WNCC's Melo signs Kearney Catholic's Hoehn to letter of intent

Western Nebraska Community College volleyball coach Giovana Melo takes one look at Kearney Catholic’s Emily Hoehn and sees a little bit of herself in volleyball talent and passion for the sport.

Last week, Hoehn made it official signing a little of intent to play for the Cougars for the next two seasons, as a bright-eyed Melo looked on.

“She is a fireball,” Melo said of the first recruit she has signed. “The first time I put my eyes into her, I knew she was exactly what we needed. She is the type of player I like. She plays with intensity and has fun at the same time.”

Hoehn, a 5-foot-4 libero, had a stellar volleyball career at Kearney Catholic. Last season, the Stars finished 25-5 before losing in the first-round of the state C-1 tournament. She was the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World Herald honorable mention all-state, and first team all-conference.

Melo couldn’t be happier with signing Hoehn, someone that she wanted ever since she saw her play this summer.

“I think recruiting could be the most rewarding but yet stressful part of coaching,” Melo said. “You get to pick the kids you want for your program but not every time you get the ones you want so when you do, it is exciting.”

Hoehn definitely was someone that Melo wanted, especially since the Cougars lost first team NJCC all-American libero, Nayka Benitez, who is set to graduate in May. Hoehn is someone that Melo thinks can step in to that libero position after finishing last season with 356 digs and 30 aces.

“Nicole [Gonzales, WNCC assistant coach] went to watch the Nebraska top 10 volleyball tournament in Kearney during the summer and that was where we saw her,” Melo said. “She fits perfectly with this program and the girls. Like I said, I love her enthusiasm and athleticism. As a coach, that is something you can’t teach. She is pretty funny and intelligent. She will be perfect here.”

Hoehn is excited to be joining a Cougar team that won a national title two years ago and finished third this past season with a school record 59 wins.

“Coming to WNCC means I will be playing with players as hungry as I am for a National Title,” Hoehn said. “I am very anxious to play on the next level of volleyball with a nationally-ranked team.”

Hoehn wasn’t only looking at WNCC to attend. She also was interested in Doane College, Kansas Wesleyan, Hastings College and Simpson College. WNCC, however won out because of the volleyball passion the Melo brings to the court.

“I decided on WNCC because of the passion the coaches and players showed for the game of volleyball,” she said. “I also enjoyed the facilities and the proximity to family.”

Hoehn also played basketball and soccer at Kearney Catholic, but said that volleyball is what she loves the most.

“I love volleyball,” she said. “For me, there isn't a better feeling than being on the volleyball court and leaving everything you have there.

Hoehn is the second player from Kearney Catholic to play for the Cougars. Lyndsey Finney, who was an NJCAA first team All-American her sophomore year, played for the Cougars in 1999 and 2000. Hoehn would love to follow in the footsteps of Finney.

“Lyndsey Finney had an amazing career and I hope to reach the same level of recognition she received,” Hoehn said. “I would like to play on a Region IX championship team as well as a National championship team for the next two years. I hope to also build a strong educational foundation which I can use to further my education at a 4-year school.”
Hoehn will be stepping into some big shoes next year, following in the footsteps of two all-American liberos the last four years in Benitez and Bianca Rivera. Rivera played for the Cougars in 2005 and 2006 and just finished her eligibility at Creighton. Benitez verbally committed to Creighton this month.

Hoehn is up for the challenge and is ready for the new adventure.

“I feel that WNCC is a good fit for me because of the small campus,” she said. “I also like the family-like atmosphere.”

Hoehn plans to major in biology, but that could change. She also loves to read, play the piano, do scrapbooking and play the wii.

Former Cougar coach Soupy Campbell making MCI a winner again

TAKING OVER: Dave Campbell, center, is the third coach for the Maine Central Institute postgraduate team since Max Good left after the 1998-99 season.

From the Kennebec Journal Website

PITTSFIELD -- Nick Combs has to get up in 12 hours, three hours before sunrise, and slide his sleepy self into the passenger seat of coach Dave Campbell's car. Campbell will drive Combs from the Maine Central Institute campus in Pittsfield to the bus station in Augusta, where he'll catch a ride to Boston's Logan International Airport.

From there, Combs will fly to his home in Oklahoma City for a quick holiday break.

But right now, Combs is just over center court, playing defense against Lee Academy's Breen Weeks. Right now Combs is jumping, deflecting a pass to his teammate Derek Libbey. Right now Combs is sprinting towards his own basket, catching Libbey's long pass for an easy layup, the first points of the game.

Right now is why Combs is thousands of miles from home.

"This is a place that will help me go further," Combs said at dinner shortly after his Huskies beat Lee 72-62 in the last game before winter break. "This is definitely a place I can compete."

For years, Maine Central Institute has been a haven for basketball players looking for a place to raise their grades, play a higher level of basketball and catch the eye of a college coach. Since 1989, more than 100 MCI players have played Division I basketball, and nine former Huskies played in the NBA.

