WNCC volleyball goes 1-2 in second day of Salt Lake Tourney

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After finishing the first day of the Salt Lake Invite undefeated on Friday, the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team went 1-2 to finish the tournament 5-2.

The Cougars dropped their final pool play contest to Salt Lake Community College 18-25, 25-18, 15-12. WNCC entered bracket play as the No. 3 seed and proceeded to sweep Illinois Central Community College 25-19, 25-19, 25-18, before being eliminated from the tournament by North Idaho College 19-25, 25-23, 25-12, 25-21.

WNCC assistant coach Nicole Gonzalez said they had an up and down day, but they can learn a lot from these two losses.

"It was one of those days where it was up and down,” she said. “We were good at times and then not good at times. In our last game, a few of our girls got tired. We can play better.

“I think having these losses under our belt is good for us instead of being undefeated all the way through. It is good to have a loss, unfortunately we had two losses. That is OK. We will have to come back.”

Kaleinani Kabalis pounded home 13 kills in the loss to Salt Lake Community College. Kabalis also had two aces and nine digs.

Also for WNCC, Sabina Piegza had 21 set assists, Kathryn Stock had four points and four kills; Brooke Blomenkamp had four kills; Sierra Schmidt had two points; Paulina Piegza had four kills; Kuulei Kabalis had 11 digs; and Emily Hoehn had five digs.

Kaleinani Kabalis and Stock each pounded down 12 kills in the win against Illinois Central. Kabalis also had 19 digs to finish with a double-double.

Paulina Piegza finished with nine kills, Sabina Piegza had 30 set assists and four digs; and Kuulei Kabalis had 12 digs.

In the final match of the tournament against North Idaho, Kaleinani Kabalis had another double-double, finishing with 17 kills and 12 digs. Paulina Piegza added nine kills; Blomenkamp had 12 kills; Stock had seven kills and 12 digs; Sabina Piegza had 39 set assists, 10 points and 12 digs; and Kuulei Kabalis had six points and 25 digs.

WNCC (9-2) will have a couple days to regroup before traveling to Torrington, Wyo., Tuesday to face Eastern Wyoming College. First serve is set for 7 p.m.