The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team is used to high rankings in the national polls and this year is no different. The Cougars, 42-4 a year ago, enter the season ranked fifth in the pre-season NJCAA Division I national polls, which was released Wednesday.
Emily Hoehn, returning sophomore who was a part of the Cougars drive to a third place finish at the national tournament last fall, said being ranked fifth gives them that drive on the court.
“I like where we are fifth right now because we can look forward to beating the other teams that are ahead of us,” the Kearney defensive specialist said. “If we are one, then we have no one to look to beat. Being fifth really motivates us and makes us push more in practice to show that we should have been higher.”
College of Southern Idaho, who captured the national tournament a year ago, comes in as the pre-season number one ranked team followed by Missouri-West Plains, Salt Lake Community College, and Miami Dade. WNCC topped Salt Lake for third place last year.
“I think fifth is an OK spot for us,” Hoehn said. “I think it gives us teams to look forward to playing and it makes the fire inside of burning a little bit. It makes me a little mad but at the same time it makes us want to prove that, yes we lost some great sophomores, but we have great talent coming in. As last year’s freshmen, we really have improved.”
Region IX was well represented in the pre-season top 25 polls with four teams earning rankings. WNCC comes in fifth followed by Casper College at No. 18, Laramie County Community College at No. 21 and Northwest College at No. 25. Northwest won the Region IX north title last year and participated at the national tournament.
The rest of the top 10 includes Iowa Western Community College at No. 6, Blinn College at No. 7, San Jacinto College at No. 8, Hillsborough Community College at No. 9, and Temple College at No. 10. WNCC and Iowa Western Community College will face each other in a home and away series. The Reivers will come to Cougar Palace on Sept. 15 while the Cougars will travel to Council Bluffs for a single match on Oct. 26.
Hoehn said, after the first two days of practice, the team is flashing plenty of depth.
“We are showing some promise,” she said. “We will have to mesh a little bit more, but after playing a little bit of 3-on-3, we look pretty good.”
Hoehn said it really doesn’t matter where they are ranked now, it is the end of the season that matters the most. The team has high expectations. They also realize that any team that they play will make them bring their A game.
“It doesn’t matter if we are ranked fifth because everybody will be out to beat us anyway,” she said. “But, we are going to be ready. With this team, we want to go all the way.”
NJCAA pre-season Top 10
1, College of Southern Idaho, 32-6
2, Missouri State University-West Plains, 27-9
3, Salt Lake Community College, 29-9
4, Miami Dade College, 32-5
5, Western Nebraska C.C., 42-4
6, Iowa Western Community College, 42-6
7, Blinn College, 29-4
8, San Jacinto College-Central, 32-9
9, Hillsborough Community College, 30-10
10, Temple College, 23-22
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