Former coach Max Good built a juggernaut in the 1990s, winning 90 percent of his games in his 10 years at the Pittsfield school. In recent years, MCI hasn't fallen on hard time by any stretch, but now, at the halfway point of the 10th season since Good left to become an assistant coach at UNLV, the Huskies have come back to the prep school pack.

"It's changed drastically (in the last decade)," Campbell said.

"I wouldn't say there is a great deal of wistful reminiscing, but there is pride in the tradition," MCI Headmaster Christopher Hopkins said.

Campbell, now in his third season at MCI, hopes to make the school one of the top prep basketball programs in the nation once again. While that goal is achievable, the days of undefeated season and 79-game win streaks are likely over, not just at MCI, but in prep basketball in general.

A number of factors have contributed to the changes at MCI, including:

• Stability at the top. Campbell is the third coach of the Huskies since Good left following the 1998-99 season. Karl Henrikson, Good's successor, stayed three seasons. Ed Jones, a former University of Maine player and assistant coach, lasted four years.

The turnover on the bench has led many of the top players to look at other schools. For example, Jason Smith has been coach at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire for nine years. Brewster is ranked 10th in the nation in the latest GameWornUniforms.com National Boy's Prep School Basketball Poll.

"Our school has lacked the consistency of some of the other schools," Campbell said.

Campbell came to MCI from Barton Community College in Great Bend, Kan., where he served as the men's basketball coach from 2003-05. Prior to that, Campbell was the Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. He also spent 13 seasons as the coach at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff, Neb.

Campbell has a big supporter in Hopkins.

"Everything is so dependent on the person running it. David Campbell has put into place what my vision of the program is," Hopkins said. "He's a father figure, a tutor, a confidant. Whether they've won by 20 or lost by 20, he's proud of them."

It's not just the turnover on the bench at MCI. Hopkins, who took over as headmaster of MCI in July, is the third headmaster the school has had since 2004. Athletic director Earl Anderson is in his first year on the job.

Campbell feels that stability coming back.

"I work for a good group of people," he said.

Hopkins pointed to the academic achievement of the prep basketball players. Six players -- Tobi Erhardt, Mitch Rolls, Libbey, Joshua Hale, Jamael Babineau and Lee Suvlu -- earned high honors for the first quarter of this year.

• Competition. There are more prep school options than ever, and that means the talent pool is thin. The chance of getting a DerMarr Johnson and a Caron Butler on the same team, like MCI had in 1998-99, is rare.

"There's going to be fewer teams that have three or four of those absolute top players," Hopkins said. "Kids have so many options now."

In the last decade, prep teams have popped up around the country. Here in Maine, Lee Academy added a postgraduate team a few years ago. Notre Dame Prep of Fitchburg, Mass., and the South Kent School of Conn., also joined the prep basketball fray.

"I'd venture to say there are three times as many programs as when Max was here," Campbell said. "The Job Corps in New Jersey started a school."

MCI not only has to compete with more legitimate programs, like Lee, for players, it has to compete with programs that are schools in name only. Storefronts, or diploma factories that offer little in the way of academic standards and don't prepare athletes to succeed academically in college.

Last year, the NCAA announced it would no longer accept transcripts from Lutheran Christian Academy in Philadelphia or Prince Avenue Prep in Pickens, S.C. Other schools have also come under fire from the NCAA for lax academic credentials.

"A lot of them really hurt the prep school image," Campbell said. "A lot of kids now, they think (prep school) is the only way to go."

Some of the schools MCI competes against offer basketball scholarships, while at MCI, financial aid is need-based. Finley Prep of Las Vegas doesn't have a postgraduate program, but the school has a full slate of players on scholarship.

According to the school's Web site, tuition at MCI for the 2008-09 academic year is $35,500. In 2000, the cost of a year at MCI was $23,000.

Even Good, now an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles after serving as head coach at Bryant College, sees the explosion of prep basketball programs.

"There's prep schools out here now. Finley Prep is legitimate, but some of them are storefronts," Good said. "The NCAA is cracking down on them. Certainly, MCI is not one of those."

While the MCI schedule is full of talented prep teams, the small college programs in Maine that used to take on the Huskies have vanished from the schedule.

"You look at the teams they played back then. I don't know who half of them are," Campbell said. "None of the JV teams in the state will play us. None of the junior colleges, they won't play us. I don't know why."

• Scrutiny. In the spring of 2000, the NCAA suspended seven college players, including MCI graduates Johnson, Erick Barkley and Andre Williams, after it learned a portion of their tuition to MCI was paid by their AAU basketball programs and sponsors.

"I know of how many kids who come here that the situation that they're in, whether it's their school situation, whether it's their community, whether it's the parental situation they're in, is not good. And if anybody can help them get out of that situation, I think that's the right thing to do," MCI's then-athletic director Julie Treadwell said to ESPN at the time.

