LIBERAL, Kan. — Chalk up another tournament title for the No. 1 team in the nation as the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team swept through the Ozfest Invitational without dropping a game in capturing the tournament championship.
The Cougars, 43-2, won the title in dominating fashion, dropping No. 11 Frank Phillips College 25-22, 25-18, 25-20 behind double-doubles from Kaleinani Kabalis and Gregner Quinones.
Three Cougars earned first team all-tournament honors and one earned second team all-tournament honors.
Kabalis, Nayka Benitez and Fatima Balza earned first team honors, while Sabina Piegza was named to the second team, while Sabina Piegza earned second team honors. Benitez was the libero of the tournament.
“It feels really good especially after the last match where I saw a different level of the players with energy and at-titude and enthusiasm. They were playing, leaving everything on the court in the last match. They fought for every single point. I have not seen that part of them yet and I am really glad to see it and come up with a win.
What really impressed Melo with the way her team played, especially in the championship match, was the team effort that was shown, especially since they rallied around after losing starting setter Sabina Piegza to an ankle injury. I never saw this part of the team play before. They really picked it up after Sabina went down and rolled her an-kle. Every one of the girls fought 10 percent more.”
Naomi Flinders came in and picked the team up, finishing with 23 set assists.
“She came in and was put in a spot,” Melo said. “It was a hard position for her, but she came in and did a good job.”
The Cougars started the bracket portion of the tournament in impressive fashion, beating Barton County Community College 25-7, 25-10, 25-21 to move into the semifinals. WNCC then took care of Hutchinson Community College in three games 25-22, 25-13, 25-23.
The competition, even though the Cougars didn’t drop a game, was competitive. Melo said they didn’t matches like this to get ready for Tuesday’s sub-region showdown with No. 14 Northeastern Junior College at Cougar Palace.
“It was good for us to see some better teams," Melo said. "Every time we stepped on the court, we got better.”
In the championship tilt, Kabalis recorded 10 kills, 14 digs and one solo block; while Quinones had 10 digs, 12 blocks and an ace serve. Also for the Cougars, Fatima Balza had 14 kills and seven points, Paulina Piegza had eight kills; and Nayka Beni-tez had 11 digs and two aces.
The Cougars also received stellar performances in the opening two matches.
Against Hutchinson, Balza and Paulina Piegza tallied 17 and 14 kills respectively. Balza also had six assist blocks. Also for the Cougars, Sabina Piegza had 39 set assists and four assist blocks; Quinones had four aces, 12 points and seven digs; Benitez had seven points, three aces and 15 digs; and Kabalis had eight digs.
Against Barton County, Benitez, the libero of the tournament, finished with a double-double, collecting 12 digs, 15 points and five aces. Also for WNCC, Balsa had 18 kills and seven points; Sabina Piegza had 32 set assists and five kills; Kabalis, Paulina Piegza and Naomi Flinders each had five kills. Kabalis also added five digs.
Other members of the all-tournament team include Midland’s Ariadne Alcantara, Frank Phillips’ Kayleigh Gid-dens, and Hutchinson’s Molly Betgkamp and Melissa Gmur on the first team.
Other second team members included Redland’s Shayna Severance and Alessandra de Silva, Frank Phillips’ Ales-sa Roberts, Arizona Western’s Fernanda Costa, Seward County’s LaKendra Sanders and Jelena Simic.
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