WNCC volleyball playing for regional title after two wins Friday at regional tournament

LAMAR, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team is one win away from heading back to the national tournament after sweeping both matches at the Region IX South Tournament Friday afternoon at Lamar, Colo.

The Cougars opened with a thundering win over Otero Junior College 25-9, 25-13, 25-19; before taking care of No. 14 Northeastern Junior College 25-21, 25-17, 25-22. The two wins pushed the No. 2 ranked Cougars into the championship match at 1 p.m. against the winner 10 a.m. match between NJC and either Otero or Trinidad State. The matches will be aired on KOZY, 101.3 FM and the Internet.

"We played really today. Everyone came in and did a really good job I think," first-year WNCC coach Giovana Melo said. "They knew they had to step up to play so we are going one step at a time. We still have one more game tomorrow."

WNCC opened the tournament with an impressive win against Otero as Kaleinani Kabalis recorded a double-double collecting 15 kills and 13 points. The freshman from Hawaii also had seven aces and six digs in the win.

Melo said that the Otero win definitely set the tone for what the Cougars mission was at the regional tournament, and that was to win to make a 10^th straight trip to the national tournament and change to defend last year's national title.

"The girls are focused and they know what they want. They just step on the court and play. They want to win a regional title," Melo said. "Every time we stepped out there, they were ready to go and they were real excited to be there. It was fun to watch them."

Kabalis also received plenty of support from her other teammates in the Otero win. Sabina Piegza finished with 35 set assists, nine points, seven digs and three kills; while her twin sister Paulina had 10 kills.

Also for the Cougars in the opener, Nayka Benitez had six digs, four aces and seven points; Gregner Quinones had five points and four digs; Paloma Alvarez had two aces, five points and six kills; and Fatima Balza finished with five points, three digs and nine kills.

Kabalis continued her strong game in the NJC match, where she finished with a near double-double. Kabalis finished with 15 digs, nine kills and three points.

Also standing out for the Cougars in that match was Balza with 11 kills and two digs, while Alvarez had 10 kills, seven digs and three points; and Paulina Piegza topped everyone with 14 kills.

Other Cougars with impressive numbers included Sabina Piegza with 37 set assists, two points and six digs; Quinones with two aces, four points and seven digs; Benitez with 10 digs, Cami Weimer with two digs; and Brooke Blomenkamp with three points.