After years of national attention for the program's successes, MCI was under the public microscope of an NCAA investigation. Campbell, who was the subject of an investigation while at Barton Community College, said he feels the school may have scaled back the prep basketball program after the incident.

Campbell pled guilty to a count of aiding and abetting misapplication of funds from a student assistance program in February 2006.

MCI hired Campbell, who paid $7,714 in restitution, after its investigation ruled that he was a victim of circumstance rather than intentional wrongdoing, former headmaster Joanne Szadkowski said when Campbell arrived on campus.

Hopkins, who has been on the job at MCI for approximately six months, declined to comment on the program's past, but reiterated he feels Campbell is the right man to move the Huskies forward.

"It's what you don't see that remarkable about him. From the moment the postgrad players hear about our school ... he's telling them what they can expect, and more importantly, he's telling them what's expected of them," Hopkins said.

Campbell looks at this year's roster and sees a handful of players who will likely play in Division I. Guard Mitch Rolls of Coffeyville, Kan., has already verbally committed to Colgate, and Combs is considering Rice, Lamar, Texas-El Paso, and the University of New Hampshire. Martino Brock also could hear from some Division I programs.

To their credit, the MCI players don't look at all the banners in the gymnasium and feel pressure. They don't see ghosts when they hear names like Caron Butler, DerMarr Johnson and Sam Cassell, some of the MCI alumni who went on to NBA success.

"It gives me a good sense of pride," Rolls said. "You want to represent the school well, like everybody else did."

"It's exciting," Combs added. "It's an opportunity."

Right now, that all Combs and his teammates want. An opportunity is what MCI has always offered, and with all the changes in the prep basketball world, that will remain constant.

WNCC men, women win big in Holiday Classic

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams put a plethora of players in double figures as each team earned impressive wins in the WNCC Holiday Classic.

The Cougar men racked up 63 first half points in coasting to a 122-70 win, getting two players with 20-plus points for their 11^th win of the season.

The Cougar women were just as impressive, scoring 52 second half points for a 90-42 win over Air Force Prep. WNCC had six players in double figures, led by Stormye Everett’s 15 points for their 12^th win of the season.

Saturday is the final day of the Holiday Classic with action beginning at 1 p.m. with Garden City Community College taking on the Little Big Horn men, followed by the Little Big Horn women facing Air Force Prep at 3 p.m. The WNCC women take to the court at 5 p.m. against Colby Community College, while the Cougar men follow against the Tri-State All-stars.

The Cougar women’s game was actually close in the first half, as WNCC held a 38-25 halftime lead. In the second half, WNCC went on a 12-0 run over the first four minutes of the game, highlighted by six points from Tawny Drexler to double up the Huskies 50-25.

Air Force Prep didn’t score its first bucket until the 15:30 mark when Kellie Johnson hit a bucket. Air Force Prep, however, couldn’t make a dent in the lead as WNCC scored in individual spurts. Janae Willis scored five of eight points in a run to push the lead to 64-33.

Then, Drexler nailed three straight hoops inside the paint to push the lead to 72-37. Everett later added nine of the team’s final 18 points for the win.

Lorena Medeiros, who finished the game with 10 points including two three-pointers, said they performed much better today than they did in a 86-48 win against Little Big Horn.

“We played defense and our offense was doing well,” the sophomore from Brazil said. “We did a good job especially in the second half. Coach was mad at halftime because we weren’t rebounding offensively. We came out and rebounded and played good defense.”

The Cougars out-rebounded Air Force Prep 58-34, led by SeLina Ysac’s eight boards and Medeiros and Willis with six a piece. The other area that stood out for the Cougar women was shooting, where they blitzed the net for 46 percent compared to just 30 percent for the Huskies.

After Everett’s 15 points, Drexler finished with 14 points, Shaquilah Davis with 12, Willis and Caley Fisher with 11 points each, and Medeiros with 10.

Air Force Prep was paced by Johnson’s 21 points. Johnson, the player/coach for the Huskies, also pulled down 21 points.

While the women had an explosive second half, the Cougar men were just the opposite, scoring 63 first half points, which was five points shy of tying a school record for most points in the first half. The Cougars also came up eight points short of tying the school record for most points scored of 130 set by the 1963-64 team against Northwest Wyoming.

WNCC coach Brian Joyce said that while he was pleased with the way they executed in the game, they had too many turnovers.

“I was disappointed in the number of turnovers given the fact I don’t think they pressured us that much. We were just careless with the ball,” he said. “That might be wanting to go to the break more than anything. Hopefully we can correct that, but I thought our guys did a good job defensively.”

The Cougar men quickly took command of the game as Lloyd Hickinson hammered home two early dunks to give WNCC a 17-6 lead. Moments later, Bamforth hit the first of his game-high six 3-pointers. Bamforth, in fact, nailed back-to-back treys with just over six minutes to play to put the Cougars up 47-20.

