WNCC men, women host Otero Junior College on Saturday

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams will look to rebound Saturday against Otero Junior College at Cougar Palace after falling to Northeastern Junior College on Wednesday.

The Cougar women, especially, are hoping to put Wednesday’s second half nightmare behind them as they face the Rattlers at 5:30 p.m., with the men’s game to follow. The Cougar men just want to get back on the court after an emotionally-draining comeback that fell short 85-83 in overtime against the Plainsmen.

“They are anxious to get back on the court because we were one mistake away from winning that game,” WNCC coach Russ Beck said. “Also we really enjoy playing at home. We hope our fans will be as load as those fans at NJC and give us as much support. We have appreciated all the support that we have gotten so far and we will need everybody to get this thing where we need to go.”

Women’s assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen said the women’s team needs to refocus after scoring just 14 points in the second half of their game with NJC, and she is hoping playing at home will help refocus the team.

“As a team all semester, if you look at all the games that we have played, we have been having a hard time focusing. We were 16 points down at Lamar, and then 14 points down at Otero and came back and won. We lost in an overtime game at Casper where we were behind by 14 points as well. We were down 14 points at Norfolk and came back and won in overtime. We were up by five at halftime at Sterling and then only scored 14 points in the second half.

“With us being at home, finally, it will help us focus on the game and come out from the get-go and play hard for a full 40 minutes.

The women’s loss on Wednesday was extremely disappointing after the Cougar women scored 80-plus games in eight of their last 10 games.

“The biggest thing to about points is that we try to hammer defense in the kid’s minds; we don’t care as much as what our point totals are,” Pedersen said. “The thing that was disappointing was that they just didn’t execute Wednesday against NJC. If we can get them to understand the value of executing the offense and executing our plays, points will come naturally to them.”

WNCC and Otero have already faced each other this season. The women earned two victories against the Rattlers, winning 68-49 in December at Cougar Palace and then earning a 60-52 victory at LaJunta, Colo.

The Cougar men faced Otero just once this season, earning a 72-58 win over the Rattlers on the road. In that contest, Geddes Robinson led the team with 26 points.

In the last three games, sophomore Francisco Cruz has been on a tear combining for 85 points and 12 3-pointers. Cruz tallied a Cougar career best of 41 points in the win against Eastern Wyoming on Monday, including eight 3-pointers. He also had 28 second-half points in a overtime loss to NJC on Wednesday.

“We have to play hard, which we always do, but we have to play smart and sometimes we don’t play very smart,” Beck said. “We just have to take better care of the basketball. We were 22 of 39 from the free throw line and we had 20-plus turnovers against NJC and we lost by two. You can pick any number of missed free throws or turnovers and that is a game that we should have won by 15 to 20 points.”

Beck said that Otero will not be a pushover. They have plenty of players that are getting looked at by Division I schools.

“We played them down at their place and they have a nice post, about 6-7 and very skilled, that is getting some nice Division I recruitment. They also have a couple guys on the perimeter that can shoot the basketball,” Beck said. “They play hard and I think they are well coached. We expect them to come in and be fired up and try to even up the series, especially since we took one away from them on their home floor. We have to come ready to battle.”

Saturday’s contest will also feature plenty of activities as well. The Cougar softball team will be holding a chili supper beginning at 5 p.m. Also, the local Girl Scouts will be in attendance and sing the national anthem for the women’s game. At halftime of the men’s contest, the Cougar volleyball team will be honored for their third place finish at the national tournament. There will also be the Runza paper airplane launch as well as the Safetyline half court shot at halftime of the games.

WNCC volleyball will be holding volleyball clinics in March

Western Nebraska Community College will conduct one-day volleyball clinics in March this season. Each clinic is $25, and the clinics will be March 7-11.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo, along with current and former Cougars, will con­duct the one-day clinics, which will run from 6-9 p.m. The clinics will be conducted by Melo, assistant coaches, current players, as well as former Cougars.

The clinics include a Little Cougars Clinic on Sunday, March 7 for girls in fourth through sixth grades.
Then, on Monday, March 8, there will be a Setters Clin­ic for all ages, followed by a Hitters Clinic on Tuesday, March 9 for all ages. Wednesday, March 10 will be a Libero/Defensive Specialist Clinic for all ages.
The final day of the Clinics will be Thursday, March 11 with a Triples Tournament. Players can come with their own set of three players or be placed on teams.
Melo said there will be similar camps the last week in May considering there will be no summer camps this year because of the unavailability of Cougar Palace as a new floor will be installed.
Registrations for the clinics can be downloaded from the Cougar website at sports.wncc.edu. For more information, contact Coach Melo at melog@wncc.edu or at 635-6028.

WNCC women fall to NJC

STERLING, Colo. – Dave Harnish just has to look at the 31 turnovers and that is the story of the game for the Cougar women as they dropped a 58-39 contest to Northeastern Junior College Wednesday at the Bank of Colorado Events Center.

“We didn’t compete in the second half. We did a decent job in the first half and I thought we should have had a bigger lead the first half,” Harnish said. “In the second half we just totally got outmanned on the boards and got beat for loose balls, and we showed no effort the second half. We needed to do the things we did the first half such as compete and get on the boards.”

It is a shame, too, because the Cougars played well in the first half, especially defensively, as they held the Plainswomen to just 20 first half points to lead 25-20 at halftime. The team also had just 13 turnovers at the break.

Harnish said they couldn’t do anything in the second half.

“The last game we didn’t play real good and were fortunate to win in overtime. When you turn the ball over 31 times and no desire to make good decisions, and that has been a thorn in our sides this semester with turnovers. We probably had 2o turnovers in the second half.”

Shooting was the big story for the Cougars as they shot just 29 percent from the field (23 percent in the second half. WNCC, after scorching the nets for 13 3-pointers in the overtime win against Northeast Nebraska on Saturday, made just 3 of 14 on Wednesday.

Storyme Everett got things heated up early by draining the opening trey of the game. From there both teams played a defensive game as the contest was tied at 14-14 with eight minutes to play. That was when the Cougars went on a 9-2 run to go up 23-16 behind a 3-pointer by Yuki Morimoto and a bucket by Michelle Glaze. WNCC led 25-20 at the break.

The second half was all NJC as the Plainswomen outscored WNCC 38-14. NJC also made 11 of 14 free throws in the second half compared to just 3 of 4 for the Cougars. WNCC put NJC into the double bonus with 6:22 to play, while the Plainswomen had committed just three fouls.

