“This weekend is not going to be easy,” Melo said. “We are going to have good games and we are going to see good teams. We will have to work hard to win.”
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