Bamforth nailed another trey with about a minute to play to put the Cougars up 63-25, before the Rams went on a 6-0 to trail 63-32 at halftime.

In the second half, WNCC continued hammering away at the ball, utilizing their depth to score often. The Cougars went up 82-43 on back-to-back treys by Virgil Baker. The Cougars then hit the century mark with seven minutes to play on a Tarell Clark layup.

WNCC out-rebounded Little Big Horn 48-38. Both teams were hitting from beyond the arc at an alarming rate, combining on 21 3-pointers. The Rams finished with 11 treys, including seven from Frankie Hugs. Hugs finished the game with 32 points. Bamforth had six 3-pointers for WNCC for a team-high 24 points.

WNCC also received 20 points from Clark, while Daniel Smith netted 16 points, Baker collecting 14 points and Ali Djim finishing with 10 points.

Little Big Horn 38 25 – 63
Colby women 41 46 – 87
LITTLE BIG HORN COLLEGE
Diane Leider 2, Miranda Rowland 26, Charla Takes Enemy 11, Kristin Jefferson 2, Ashley Bird 18, Katherine Haugen 4.
COLBY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Danisha Cole 16, Tasha Wagoner 8, Jasmine Gardner 22, Jamie Alexander 9, Kim Wessel 3, Nikki Welsh 6, Jaclyn Marshall 21, Ashley Ming 2.
Three-pointers: LBHC 4 (Rowland 3, Takes Enemy), Colby 13 (Marshall 5, Gardner 4, Wagoner 2, Alexander, Wessel).

Tri State All-stars 33 49 – 82
Garden City C.C. men 56 56 – 112
TRI-STATE ALLSTARS
Deano Korecky 2, Wesley Specht 25, Mirza Pazic 8, Nic Clanco 7, Lane Brooks 14, Reggie Jackson 22, Blair Bivens 4.
GARDEN CITY C.C.
DeRon Anderson 13, Jace McNabb 2, Bobby Wesley 5, Thomas Manzano 2, AJ Stephens2, Reggie Davis 4, Fred Williams 13, Richard Thomas 8, Trevor Ottley 23, Kevin Kirkland 7, Travis Burley 21, Martell Jackson 12.
Three-pointers: Tri-state 10 (Specht 6, Brooks 2, Jackson, Clanco), GCCC 4 (Williams 3, Thomas 1).

Air Force Prep 25 17 – 42
WNCC women (12-3) 38 52 – 90
AIR FORCE PREP
Danielle Sorrera 2, Desiree Wilson 4, Austyn Wilson 4, Shandin West 2, Rhianna Farm 9, Kellie Johnson 21.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Lorena Medeiros 10, Michelle Lighthall 2, SeLina Ysac 8, Shaquilah Davis 12, Stormye Everett 15, Janae Willis 11, Tawny Drexler 14, Caley Fisher 11, Juliana Bassetto 7.

Little Big Horn 32 38 – 70
WNCC men (11-4) 63 59 – 122
LITTLE BIG HORN
Zach Goes Ahead 1, Tim Pease 16, Shane Rides the Bull 2, Andy Round Face 11, Jordan Knows Gun 2, Lewis Rides Horse 4, Lloyd Hogan 2, Frankie Hugs 32.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Lloyd Hickinson 8, Tarell Clard 20, Sal Torres 3, Daniel Smith 16, Scott Bamforth 24, Francisco Cruz 9, Virgil Baker 14, Larry Brown 9, John Bright 9, Ali Djim 10.
Three-pointers: WNCC 10 (Bamforth 10, Baker 2, Cruz 2), LBHC 11 (F. Hugs 7, Pease 4).

WNCC women beat Little Big Horn

Shaquilah Davis poured in 21 points and the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team registered an 86-38 win over Little Big Horn College in the first day of the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic.

In the first match-up of the tournament, Colby Community College overcame a 44-40 halftime deficit to register an 81-80 win over Air Force Prep.

Action continues Friday in the tournament with four games. Little Big Horn will battle Colby at 1 p.m. and WNCC will take on Air Force Prep at 5 p.m. Men’s action will also tip off Friday with Garden City Community College facing Tri-State All-stars at 3 p.m., with the Cougar men taking on Little Big Horn at 7 p.m.

Thursday night, however, it was a tail of two halves for the Cougar women. In the first half, they jumped out to an 11-0 lead behind a strong defensive effort. WNCC went on to grab a 46-17 lead at intermission.

Davis, who led the team with 21 points and four assists, said they didn’t play hard enough, especially in the second half, when they let Little Big Horn score 31 points in the second half.

“The whole game was slow. It was like everyone thought it was an easy win and no one wanted to play. They saw the score when we were up by a lot,” she said. “It showed that we need to come out in every game and play as hard as we can, because when we play better teams and we play like that, we won’t be as successful.”