WNCC had just one player in double figures as Yuki Morimoto had 11 pionts. Thais Pinto finished the night with eight points followed by Amber Kistler with six.

Sabelle Diata led NJC with a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Diata also had seven blocked shots.

The Cougars, who scored a combined 178 in their previous two games, had a season low 39 points. WNCC, 16-4, will look to rebound Saturday when they host Otero Junior College at Cougar Palace.

WNCC 25 14 – 39

NJC 20 38 – 58

WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 6, Stormye Everett 4, Yuki Morimoto 11, Tiffany Moorer 3, Michelle Glaze 2, Kelli Culver 3, Michelle Glaze 2, Khayla Gladney 2.

Cougar men lose overtime thriller

STERLING, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team fought back from a 12-point deficit, before falling in overtime 85-83 to Northeastern Junior College.

WNCC assistant coach Gianno Biaconi said they never gave up in a hostile environment.

“I am very proud of the guys. They never gave up,” Biaconi said. “I was very happy because they fought and actually came back twice in the game. We were down 16-5 early and came back. Then at the end of the game, with five minutes to play, we were down by 12 and came back.”

With a little over six minutes to play, the Cougars trailed 66-54 and it looked like the Plainsmen would waltz to a victory. The Cougars had other ideas as they fought back to take their first lead of the second half, 69-68, on two Francisco Cruz 3-pointers from the top of the key.

NJC fought back to take a 72-69 lead on two DeShawn Battle free throws with 25.6 seconds to play. WNCC kept their composure and with 8.7 seconds to play, Cruz found a wide open Joe Stock in the corner who drained the trey to tie the score at 72 to force overtime.

In the overtime period, Cruz connected on two field goals to five WNCC a 76-75 lead. After NJC’s Widget Washington put the Plainsmen up 77-76. WNCC then led 80-77 as Geddes Robinson scored off an assist from Stock, and then Stock scored from an assist from Cruz for an 80-77 lead.

NJC’s Battle tied the game after draining a long-range 3-pointer with 1:21 to play. Ritchie Mundende put WNCC up on an offensive rebound with 46 ticks left. Cruz drained one of two free throws with 17.7 seconds to play. But Washington drained a long 2-pointer with 8.5 seconds and then WNCC was whistled for a controversial turnover on the sideline. Washington then nailed a bucket and was fouled with two seconds to play for the game.

Bianconi said that the game-tying trey at the end of regulation was ran to perfection.

“That play was great. They did exactly what I told them to do,” he said. “I told them to run the play and get three passes and get Joe and Mateus in the corners because they were too worried about Pako [Cruz] taking the shot. Joe took the shot and wasn’t distracted.”

The Cougars actually dominated the contest in several categories. WNCC out-rebounded NJC 55-36 as Brylle Kamen had 11 boards and Mundende had eight rebounds. The Cougars also outshot the Plainsmen 48 perfect to 38 percent. The Cougars shot 53 percent in the second half.

Cruz was the big offensive weapon in the second half, finishing with 28 points and three 3-pointers. All of Cruz’ points came in the second half as he was saddled with foul trouble early in the game.

But, in Cruz’ absence in the first half, plenty of other Cougars stepped up. Mateus Chaves and Joe Stock came up big with some clutch threes in the first half. WNCC trailed early in the game, 26-16 with five minutes left. Kamen started the comeback with three points and then Stock drained a trey and Chavez hit three 3-pointers to cut the halftime deficit to 34-31.

The game also featured 58 fouls between the two teams, and a combined six technicals – three on each team. The difference was free throw shooting as WNCC was just 21 of 39 while NJC was just 21 of 32.

WNCC had four players in double figures led by Cruz’s 28 points. Chaves finished with 14 followed by Stock with 11 and Robinson with 10.

WNCC, 12-9, will look to get back on the winning track when they host Otero Junior College on Saturday.

WNCC 31 41 11 -- 83

NJC 35 38 13 -- 85

NORTHEASTERN COLORADO

Dre Calloway 8, DeShawn Battle 22, Will Bell 6, Jerrell Washington 16, Trevor Brady 6, Nate Wilson 8, Griffin Brady 2, Anthony Crenshaw 4.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

O’Rion Hughes 5, Joe Stock 11, Mateus Chaves 14, Francisco Cruz 28, Brylle Kamen 6, Ritchie Mundende 9, Geddes Robinson 10.

Francisco Cruz ignites for 41 points, Cougars drop EWC

Francisco Cruz ignited for 41 points and the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team snapped a 2-game losing skid in registering an 89-73 win over Highway 26 rivals Eastern Wyoming College Monday at Cougar Palace.

Cruz had 19 points and five 3-pointers in the first half and then finished the game connecting on eight treys for the game on 8 of 10 shooting from beyond the arc. It was only the 10^th time in Cougar history that a player scored 40 or more points in a game. The last time was back in 1995 when Bernard Garner scored 47 points at the national tournament.

“I wasn’t concerned about the offensive points, because whenever we play defense we are able to score,” WNCC coach Russ Beck said. “Obviously, Pako [Cruz] had a hot hand tonight with 41 points and we will take that on any given night. But, I am more concerned with the points we gave up and the uncontested shots that we gave up. If we want to get better, we have to do the small things.”

EWC coach Casey Jones said Cruz’ lights-out shooting was the difference in the game.

“I think the story tonight was Francisco had a nice night and we got beat by a player,” he said. “We just let him get open threes. We knew he was their only shooter. We just did a bad job of finding him. We did a nice job on their other good player [Robinson] and he didn’t have much of a game. It came down to one kid.”

Cruz not only had 41 points on the night, he also dished out five assists and pulled down five rebounds.

“It feels good to be home and it looks like Pako is comfortable on this rim,” beck said. “Geddes [Robinson] didn’t have that good of a game, but he will come on. I suspect that NJC will come out and put a lot of pressure on Pako, which should open up the floor a little bit for Geddes and other players. I thought we shared the ball well tonight.”

However, Cruz wasn’t the only Cougar to step up on the night as several WNCC players had hot hands as the team converted 13 of 21 3-pointers. Cruz had eight treys, but Joe Stock nailed 2 of 4 treys, while Geoffrey Firmin, Saul Torres and Mateus Chaves each had one trey. The Cougars shot 61 percent from the 3-point arc.

