Five WNCC players sign with four-year colleges

Western Nebraska Community College volleyball coach Giovana Melo couldn’t hold back the emotion as she watched five of her sophomores sign letters of intent Wednesday afternoon and officially their two-year career as a Cougar.

Melo said this is a happy and sad day as the five sophomores officially inked their scholarship letters.

“These five mean a lot to me and it was funny because before they came in here to sign, we were in the office area just laughing and looking at a little video together. It made me tear up,” Melo said. “I remember the first time I saw them together on the court and seeing them what they did in the last game together in the spring tournament [on April 10] you see a completely different group.

“It started with five kids in a group in a way I didn’t see them close and then to see them as close as they are now and close to me, I did not see that happen. I think they have matured so much, not just as players but as people. To see them all go to the next level and play and show them who we and they are all about is incredible.”

Kaleinani Kabalis and Paulina Piegza signed to play Division I volleyball next year. Kabalis will be playing at Washington State, while Piegza will play at St. Johns University in New York. Cami Weimer inked with Oklahoma Baptist University, a NAIA school. Then, the two Gering graduates signed their letter of intents as Whitney Roth is headed to Division II Texas A&M-Kingsville, while Brooke Blomenkamp will be playing at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

The former Bulldogs have the biggest story among the five signings. Roth and Blomenkamp went to the same pre-school together have played together for what seems an eternity. Now, the two Gering High School standouts will be going their separate ways.

“I started out with Brooke going to pre-school together and we have known each other a long time,” Roth said. “Knowing how [Brooke and Sierra Schmidt] play and who they are, that is going to be hard as I go down there not knowing a whole lot about the other players.”

“I will miss playing with Whitney because we played together all of our lives,” Blomenkamp said. “That will be sad to leave that. I am also going to miss playing with these other guys so much. I really don’t want to leave, because these two years have been awesome. They all have been really nice to play with.”

Roth and Blomenkamp, along with the other sophomore signees, have grown both on and off the court. In two years at WNCC, the sophomores have compiles a 101-8 record and finished third at the national tournament in back-to-back years.

“I think I have improved a lot,” Roth said. “I think I can jump a little higher and I definitely have gotten stronger and a little bit quicker. I think the two years here has helped me prepare for the Division II level. I improved quite a bit but I have a long ways to go.

Roth said what helped her improve is playing against and with people that are headed to the four-year level.

“Playing with people that are at the DI level now [Fatima Balza at Penn State and Nayka Benitez at Creighton] or going to DI, it definitely helped bring your playing level up,” she said. “You have high levels of volleyball, so I think that has helped over the past two years to elevate my game.”

Weimer said playing with great players helps you want to excel as well.

“Playing my freshman year with Fatima who just won a national title at Penn State, that gives you that much more motivation to want to excel yourself and want to be a great player,” the Ft. Morgan, Colo., native said. “Having teammates that are going on to DI and DII schools is really cool that you have been a part of something great and great people.”

Blomenkamp said playing with the likes of a Balza or Kalei and the other Cougar teammates, has helped her become a better volleyball player.

“They have brought my level up,” she said. “Playing with people that go on to high levels of volleyball, like Fatima and Kalei, I think it has helped me reach a level of volleyball that I never dreamed I would reach when I was in high school. Now, I get the opportunity to go and play at a higher level and reach a higher level of volleyball. It is a nice-dream-come true.”

Roth and Blomenkamp, along with the other three sophomores that signed, were all recruited by former Cougar coach Chris Green before he left for the University of Alaska Anchorage. All five of them said they didn’t have second thoughts about coming here under Melo’s coaching.

“I still remember the first time I met her and she scared me,” Blomenkamp said. “I was like, ‘ok, I don’t know.’ Now I am so thankful that she came here. She has been a great coach and she has helped me so much. I think I have reached a level in these two years that back in high school I thought I never would reach.”

“It has been awesome playing under coach,” Weimer said. “It didn’t matter to me who the coach was. I wanted to come here. I knew the program was a great program and I knew the players were out here to win.”

Blomenkamp said she can’t believe how much everybody has become like sisters now.

“I think it is cool to see how we all have grown in two years and as a team helped each other grow,” she said. “I now when we play together, there is nothing we can’t do. We have shown that we pretty much can beat anybody.”

Kabalis said the game of volleyball brought everybody, players and coach, together like a tight-knit family.

“When we first got here, we all had different personalities. No matter what we looked like or talked like, we still had that feeling for volleyball. That is what brought us together and closer than anything else,” she said. “I felt like I knew them for a long time. We argue. We do everything just like sisters do, and it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day you still want to be with them. You still love them.”

That is why Melo said she won’t be able to replace them. Instead, she will look for someone to step into their shoes.

“I don’t think they are replaceable,” she said. “You see them as crazy freshmen when they came in and now you see them mature. You can’t replace that, especially after seeing where they can get to [after signing Wednesday]. You obviously have to go get different kids and try to get them as good at these five when they leave. The sad part is you get them to get better, you get them to improve and then they leave you. It is sad, but it makes you happy at the same time because they are moving on to better things.”