Another big reason for the big first half was field goal shooting. The Cougars were blistering, shooting 52 percent from the field. Granted, most were from bunnies, but those easy lay ups were caused by a stern defense, which forced the Rams to shot just 19 percent in the first half (29 percent for the game).

In the second half, Little Big Horn battled tooth and nail with the Cougars. Miranda Rowland canned three straight 3-pointers to slice the lead to 63-37.

That was when WNCC started to click once again, outscoring the Rams 23-11. During that run, WNCC hit three 3-pointers. SeLina started the with a trey, followed by threes by Amber Kistler and Lorena Medairos.

WNCC put just two players in double figures. Davis’ 21 points led both teams, while Tawny Drexler pitched in 10 points along with seven rebounds. Stormye Everett had a near double-double, collecting nine points and eight rebounds.

Caley Fisher finished with eight points and two steals, while Kistler and Medairos each had seven points.

Little Big Horn finished with three players in double digits. Katherine Haugen and Ashley Bird each had double-doubles. Haugen had 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Bird had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Rams also battled strong on the boards, nearly out-rebounding the Cougars. WNCC finished with 48 rebounds to Little Big Horn’s 42.

In the earlier game, Colby Community Community received 19 points from Tasha Wagoner and the Trojans buried 13 3-pointers to register the win. Wagoner and Jasmine Gardner each had four treys in the 81-80 win.

Air Force Prep was paced by Rhianna Farm’s 20 points, followed by Desiree Wilson’s 19 points and Shandin West’s 12 rebounds.

Colby 40 41 – 81
Air Force Prep 44 36 – 80
COLBY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Danisha Cole 7, Tasha Wagoner 19, Jasmine Gardner 15, Jamie Alexander 10, Nikki Welsh 9, Jaclyn Marshall 7, Ashley Ming 14.
AIR FORCE PREP
Danielle Sorrera 9, Desiree Wilson 19, Austyn Wilson 9, Shandin West 7, Sarah O’Conner 2, Rhianna Farm 20, Kellie Johnson 14.
Three-pointers: Colby 13 (Wagoner 4, Gardner 4, Alexander 2, Welsh 2, Cole), Prep 6 (Wilson 3, Sorrera, Farm, Johnson).

Little Big Horn 17 31 – 48
WNCC (11-3) 46 40 – 86
LITTLE BIG HORN COLLEGE
Diane Leider 2, Miranda Rowland 14, Charla Takes Enemy 5, Kristin Jefferson 2, Ashley Bird 10, Katherine Haugen 15.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Tanisha Gilmore 6, Amber Kistler 7, Lorena Medairos 7, SeLina Ysac 5, Shaquilah Davis 21, Stormye Everett 9, Janae Willis 9, Tawny Drexler 10, Caley Fisher 8, Juliana Bassetto 4.
Three-pointers: WNCC (Kister, Medairos, Ysac), LBHC 4 (Rowland 3, Takes Enemy 1).

WNCC's Benitez verbally committs to Creighton

The pipeline between Western Nebraska Community College and Creighton University will stay connected for another two years after the Cougar’s Nayka Benitez verbally committed to the Blue Jays over the weekend.

“I am very excited to be going there,” Benitez said. “Everybody is happy. The coach is really happy for me. She said she will watch me play when she can. And I can watch the girls next year with nationals in the same place, so I can go to nationals to watch WNCC play.”

Benitez, who earned NJCAA first team All-America honors last week, will be following in the footsteps of another Cougar, Bianca Rivera, who just finished her eligibility at Creighton. Benitez said that Rivera will be there to help her make the transition to four-year volleyball.

“I am very excited to know that Bianca is there. She is excited, too,” Benitez, who won’t be able to officially sign with Creighton until next year, said. “She wanted me to go there. I will be with her one more year because she is going to stay there to study. So that will help me.”

Creighton is a perfect fit for Benitez, who was torn between the Bluejays or South Florida, which is just a 1 ½ away from her home in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“That is why I was thinking about South Florida because it is 1 ½ in an airplane. I have family there, too, so that is why it was making be confused. But, I think it is not only the place, it is the people, too,” Benitez said. “I was really nervous when I made my decision, but Coach Gi [WNCC coach Giovana Melo] helped me a lot. She talked to me about it because she knew I was confused of what I wanted to do in my life. I am going to miss everything right here. I know it will be hard when I leave with everybody and the coach. It will be hard to leave WNCC.”

Melo, who said Creighton is a perfect fit for her, told her to go someplace like here, where the team is like a family.

“I just told her to follow her heart,” Melo said. “She needed to go somewhere she felt comfortable and where she thought they would take good care of her like we did here. She is a person who needs that. She loves her family and needs to be at a family environment.

“I love when they do it [come to be for advice and help]. That is what I am here for. I have been through the same things so I am here to help them be successful.”