EWC also had a good night making the long-range shots, rattling home 10 3-pointers, including three each from Winston Harris and Zach Young. The Lancers shooting in the second half was the difference in the game as they shot 29 percent in the final 20 minutes compared to 58 percent in the first half.

“We dug a hole in the first half and got down by 16 and then we went on to finish the half with a real good run of our own to get it back to a manageable game,” Jones said. “The first half we shot really well and then the second half we really did not shot well at 28 percent. I think we were a little too amped and took some bad threes.”

EWC trailed the Cougars 14-10 early on with a Lance Korell 3-pointer, and trailed 18-12 after a Fola Adeleke bucket. Cruz then scored 11 straight points to help WNCC to a 29-16 lead. Moments later, Chaves buried a 3-pointer and Firmin drove in for a bucket to put the Cougars up 36-20 with seven minutes left in the half.

The Lancers battled back, going on a 16-7 run and cutting the lead to 43-36 on a Young 3-pointers. WNCC answered as Torres made a bucket to help the Cougars to a 46-38 halftime lead.

EWC sliced the lead to five points early on in the second half, but WNCC had an answer to the mini Lancer run as Cruz and Firmin each buried 3-pointers. EWC fought back, slicing the lead to 57-51 on a Tautvydas Kairys bucket with 11:13 to play. Cruz stopped the rally with another trey and then O’Rion Hughes took over the highlight real with six straight points, with the first bucket coming from an assist from Cruz.

Hughes finished off his scoring run as he drove the paint and slammed home two points to put WNCC up 66-51 with under nine minutes to play.

The Lancers tried making a late run, cutting the lead to 75-64 on a Adeleke bucket with 2:12 to play, but Hughes say no sir as he put down an electrifying dunk to put WNCC backup by 13 points.

Cruz and Hughes were the only Cougars to finish in double figures. Hughes added 14 points to the team’s 89 points.

The Lancers had four guys finish in double figures, led by Ivan Simic with 15 points. Harris, Kairys and Adeleke each had 11 points.

WNCC, 12-8, will now hit the road with a big game at Northeastern Junior College on Wednesday. Beck said that will be a special night as the Plainsmen will honor former NJC player Jeron Lewis, who died on the court earlier this month when his Southern Indiana team was playing Kentucky Wesleyan.

“It will be an emotional night because they have the ‘Black Out for Jeron’,” Beck said. “It is an unfortunate thing to happen to him and we wish his family well. He is a guy I coached against when I was at Salt Lake when we played NJC. Hopefully we can go out and get one on the road and keep this thing rolling.”

EWC (2-16) 38 34 – 72
WNCC (12-8) 46 43 – 89
EASTERN WYOMING
Fola Adeleke 11, Lance Korell 6, Zach Young 9, Darius Gordon 9, Tautvydad Kairys 11, Winston Harris 11, Ivan Simic 15.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Geoffrey Firmin 9, Saul Torres 5, O’Rion Hughes 14, Joe Stock 6, Mateus Chaves 3, Francisco Cruz 41, Brylle Kamen 3, Ritchie Mundende 4, Geddes Robinson 4.

WNCC Cougar men lost heartbreaker at the buzzer

NORFOLK – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team fell a few ticks of the clock short of picking up a win Saturday afternoon against Northeast Community College at Norfolk.

The Hawks used a tip-in at the buzzer to come back from a 8-point deficit to sting the Cougars 78-76 in a East Sub-region contest.

“We gave that game away,” WNCC first-year coach Russ Beck said. “We played a good second half, but we can’t turn over the ball on our last offensive possession and not box out on our last defensive possession. It’s hard enough to win the road, we don’t need to give teams extra chances. We are like a wounded animal. We will see how we react on Monday at home against Eastern Wyoming. Will we succumb? Or will we claw and scratch and fight for a win?”

The Cougars definitely clawed and fought in the contest against Northeast Nebraska up until the final 30 seconds of the contest when mental miscues gave the Hawks new life in a game that was tightly contested throughout. Northeast held a slim 40-38 lead at halftime. WNCC finally took their first lead in the second half on a Francisco Cruz bucket.

Cruz continued with the hot hand eight of the team’s next 10 points to push the score to 57-51. Northeast forged back taking a 62-60 lead. WNCC stayed strong, going on a 14-4 run behind four points from Geddes Robinson and seven points Geoffrey Firmin, including a 3-pointer, to push the lead to 74-66.

Robinson later connected on two free throws to give the Cougars a 76-68 lead with just over a minute to play. After that, the Hawks held the Cougars scoreless as Thomas Colbert hit an inside bucket to tie the game at 76-76 with 20 seconds left. After a turnover by the Cougars, Northeast launched a 3-pointer, which bounced off, but WNCC couldn’t come up with rebound and a late shot by Northeast bounced around the rim before falling in as the final buzzer went off.

The Cougars had five players in double figures, led by Cruz and Firmin with 16 points each. Robinson stuck in 15 points, while O’Rion Hughes had 11 and Joe Stock had 10 points.

Northeast was led in scoring by Jayvin Reynolds with 18 points.

WNCC shot 50 percent from the field and 69 percent from the free throw. Northeast shot 45 percent from the field, but 60 percent from beyond the arc. The difference in the game was turnovers, where WNCC committed 18 miscues to Northeast’s 13.

The Cougars will look to get back on the winning side Monday when they host Eastern Wyoming College in the Highway 26 showdown. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

WNCC (11-8) 38 38 – 76

Northeast (12-8) 40 38 – 78

NORTHEAST NEBRASKA
Jayvin Reynolds 18, Thomas Colbert 11, Zach Towle 11, Kevin Thompson 11, Lakheem Trotter 10, David Taylor 8, Brad Pieper 4, Nicholas Mabbutt 2, Sean Stevens 2.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Geoffrey Firmin 16, Francisco Cruz 16, Geddes Robinson 15, O’Rion Hughes 11, Joe Stock 10, Saul Torres 8.

WNCC women win overtime thrill against Northeast Nebraska; Everett scored 31 points

NORFOLK – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team went to overtime for a second straight contest. But, unlike Wednesday’s contest with Casper College in which the Cougars lost 87-85, this time the Cougars earned a come-from-behind 93-89 win over Northeast Community College Saturday afternoon.

The win also set a new school record for combined points between the two teams of 183 points. The previous record of 181 was set back in the 1982-83 season when Otero topped the Cougars 101-80.

