Nayka Benitez is chomping at the bit to come back to Western Nebraska Community College to play in front of the fans that cheered her on when she was a player for the Cougars. Benitez is now a member of the Creighton University of volleyball team and she will lead her Bluejays into Cougar Palace to compete in the Spring Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, April 10 at Cougar Palace.
Benitez can’t wait to return to play once again at Cougar Palace and against her former teammates and coach. Benitez spent two years at WNCC, helping the Cougars win a national title in 2007 and finish third in 2008.
“I’m so excited to go to WNCC again,” she said. “I don’t know how to describe how I feel right now. WNCC means a lot to me because they prepared me for Creighton both academically and athletically. There are a lot of people at WNCC that I love and who have helped me when I was there. I’m really happy to see them again. I couldn't imagine that I'd be back here in this gym playing for Creighton University and against WNCC. It is a very good feeling for me.”
The Spring Volleyball Tournament will feature WNCC and four, NCAA Division I schools playing against each other. Besides the Cougars and Creighton, the other schools that will make an appearance at WNCC include Colorado State University, the University of Northern Colorado and the Air Force Academy. Colorado State and Northern Colorado each qualified for the NCAA tournament last December. The Rams finished the season at 25-6 and won the opening two games of the national tournament. Northern Colorado finished the season at 21-12 before falling to Washington in the first round of nationals.
Benitez said it will be a challenging tournament.
“I think it will be a really nice tournament because there are some division 1 schools and WNCC, which is one of the best volleyball programs in the nation,” she said.
Action begins Saturday at 8 a.m. when WNCC faces Creighton. WNCC will also face Air Force at 11 a.m., Colorado State at 12:30 p.m. and Northern Colorado at 3:30 p.m.
Creighton will battle Colorado State at 9:30 a.m., Northern Colorado at 11 a.m. and Air force at 12:30 p.m.
Benitez said Creighton has had one of its best springs. Last year the Bluejays finished 14-17 as they fell in the semi-finals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
“We have played four games so far this spring and we did really well,” she said. “I feel that we are in better shape than last season. We are working really hard and we will keep that for this weekend.”
For Benitez, her goal is to keep improving as she enters her senior season next year.
“Spring practices have been going really good for me,” she said. “I’m trying to practice hard ever time that I step on the court and get better for next season and be the best libero in the Missouri Valley Conference.”
It all starts this weekend for for Benitez and the rest of the Bluejays as they venture west to take on some top-notch competition.
“This weekend we are going to try to bring what we have been practicing this week. We want to put all together and see how it goes. But, of course, we want to win!"
Benitez said that she might be intimidated a little bit when Creighton faces WNCC in the opening match of the day, especially knowing that she spent a year playing with the sophomores.
“It’s going be different being on the opposite side of the net after I spent a year playing with them,” she said. “It’s going be hard see Kalei [Kabalis], Cami [Weimer], Brooke [Blomenkamp], Paulina [Piegza], Sabina [Piegza], Whitney [Roth] and Coach Giovana Melo from the other side of the net. But I am ready to play.”
Tickets for the spring tournament are $15 each and only 800 tickets will be sold. Tickets can be purchased at the WNCC business office or athletic office.
Tournament Schedule
8 a.m. -- WNCC vs. Creighton
9:30 a.m. -- Creighton vs. Colorado State, Northern Colorado vs. Air
Force
11 a.m. -- Northern Colorado vs. Colorado State; WNCC vs. Air Force
12:30 p.m. -- WNCC vs. Colorado State; Creighton vs. N. Colorado
2 p.m. -- Creighton vs. Air Force
3:30 p.m. -- WNCC vs. Northern Colorado, Air Force vs. Colorado State
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