Benitez had a stellar two years at WNCC at the libero position, a position that was totally new to her after playing an outside hitter position in high school. But the 5-3 ½ sparkplug put together two years that saw her win a national title her freshman year, a third place finish this past year, and finish her career with 115 wins.

“The biggest memory for me was when we won the national title. It is a very good feeling which I will never forget,” Benitez said. “This year when we lost to Ft. Smith was a bad feeling, but the coach just talked to us and then we came back and we played Iowa Western and won. It was my last game at nationals and it will be one game that will be on my mind. That game was really exciting and we never gave up.”

Benitez finished this year at the school’s all-time leader in aces served, collecting 250 in her two years. She had 142 as a freshman and finished this season with 108. Rivera finished her career at WNCC with 188 aces.

Benitez also collected 1,110 career digs, including 539 this past season. She is just one of nine volleyball players in WNCC history to collect over 1,000 digs. Rivera finished with 1,425 digs when she played for WNCC in 2005 and 2006.

Benitez, who played in 301 games, also had 672 points

Melo said that Benitez was the quiet hero of the team with her speed and potent jump serving.

“Nayka was the speed of this team and she is extremely talented. She could cover the entire court by herself if I let her,” Melo said. “She is not a player who one would first notice as watching our matches, because she does not get any big kills or blocks which is normally what people like to see. However, the more you watched our team, the more you noticed her presence on the court. The more you see what a huge difference she makes.”

The fact that Benitez has been this successful at the libero position even has surprised the all-American libero a bit.

“I never played libero before I came here, I only played outside hitter,” she said. “Playing libero is a really hard position but I played it and all I know about being a libero, I learned from being here.”

And, she learned her volleyball talents from two of the top junior college coaches. As a freshman it was Chris Green, who recruited her and taught her the game. Then, when Green left for Alaska Anchorage, it was Melo who helped Benitez succeed on the court. Benitez said she wouldn’t trade her two years here for anything.

“Being here was a really good experience, especially with last year’s team winning nationals,” she said. “I was worried about the change in coach, but Coach Melo is a really nice person and she works hard with us. I couldn’t ask more from her. Coming here is a good way for me to reach what I want.”

WNCC men fall to Northwest Wyoming

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team were in control of the game through 1 ½ quarters. It was about then the Northwest (Wyo.) College Trappers picked up the intensity and came back to register a thundering 77-69 win against the Cougars in the second day of the EWC Holiday Classic in Torrington, Wyo.

The loss was the Cougars fourth of the year and second in the last five days. Ironically, both losses – the other coming Tuesday to Laramie County Community College – resulted in poor shooting for the Cougars.

WNCC was just 1 of 10 from the 3-point arc and were 12 of 20 from the charity stripe for the game. The Trappers weren’t much better, canning 4 of 11 shots from the 3-point area and 21 of 31 from the charity stripe.

WNCC, who shot 46 percent in the first half, led 39-30 at halftime. The second half, the Cougars shooting fell off, falling to 31 percent.

The big difference in the game was the Trappers got shots to fall late, while the Cougars struggled.

The Cougars held a 57-45 lead with 12 minutes left in the game after a Saul Torres bucket. After that, Northwest went on a 15-3 run to tie the score at 60-60 two Julian Olubuyi free throws. Olubuyi, finished the contest with a game-high 24 points, including two treys and 10 of 14 shooting from the charity stripe.

WNCC, however, took the lead right back on a Scott Bamforth offensive rebound. The Trappers continued playing hard, taking a 66-62 lead with 3:40 to play on two Olubuyi free throws. The Cougars fought back, tying the game on back-to-back buckets by John Bright at 66-66 with 2:45 to play.

After Northwest took a 70-66 lead on two free throws by Ricardo Bodra, WNCC’s Bright sliced the lead to 70-68. WNCC couldn’t change the momentum of the game after that as the Trappers held off the Cougars for the win.

WNCC had just one player in double figures as Bamforth finished with 16 points. Northwest, on the other hand, had four players hit double digits. Besides Olubuyi, Bodra and Casper Hesseldal each finished with 12 points and Jordan Harris had 10 points.

WNCC (10-4) 39 30 – 69

NW Wyoming 30 47 – 77

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Lloyd Hickinson 2, Tarell Clark 3, Saul Torres 8, Daniel Smith 7, Chris Hamblin 3, Scott Bamforth 16, Francisco Cruz 9, Virgil Baker 2, Larry Brown 9, John Bright 8.

NORTHWEST WYOMING

Mitchell Ackelson 8, Jordan Harris 10, Scott Odekirk 2, Ricardo Bodra 12, Casper Hesseldal 12, Anthony Harris 2, Julian Olubuyi 24, Cody Ball 2, Malcom Colbert 3.

Three-pointers: WNCC 1 (Bamforth), NWC 4 (Olubuyi 2, Colbert, Hesseldal).