Saturday’s contest saw plenty of offense and very little defense. Stormye Everett paced the Cougars with 31 points, including two 3-pointers. Yuki Morimoto added 21 points and three 3-pointers, and Amber Kistler finished with 14 second half points, including three 3-pointers.

Northeast was led by Sofia Lundberg with 35 points, including eight 3-pointers followed by Dawn Bonnell with 29 points.

While defense was practically non-existent, it was a big block by Everette in the overtime period of a Bonnell 3-pointer that helped the Cougars capture their first sub-region win of the year. After Everett’s block, Kistler sealed the deal converting 1 of 2 free throws with 3.9 seconds to play.

“This was a big win because it helped us redeem us from the loss we had against Casper,” Everett said. “This win helps us in knowing what it takes to get back in the game. Once we started getting back in the game, we stayed calm and mellow and didn’t rush things because once we start playing our game it works out better. The last two games we have just been rushing things, not going through our offense. When we slow it down and run through our offense, things work out better for us and able to come back.”

Early on it didn’t look to pleasing for the Cougars as Northwest went on a 14-3 run to finish the first half to take a 47-36 halftime lead. The Hawks kept the Cougars at bay for much of the second half, holding an 80-70 lead with 5 minutes to play.

WNCC never did lose confidence in coming back, and they kept their composure and made the comeback.

“We weren’t losing by that much; we were only down by eight with a minute and 12 seconds left,” Everett said. “We came back, took the right shots and got open looks because we still had time to come back to tie the game. Since we had the momentum, we then could beat them in overtime.”

That was when the Cougars started to make a comeback as Kistler and Morimoto connected on back-to-back treys to sliced the lead to 83-78. Northeast’s Bonnell converted two free throws to push the Hawks back to 85-80.

WNCC went on a 5-0 run in the final 90 seconds as Everett had two buckets and Kistler nailed a 3-pointer. Everett tied the contest with 38.5 seconds.

In the extra period, Tiffany Moorer gave the Cougars their first lead since midway in the first half. The Cougars pushed the lead to six points, 91-85 and held on for the win.

Everett said it was a tough game, a game that prepared them for the rest of the year.

“I think we will be more ready to go Wednesday because this game helped us prepare for that game,” she said. “We know we can play our game first and second half because we won’t be able to play one half against Sterling. That will not work.”

The Cougars finished the contest with just 13 turnovers, a much improvement over Wednesday night when the team had 31 points in the loss to Casper College.

WNCC, 16-3, will be back on the road Wednesday night when they face Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo. The Cougars will then return home for a contest on Saturday against Otero Junior College.

WNCC (16-3) 36 49 8 – 93
NE Nebraska (14-6) 47 38 4 – 89
NORTHEAST NEBRASKA
Sofia Lundberg 35, Dawn Bonnell 29, Shelby Hunger 10, CHrissi Fischer 6, Stephanie Paulson 6, Carolyn Taite 2, Kanisha Williams 1.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 14, Stormye Everett 31, Tiffany Moorer 7, Yuki Morimoto Khayla Gladney 6, Michelle Glaze 6, Ariana Brown 6, Thais Pinto 2.

WNCC men fall to Casper

CASPER, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men couldn’t muster any offense, shooting just 39 percent from the field in suffering a 75-56 defeat to Casper College on Wednesday.

WNCC coach Russ Beck said that Casper is a good team and this is a good game to learn from heading into Saturday's East Sub-region opener at Northeast Community College in Norfolk.

"Give credit to Casper, they are a good team, especially at home," he said. "THe Cougars just need to focus on our first first sub-region game against Northeast this weekend."

The Cougars trailed 33-24 at halftime and were behind by double digits for most of the second half. The Thunderbirds shot 47 percent for the game while knocking down eight 3-pointers compared to just three for WNCC – all in the second half including two by freshman by Joe Stock and one by Andre Marone.

WNCC placed just one player in double figures as Geddes Robinson finished with 19 points followed by Geoffrey Firmin with nine points. Casper had three players finish with double figures, led by Antonio DeMaria with 20 points, including four 3-pointers.

Both teams pulled down 33 rebounds as Francisco Cruz had nine. The difference in the game was turnovers, where the Cougars committed 22 miscues.

Beck said through it all, he likes how hard his team works on and off the court.

"The reality of the situation is I have 10 scrappy guys that I love," he said. "We are playing with five and a half scholarship players right now. I will go to war with these guys every night. They are good kids on and off the floor and I am waiting for them to start clicking as a team."

WNCC (11-7) 24 32 – 56
Casper (16-4) 33 42 – 75
CASPER
Andre Moliterno 1, Art Steward 19, Brandon Walton 14, Abner Kamps 2, Michael Dietz 9, James Hayden 3, Nikola Kovac 7, Antonio DiMaria 20.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Geoffrey Firmin 9, O’Rion Hughes 4, Joe Stock 8, Mateus Chaves 2, Francisco Cruz 5, Brylle Kamen 6, Ritchie Mundende 3, Geddes Robinson 19.

WNCC's Kabalis verbally committs to Washington State

After spending two successful seasons at Western Nebraska Community College, Kaleinani Kabalis will be taking her athletic talents to the next level after verbally committing to attend Washington State University Monday.

The decision to attend the PAC 10 school was a simple one for the 5-7 outside hitter, who visited the Pullman, Wash., university over the weekend.

“Once I make up my mind no , I’m not going to change it,” Kabalis said. “When I came here to visit, I visited Arizona Western afterwards and I stayed with my first visit. That is how I feel now because it is the same situation for me.”

Kabalis had a stellar career at WNCC as she was one of only nine players to tally over 1,000 kills for her career. She finished with 1,089 kills with 590 coming this season, and tallied 790 digs in two seasons.

“I think that I accomplished a lot and more than I expected,” she said. “The 1,000 kills really touched me because for someone that is 5-6 ½ they aren’t really suppose to do that.”

Kabalis was also looking at Kansas State, Ohio State and Boise State.

“Washington State is a PAC 10 school and it is one of the top teams in the nation,” she said. “I know I have to step it up 10 times more, but I am ready.”

Washington State lost to Northern Iowa in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Lincoln. The Cougars finished the season at 18-13. WSU coach Andrew Palileo told Kabalis that she might be switched to either a libero or a defensive specialist, and Kabalis said she ok with that.

Kabalis earned first team NJCAA all-American, Region IX All-Region and All-Tournament, and was selected as the top defensive player at the national tournament in November. She had 68 digs in four matches at nationals, including a 25-dig performance against Frank Phillips and a 23-dig outing against Missouri State-West Plains.

Kabalis found it strange to win the defensive player award at the national tournament.

“I love playing defense and it is one of my favorite positions,” she said. “ It doesn’t matter how good of a hitter you are, if you’re a better defensive player you can pick up the hitter’s hits. I hustle for the ball and I don’t let it drop. I want the ball to be off the ground. I know that I can do both in being an outside hitter and a defensive specialist.”

WNCC coach Giovana Melo considers Washington State a good fit for Kabalis.

“I think Kalei can play any position she is put at,” Melo said. “Obviously she will have to go out there and do the best that she can. In my opinion, they probably will have her in the back row and I don’t know if it will be as a libero or as a defensive specialist where she can hit because she is a pretty good back row player. She can help them in that aspect.”

Melo added that the biggest thing that made Kabalis succeed was her willing to get better.

“I think she has improved tremendously and what she improved most at was her maturity,” Melo said. “I think she learned to play more as part of a team. She learned that the team needed her as much as she needed them. That helped her take the team to the next level.

“She did great things her freshman year, but in her second year here she was a completely different player and she got better as the year went along. Going to Washington State is going to help her even more. I think she will do her best at Washington State and she will do everything she can. She is a kid that knows what she wants and will work hard for it.”

WNCC women lose overtime heartbreaker to Casper

CASPER, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team overcame a 14-point second half deficit, but came up short in falling to Casper College 87-85.

The No. 16-ranked Cougars received a huge performance in a losing effort from Bayard’s Amber Kistler who led the Cougars with 27 points, including five 3-pointers. Stormye Everett came up big as well, pitching in 18 second-half points.

Assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen said that they played well in every category but one – turnovers. The Cougars committed 31 miscues to Casper’s 18.

“We definitely rebounded the ball better in the second half then the first half, but 31 turnovers hurts you compared to their 18,” Pedersen said. “We shot 73 percent from the free throw line and that is above our average.”

The Cougar women did have plenty of positives, including out-rebounding Casper 42-39 and making nine 3-pointers of 16 attempts. The Cougars also played strong defense in the second half as Thais Pinto recorded three blocked shots and Yuki Morimoto had 11 assists.

“We just started off the game by turning the ball over four straight times to start the game and got down. We came back in the second half and ran our offense and played strong defense during the stretch. We came back and had an opportunity to win the game with a wide-open layup.”

WNCC got behind the eight ball early, trailing 38-29 at halftime and trailed by as many as 14 in the second half before the Cougars made a comeback. With under five minutes to play in regulation, Everett nailed two 3-pointers and Kistler buried one to bring the Cougars to 75-73 with a minute to play.

Thais Pinto finally tied the contest at 75-75 with 38 seconds to play. The Cougars got the ball back with 12.5 seconds left and had a good chance to win the game in regulation, but missed a lay-up to force overtime.

In the extra period, The Cougars never could get a lead. They did, however, cut the lead to one point on 1 of 2 Kistler free throws. Casper held an 87-83 lead with 31.6 on two Juliana Paunovic free throws. WNCC came right back with Tiffany Moorer converting two free throws to cut the lead to 87-85 with 12.6 seconds to play. Casper turned the ball on the inbounds play. WNCC immediately fouled and the T-birds missed two free throws. The Cougars couldn’t get off a shot in the final seconds to suffer their third defeat of the season.

The Cougars had four players finish in double figures. Behind Kistler’s 27 and Everett’s 18, Michelle Glaze came off the bench to score 12 points followed by Pinto with 11 points. Pinto finished with a double-double adding 10 rebounds to her total.

Casper was paced by Samira Van Grinsven with 29 points, including 11 of 16 from the free throw line. Casper was 24 of 35 from the charity stripe as a team, while WNCC was 16 of 22.

The Cougars biggest nightmare was turnovers, where they committed 31 miscues. WNCC out-rebounded Casper 42-39 and made nine 3-pointers of 16 attempts.

WNCC, 15-3, will look to get back on the winning track Saturday when they travel to Norfolk to face Northeast Community College in a sub-region contest.

WNCC (15-3) 29 46 10 – 85
Casper (18-3) 38 37 12 – 87
CASPER
Sherece Huddlin 1, Jasmine Belin 4, Samira Van Grinsven 29, Shanice Billington 18, Wendy Walker 2, Megan Wilson 6, Lindsey Fearing 9, Juliana Paunovic 18.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 27, Stormye Everett 18, Yuki Morimoto 5, TiffanyMoorer 7, Michelle Glaze 12, Thais Pinto 11, Khayla Gladney 5.

Scottsbluff's Huddleston signs with WNCC volleyball

Scottsbluff's Jodi Huddleston received an early birthday present Tuesday as she became Western Nebraska Community College volleyball coach Giovana Melo's first recruit for next year.

Huddleston, who will turn 19 on Wednesday, signed a letter of intent to play volleyball for the Cougars for the next years. She said it was always a dream to play volleyball for one of the top programs in the nation.

"I've always wanted to go there since I was a little kid after going to camps," Huddleston said. "And then after going on my college visit, that is where I really wanted to go. The girls were awesome, Coach Gi was pretty cool, and this guy [student assistant Cesar Banatti] was alright, too.

"It feels pretty cool that I am the first recruit for next year. I am really excited and I am a little nervous, too, because it is a new level. I am pretty sure I am ready for it, it is just a lot to look forward to. It is also very comforting to know a little bit of what I will be facing,"

With Huddleston's work ethic on the court -- she was on the B volleyball team in junior high -- Scottsbluff volleyball coach Shana DIck said Huddleston will give it your all.

" Jodi really has improved so much over the years because she is such a coachable person, and it is because she really works that hard," Dick said. "She didn't come into it naturally, she had to work at it and did whatever it took to get there. That is the kind of player she is. What I am going to miss is that you can ask her to do anything and she will do it. i am really excited to see what she will do at the next level."

Huddleston definitely saved her best for last as the 6-foot-1 middle hitter was a Star-Herald all-region first team selection. Huddleston finished her senior year with 243 kills, 155 solo blocks and 43 digs. The Bearcats finished this season with a 20-16 record before falling to Ogallala in the finals of the district tournament.

"I am very excited to get Jodi," Melo, who is in her second year as head coach at WNCC, said. "I have seen she has improved a lot and she still has more to improve. But she has done a good job for them and it is always good to get someone from around here.