WNCC men topple EWC Alumni 98-78

TORRINGTON, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team shot nearly 50 percent from the field and put four players in double figures to register a 98-78 win against the Eastern Wyoming College Alumni Friday evening at Torrington, Wyo.

The Cougars placed four players in double figures in the win, led by Scott Bamforth with 18 points. Bamforth nailed four 3-pointers as the team finished with eight for the game.

Also hitting double figure scoring for the Cougars included Larry Brown with 17 points, Francisco Cruz with 14 and Daniel Smith with 13.

The Cougars, however, didn’t put away the alumni team until the second half. WNCC held a 50-36 lead at intermission after shooting just 36 percent from the field. In the second half, the Cougars show 40 percent to open up the contest.

Kevin Smith-Johnson and Jason Deich paced the EWC alumni with 14 points each, while Patt McGowan had 13 and Kyle Cotton finished with 11.

WNCC, 10-3, will take on Northwest (Wyo.) College today at 3 p.m. at Torrington in the second day of the EWC tournament.

WNCC (10-3) 50 48 – 98
EWC Alumni 36 42 – 78
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Lloyd Hickinson 6, Tarell Clark 7, Saul Torres 6, Daniel Smith 13, Chris Hamblin 6, Scott Bamforth 18, Francisco Cruz 14, Virgil Baker 6, Larry Brown 17, John Bright 3, Ali Djim 2.
EASTERN WYOMING ALUMNI
Kevin Smith-Johnson 14, Pat McGowan 13, Chris Daniels 9, Kyle Cotton 11, Todd Krause 6, Jason Deich 14, Josh Murdock 3, Adam King 8.
Three-Pointers: WNCC 8 (Bamforth 4, Cruz 2, Brown, Hamblin), EWC Alumni 4 (Daniels, Cotton, Krause, Murdock).

WNCC men fall to Laramie County

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team saw its six-game winning streak snapped at the hands of Laramie County Community College Tuesday evening in Cheyenne, Wyo., 70-66.

The Cougars suffered only their third defeat of the season because of poor shooting, especially free throws down the stretch. The Cougars were 18-of-27 from the charity stripe, but only 6 of 10 in the final two minutes.

WNCC coach Brian Joyce said while he was happy with the way his team kept fighting to stay in the game, it was the little things that worried him.

“The biggest issue was what got us in position to be down and that was not having stops and when you do that, it puts you in a position where it hard for you to get out of a hole,” Joyce said. “We needed to take one more step, one more slide. We needed to get a little bit more effort n challenging a shot and a little bit more effort in boxing a guy out and going and getting a rebound. Too many times we had multiple breakdowns on the same possession by multiple guys and that created problems. We will go back to work tomorrow and address it and get better at it.”

While the Cougars might of lost on the scoreboard, they did show heart in fighting back in at least trying to win the game. WNCC shot more free throws then the opposition, which was something that pleased Joyce; they just needed to make a few more.

“We got to the line, which was our goal. We shot more than they did on their home court, and that is a goal of ours. We just need to step up and hit the shots. But, the fact that we got there and gave us a chance to win at the end of the game was good. We just dug ourselves too deep of a hole.”

WNCC trailed by nine points on a couple of occasions with under three minutes to play and could have folded. They didn’t as they fought back, clawing their way to within a single basket.
One of the big reasons of the Cougars comeback was a full-court press that generated plenty of steals to get the ball back. With 1 minute, 28 seconds to play, Laramie County broke the press and scored to go up 64-55.

That was when WNCC made the charge as Scott Bamforth hit two free throws and then Francisco Cruz scored off a steal on the inbounds play to slice the lead to 64-59. Daniel Smith then nailed one of two free throws to cut the deficit even further at 64-60.

The Golden Eagles forged back ahead by six points on two free throws by Kaipo Sabas. Bamforth came right back and hit a bucket with 28.4 seconds to cut the lead to 66-62. LCCC pushed ahead by five with 9.5 seconds to play. Cruz came back down the court and nailed a 3-pointer to bring WNCC to within 68-66.

But Dionte Clayborn iced the game with under two seconds to play by hitting two free throws.
WNCC, at one time, was controlling the contest, leading 21-12 in the first half and led 28-27 at halftime.

The second half was a different story as WNCC couldn’t get any stops on the Golden Eagle offense as they tied the game at 37-37 with 14:14 to play. WNCC led twice more, the final time on a Lloyd Hickinson dunk, before LCCC opened up a 17-8 run to lead 56-49 with five minutes to play.

WNCC had three players hit the double figure column, led by Cruz’s 23 points. Bamforth added 12 points and Smith had 10 points.

LCCC was led by Travis Bostick with 17 points.