"It is good that we have this kind of talent around here and to get them to come to our school because a lot of times they want to get away, is great. They are here for a long time and they want to get out of here. It is good to get them to come to our school and let them see what we have to offer and to keep them around for a little bit longer so the community can watch them play and see them grow even more."

Huddleston, who is also an outstanding track and field athlete, said she is looking forward to playing at WNCC and that it won't be that hard of transition since she already knows a lot of the volleyball players.

"I know half the girls already so it is comforting that I know them and it won't be like going into a new area, new school," she said. "I will still be starting over, but I will have friends and people that I know with me."
Huddleston will relish her senior season a lot having developed into a fierce middle blocker. Huddleston started for the Bearcats the last two seasons and realizes that she will miss her high school teammates, but is ready for the next level.

" i will miss all of them. They are great girls to play with and they are great friends," she said. "It was a lot of fun. This year we didn't get to go to state, but I couldn't have wanted a better team. They were so cool. Coach was patient with me, which was a really good thing because I needed a lot of work to be good, and I still have to do a lot."
Huddleston said her goal at WNCC is to get better, along with trying to win a national title. She also wants to excel at academics. She is planning on majoring in history.

"I want to play volleyball but mostly I want to get the right kind of education that I need because that is what I will be doing after college," she said. "I know college will be a lot quicker and I will have to work a lot harder. It probably be a little harder for me, but I will get used to it. I have improved a lot since I was a freshman and I still have room for improvement. So, I am really looking forward to it."

WNCC men score 49 second half points to earn win over Otero

LAJUNTA, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team received a double-double from Geddes Robinson and the Cougars put Friday's loss behind them with an impressive 72-58 win against Otero Junior College on Saturday at LaJunta, Colo.

"This was a good win, a much needed win for us," WNCC coach Russ Beck said. "We had to get back to the basics and box out. We did that and outrebounded a very athletic Otero team 46-36."

Robinson paced the Cougars with a double-double, netting 26 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Brylle Kamen led the team on the glass by pulling down 13 rebounds.

WNCC earned the win by coming back from a halftime deficit and outscoring the Rattlers by 20 points 49-29. Otero held a 29-23 lead at halftime and Francisco Cruz didn't score in the opening 20 minutes.

Cruz, the team's leading scorer, made up for that in the second half as he finished with 13 points, including 2 3-pointers. Mateus Chaves also knocked home two 3-pointers as the red-shirt freshman came in off the bench to score eight points.

"Our subs stepped up for us tonight," Beck said. "They played with passion and the whole team played unselfishly. We have to keep it simple and focus on the basics."

WNCC definitely received a balanced scoring output as nine of the 10 players on the roster scored. The Cougars also received six points from O'Rion Hughes, five points from Joe Stock, two points and five rebounds from Ritche Mundende, two points from Andre Marone, eight points from Kamen, and two points and four assists from Geoffrey Firmin.

WNCC, 11-6, will now face Casper College on the road on Wednesday. Casper split a pair of games over the weekend as they fell to Western Wyoming Community College 81-77 before rebounding on Saturday against Central Wyoming College and winning 85-75.

"Now as we prepare for a very good Casper team, we must focus on finsihing defensive stops with rebounds," Beck said. "We have a big week of basketball ahead of us, but all we are focused on is us going into Casper and playing good Cougar basketball."

After the Casper road trip, the Cougars open sub-region play when they travel to Northeast Community College in Norfolk on Saturday. They will then return home to face Eastern Wyoming College on Jan. 25.

WNCC (11-6) 23 49 -- 72
Otero (6-11) 29 29 -- 58
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Francisco Cruz 13, Geddes Robinson 26, Brylle Kamen 8, Geoffrey Firmin 2, O'Rion Hughes 6, Andre Marone 2, Joe Stock 5, Mateus Chaves 8, Ritchie Mundende 2.

WNCC women capture 15th win with victory over Otero

LAJUNTA, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team showcased a balanced scoring attack in picking up its 15th win of the season with a 60-52 win over Otero Junior College Saturday in LaJunta, Colo.

WNCC coach Dave Harnish said this is a good win in a place that is hard to win in.

"I thought we competed real hard, but we turned it over too much," he said. "We had a 18-point lead with about six minutes to go and we really didn't finish very well. But anytime you can get a win down here, it is a good win. We played hard and controlled the boards, and for the most part played real good defense."

The Cougars held a 28-24 lead at intermission and pushed the lead to 18 points with about six minutes to play. What pleased Harnish the most was how everyone played well, giving the team balanced scoring.

"It was a nice night where the bench came in and did a nice job," he said. "Everybody that played did a good job tonight. We had balanced scoring, which is nice to see."

Yuki Morimoto and Thais Pinto paced the 15-2 Cougars with 10 points each, followed by Amber Kistler and Khayla Gladney each with eight points.

The Cougars connected on three 3-pointers, including two from Morimoto. The other three came from Bayard's Amber Kistler.

WNCC also shot over 75 percent from the free throw line, connecting on 17 of 23 charity shots. Otero was 10 of 15 from the free throw line.

The 16th-ranked Cougars will take their eight-game winning streak to Casper, Wyo., to face Casper College on Wednesday. After that, they will open up sub-region play at Norfolk against Northeast Community College on Saturday.

WNCC (15-2) 28 32 -- 60
Otero (13-4) 24 28 -- 52
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 8, Stormye Everett 7, Yuki Morimoto 10, Tiffany Moorer 5, Thais Pinto 10, Ariana Brown 3, Carolina Alves 6, Michelle Glaze 3, Khayla Gladney 8.

Cougar men fall to Lamar

LAMAR, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College had a slow start to the 2010 season and in turn suffered a disappointing loss to Lamar Community College 66-57 on Friday at Lamar, Colo.

Cougar head coach Russ Beck said his team needs to eliminate mental mistakes.

"We came out flat and before we knew what hit us we were down 18-5," he said. "We settled down and put together a nice run and led 28-27 at half. The second half was close and it was a two point game with less than five minutes left in the game. Lamar then went on a 7-0 run."

Beck said their rebounding wasn't there, and that was a big difference in the, along with the turnovers. WNCC had just 18 offensive rebounds and committed 21 turnovers.

Still, the 10-6 Cougars played hard.

"We play hard; we just need to play smart," he said. "We have the opportunity to jump right back on the saddle again today."

Francisco Cruz led the way with 21 points, including four 3-pointers. Geddes Robinson also chipped in 18 points for the Cougars.

The Cougars will look to get back on the winning track today when they travel to Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colo.

"We need to get back to playing Cougar basketball," Beck said.

WNCC (10-6) 28 29 -- 57

Lamar (7-10) 27 39 -- 66

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Francisco Cruz 21, Geddes Robinson 18, Brylle Kamen 8, Saul Torres 4, O'Rion Hughes 6,

WNCC women pick up 14th win of the season over Lamar

LAMAR, Colo. – Amber Kistler scored 19 points, 14 of which came in the second half, as the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team shook off some early game rust in posting an 83-72 win over Lamar Community College Friday on the road.

The No. 16-rated Cougars, who have been off for five weeks, held a slim 36-31 lead at intermission. In the second half, the Cougars opened up the offense in scoring 47 points to pick up their 14^th win of the season.

Assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen said one could tell that the team hadn’t played a game in over a month.

“You could definitely tell that we had taken some time off,” she said. “It took us a while to get in the flow. We didn’t rebound well to start the game off so Lamar was quick to transition and got some easy buckets. We settled down a little bit more in the second half.”

Pedersen said that this came will help the team as they face Otero Junior College today in La Junta, Colo., a place that the Rattlers are tough to beat. Otero is 13-3 on the season and has played four games already since the first of the year.

“Lamar pressed us the entire game and that caused a little trouble because we haven’t been able to play,” she said. “So, I think this game will help us for tomorrow night. Otero is pretty aggressive at their place. So, I think tonight was good that the kids got to play against that.”

After a sluggish opening 20 minutes, the Cougars started excelling in the second half, especially getting easy transition buckets.

“Kistler got a lot of her points in the second half. That is when we started running the court a lot better, so she got a lot of her points on the fly,” Pedersen said. “We didn’t create a lot of shots out of our offense. Tonight, a lot of our shots came from transition.”

Kistler lead the team with 19 points, including going a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line. Stormye Everett and Yuki Morimoto each contributed 14 points. Morimoto was also perfect from the charity stripe, going 5 of 5.

Thais Pinto was the only other Cougar to finish in double digits, netting 12 points.

Morimoto finished with a double-double on the evening also pulling down 10 rebounds to lead the team. Everett added nine boards.

The Cougars also committed just 15 turnovers, which was something that Pedersen was pleased with. The team, however, was just 21 of 32 from the free throw line.

WNCC (14-2) 36 47 – 83
Lamar (7-11) 31 41 – 72
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 19, Stormye Everett 14, Yuki Morimoto 14, Ariana Brown 6, Tiffany Moorer 9, Carolina Alves 2, Michelle Glaze 5, Thais Pinto 12, Khayla Gladney 2.

NJC will honor former Plainsmen with “Black Out Night for Jeron” during their game against Western Nebraska C.C. on Jan. 27

During a game at Kentucky Wesleyan College on Jan. 14, former Northeastern Junior College student-athlete Jeron Lewis, who was playing for the University of Southern Indiana, died from an apparent head injury suffered in the contest. Lewis was only 21.

In a press release from Ben Blecha, sports announcer from KING-FM 104.7, NJC and the Sterling, Colo., community will honor Lewis, with proceeds raised going to his 1-month-old son, Jamel. Jeron said after his son was born, “I hated to be away from these guys, but it was a bit deal [to watch my son born], and I was glad I could be there for that.” Now, it is time for the NJC community to be there for Jeron.

So, on Jan. 27 when the Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s team invade the Bank of Colorado Events Center for a doubleheader, that night will be Jeron Lewis night. KING-FM, NJC Student Government, NJC Residence Life and several area businesses will be hosting a fundraiser for Jeron and his son, Jamel. All of the money raised during the “Black Out for Jeron” will be put into a college fund to ensure that Jeron Lewis’ son, Jamel, is afforded the same opportunity of education that Jeron was.

Jeron played just one season at Northeastern Junior College before transferring to the University of Southern Indian, but in that one year, he gave 110 percent on the court and in the classroom. He averaged 12 points and eight rebounds in 14 games this season as the team’s senior captain.

During his one year at NJC, Jeron was known as a rebounder. So, in turn, area individuals and businesses will also have the opportunity to donate $0.04 cents or more per rebound pulled down by NJC and WNCC during the men’s game on Jan. 27. All of the money donated will go directly into Jamel’s college fund.

Other fundraisers that NJC is planning during the night include Black T-shirts in honor of Jeron, which are on sale now for $12. These T-shirts will be available for order or purchase at upcoming home NJC games through Saturday, Jan. 23. To place your order outside of NJC games, contact Blecha at ben.blecha@gmail.com or call him at 970-522-1607 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Another event that night is being put on by Kizer Wireless, who will be cooking hot dogs from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. of the game. The hot dogs will be available for a donation of choosing with all profits going to Jamel’s college fund.

Jeron lost his life during USI’s game Thursday night against Kentucky Wesleyan. At approximately 9:05 p.m., Lewis lay motionless after his feet became tangled and he tumbled to the floor during their game. He laid prone with his hands outstretched above his head briefly as trainers from both teams ran to him. He then began convulsing as they tried to secure him. After the movement subsided, the 6-foot-8 Lewis was placed on a backboard and taken to Owensboro Medical Heath System by ambulance where he was pronounced dead at 9:52 p.m. USI finished out the game, winning 74-69 Lewis led both teams in rebounding on the night, finishing with nine. USI is 16-0 on the season. Then, 30 minutes after the game ended, the USI players and coaches were notified of Lewis’ passing.

The Daviess County (KY) Coroner Bob Howe made the announcement on Monday that Lewis died of natural causes and found no sign during the autopsy of head trauma, but discovered Lewis had some heart problems. Further tests will be need to be down.

Lewis played for NJC in 2007-08 and the Plainsmen fell to Eastern Wyoming College in the Region IX final in two overtimes.

For more information on “Black Out for Jeron,” please email Blecha at ben.blecha@gmail.com.

Cougar basketball teams open second half of the season this weekend on the road

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s and men’s basketball teams will tip off 2010 this weekend in southern Colorado.

Both teams will battle Lamar Community College on Friday before taking on Otero Junior College on Saturday. The weekend trip is the start of a grueling road swing for both squads as they will also face Casper College, Northeastern Junior College and Northeast Nebraska in the coming 12 days.