WNCC (9-3) will next be in action at the EWC tournament. The Cougars take on an EWC Alumni team at 5 p.m. on Friday and then Northwest Wyoming at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

WNCC (9-3) 28 38 – 66
LCCC 27 43 -- 70
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Chris Hamblin 6, Larry Brown 4, Daniel Smith 10, Scott Bamforth 12, Francisco Cruz 23, Lloyd Hickinson 4, Saul Torres 2, Virgil Baker 2, John Bright 1, Ali Djim 2.
LARAMIE COUNTY
Romaric Lasme 4, Andy Bailey 8, Isaac Jenkins 7, Donald Boston 1, Travis Bostick 17, Mike Johnson 6, Kaipo Sabas 11, Dionte Clayborn 12, Dejan Bratic 4.

WNCC's Balza verbally committs to Penn State

Fatima Balza had a big decision to ponder during her sophomore season at Western Nebraska Community College and that dealt with where she would continue playing after this year.

It definitely wasn’t easy as some of the top four-year schools were trying to land the 6-foot-3 middle hitter, including No. 1 ranked and defending national champions Penn State, the University of Wisconsin, and also Nebraska.

Last week, Balza put an end to all the speculation by verbally committing to one of the top schools in the Big 10 and the nation, by selecting the Penn State Nittany Lions as her choice of schools for the next two years.
She won’t officially sign her letter of intent until next year with the defending national champions, but she said she is excited to be joining a team that is rich in volleyball tradition like the one she played for at WNCC.

“I choice Penn State because I really enjoyed the visit; and I loved the university and loved the volleyball program. I pretty much liked everything there,” she said. “Of course there will be some pressure going to a team that is No. 1 in the country. They are having a really good season and they haven’t dropped one game or one match and there will be big pressure but I think I can do it. It won’t be easy. It will be hard for me and I will work hard.”

Balza said it was not an easy decision in choosing between Penn State, Nebraska and Wisconsin. But, she said, she is glad it is over.

“The decision was between the University of Wisconsin and Penn State,” she said. “Right after nationals, the University of Nebraska contacted me but it was way too late and I told them my decision was already made.

“It was not an easy decision, however. When they [Penn State] called me, I was excited about it, but I was thinking it wouldn’t be easy. It is a huge school with a really good volleyball program, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to play there. But I think I can do it. I just have to try. I am not sure I am going to play all the time, but it is a really big goal for me to play at that high level. I want to try.”

Penn State has been a power in volleyball for quite a while, capturing the national championship last year in NCAA Division I. This season they are 32-0 and haven’t dropped a set. Penn State will open NCAA tournament regional play this weekend hosting Long Island, Yale and Ohio.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo said Penn State is a good fit for Balza, who has been the mainstay for the Cougar team the past two seasons, where Balza helped compile an overall record of 115-6.

“I think it is a perfect fit for her,” Melo, who played Division I volleyball at Arizona State, said. “I think she was working really hard to go to a good program. She has worked hard last year and I think she has worked harder this year. She deserves it.”

Last season Balza led the Cougars to the NJCAA national title as the team finished 56-2 on the season. This year, the Cougars won a school record 59 matches and finished third at the national tournament, topping No. 1 ranked Iowa Western Community College in five sets.

Balza has definitely made a name for herself at WNCC in two seasons. The 6-foot-3 middle hitter finished her two years at WNCC as only one of eight players to notch over 1,000 kills in her career. Balza had 1,055 total kills, including a team-leading 632 this season.

Balza also led this year’s team in service points, finishing with 375 points, including 64 aces. She had a service percentage of 90 percent. Balza also had 227 total blocks, which was second overall in the record book, just behind Silvia Oliveria’s 433 blocks back in the 2000-01 seasons. She also finished this season with 57 solo blocks.

Balza also finished this season with 152 digs and had a hitting percentage of .466.

Melo said Balza really shined on and off the court as a leader.
“I think she was a huge reason why we got to where we did,” Melo said. “She was our leader. She took the girls in her arms, especially the freshmen, and showed them how it is done and she did a real good job of it. I think she was a huge reason why we got to where we did.”

And, she accomplished all this by working hard, especially since she had to adjust to a new coach this past season.

“I have improved a lot from last year to this year. I have improved my skills in everything,” Balza said. “I am really happy with this season. I am really happy with my team and with the job we did at nationals. We didn’t win the national championship, but I am happy with third place. I am also happy with my coaches and just with everything. I really enjoyed my season.”

Melo expects Balza to continue working hard next year at Penn State. “She has a great work ethic. She works hard for what she wants,” she said. “She knows it won’t be easy. She will have to get up there and work hard for her position to play. We are proud of her, especially going to Penn State, the No. 1 team in the nation. It is a good accomplishment for her.”

Balza said she will do her best at Penn State next season. “I am really excited to be going there, but I know it won’t be easy for me. It is completely a different level of volleyball,” she said. “But, I am glad to have been here for two years at this college. I will try to do my best at Penn State.”