“I am sure the kids are excited to get back into action. It has been five weeks since we played and it has been a long time off,” women’s coach Dave Harnish said. “The two teams we played this weekend, Lamar and Otero, have already played two or three games and this is a tough stretch for us. We have to go on the road and play at Lamar and Otero this weekend. Then, we have to turn around and go at Casper, Norfolk and at NJC.”

“It will be a huge two weeks to start the semester off. Any road trip is tough, but when you have four of the five toughest places to play, I hope we can withstand it and get through it. After that the schedule turns into our favor.”

The Cougar women enter two seasons as one of the favorites to win the regional tournament. WNCC, 13-2, is ranked 16^th in this week’s NJCAA national poll. Harnish said he is pleased with where the team is, even though he said they could have easily been 14-1 or 15-0.

“Based on starting out the season with 13 freshmen, you have to be excited about the start,” Harnish said. “We lost to Midland by eight and we had a chance to win that game if we would have rebounded better. Then we lost by one to Seward. We are kind of disappointed because we could have been 14-1 or 15-0 if we would have played better.”

The Cougar women will face Lamar and Otero, two teams that have already played a couple of games last week. Lamar enters this weekend’s game with a 7-10 mark, while Otero is 13-3. This will be Otero’s fifth game since the first of the year. Otero topped Air Force Prep 60-57 on Tuesday and the defeated Colorado Christian junior varsity 77-39 on Wednesday.

Last year the Cougars split on the road trip to southern Colorado, opening with a win against Lamar before falling to Otero. Harnish is hoping his team doesn’t repeat what happened a year ago.

“It is always difficult when you come off the break because you don’t know if they are not ready to play,” he said. “You won’t know until you go out and play that first game. Playing back-to-back nights will be tough for us like we found out last year when we lost the second day to Otero. The next 10 to 12 days will be very tough for us and we will have to fight and scratch to get through it.”

Harnish, however, is hoping is team is ready for not only this weekend’s contests, but to contend for a regional title in a couple months.

“We adjusted well the last two weeks and played really well just before Christmas break. Hopefully we can continue to pick up where we left off, continue growing and getting better, and make a run at the regional tournament.”

While the women have been off for five weeks, the Cougar men competed in a New Year’s Eve tournament in Iowa where they went 1-2. WNCC, 10-5, have dropped two of their last six games since Dec. 1.

WNCC men’s coach Russ Beck feels his team is ready for the second half of the season.

“This weekend’s games are an opportunity for us to start off on the right foot in terms of the second half of the season,” he said. “I am excited about the opportunity and I think the guys are prepared to seize the opportunity.”

The Cougar men have played one of the toughest schedules in the region and things won’t get any easier. Beck said playing in the New Year’s Eve tournament will help the team in the long run.

“I can’t question how hard we played against any of the teams we played in Iowa. We played hard enough to win, but we didn’t play smart enough to win,” Beck said. “We need to be a little bit solider defensively and quit giving up penetration toward the middle of the floor. That has been our Achilles tendon defensively. We have addressed that over the last 12 days practicing. I am hoping the time here we got all the tire and winter break out of our legs. I think we are ready to go.”

After this weekend’s contests, both teams will be on the road on Wednesday when they travel to Casper, Wyo., They then will get into the sub-region season with a game against Northeast Community College out of Norfolk, Neb., next Saturday.

Four WNCC volleyball players named to OWH all-Nebraska Volleyball Team

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team continues to receive honors after their third place finish at the national tournament last November.

The Cougars most recent accolades included putting four players on the Omaha World Herald Junior College All-Nebraska Volleyball team that was released last week.

Sabina Piegza, a sophomore setter, was named the honorary captain of the team that was nominated and voted upon by the Nebraska junior college volleyball coaches. The other all-Nebraska members included outside hitter Kaleinani Kabalis, middle hitter Paulina Piegza and libero Cami Weimer.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo said it is a nice recognition for the WNCC volleyball program.

“I think it is an awesome recognition for them and our program,” the second year head coach said. “They have done a great job for the past two years and they deserve to be recognized.”

Sabina Piegza led was one of the top setters in the nation averaging 10.5 set assists a game. She also was in the top five in hitting efficiency. She was also named a NJCAA first team all-American as well as being selected to the NJCAA all-tournament team at the national tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in November.

“Sabi was a big key for our success,” Melo said. “As our setter, she was the player who had to make most of the decisions and was the one who touched the ball pretty much every play. She did a great job distributing the ball to the right hitters at the right time. That is when you can identify a great setter. Many of them can put the ball up, but the ones who are consistent and know who to set at the right times are the ones who make a difference in teams.”

Melo said the other three players also are deserving of the honors. Kabalis finished her career at WNCC as one of just nine players to accumulate over 1,000 kills. She also was named an NJCAA first-team all-American, as well as a member of the NJCAA all-tournament team. Kabalis, an outside hitter, was named the national tournament’s top defensive player, which shows her versatility on the court.

“Kalei and Pauli were two big hitters for us this year,” Melo said. “They led the team in kills all year and worked hard to get this team competing at the high level. They took a lot of responsibility as sophomores so this recognition is well deserved for them.”

Weimer earned the honor as top libero after stepping up at the regional and national tournament in the libero role. She, however, was also a top defensive specialist for the Cougars as well as serving time at the outside hitter position.

“Cami was a very versatile player for us in the past two years,” Melo said. “I have played her everywhere on the court and nothing ever fazed her. She was a player who I trusted just putting anywhere because she always took it as a new challenge and succeeded at every one of them. She really deserves the recognition for everything she accomplished here.”

WNCC, which finished 42-4 and third at the national tournament, had four players earn honorable mention on the OWH JUCO All-Nebraska team. They included sophomore Brook Blomenkamp, a Gering High graduate, and freshmen Kuulei Kabalis, Ariel Austin and Kathryn Stock.

The rest of the first team selections included Riley Callan and Ashley Wurdeman of Central Community College-Columbus; Erica Brown and Brandi Dye of North Platte Community College; and Carly Morehead of Southeast Community College.

Other Honorable mention candidates included Abby Houghtelling, Vonnie Fredrick, and Tasha Poppe of Central-Columbus; Joanna Bryant and Ariel Dunker of McCook Community College; Alexa Hopping, Shaylee Salyards and RyAnn Spady of North Platte; and CeCe Catlett and Monica Shaw of Southeast Nebraska.