WNCC sweeps Otero

Western Nebraska Community College’s Kathryn Stock finished with a double-double and the Cougar volleyball team swept past Otero Junior College 25-13, 25-14, 25-13 in south sub-region action Thursday night at Cougar Palace

Stock paced the team with 13 kills while also serving 11 points in the victory. Stock said this is a good win for them after struggling in the four-set win against McCook Community College on Tuesday.

“We wanted to keep our energy high, play as a team and we wanted to do the simple stuff right and stay disciplined,” the 5-foot-11 sophomore said. “We wanted to get the free balls perfect and give them the ball and let the other team make mistakes.”

WNCC and Otero stayed close through the first part of the opening set, before a Stock kill and two Sierra Schmidt points pushed the lead to 15-11. WNCC opened the set up some more after a Debora Araujo kill followed by a five-point service run by Stock to go up 21-12. Emily Hoehn then serviced the final three points for the win.

The big key in the opening set for the Cougars was a potent offensive attack along with strong serving. The Cougars tallied 15 kills in the set, while they served for 13 points. The offensive attack was spread out by all the Cougars hitters as Araujo had four kills, while Ariel Austin and Tania Torres had three.

WNCC took control early in the second set as Fernanda Goncalves served four straight points. Otero came back as Ellie Traut served two points to slice the lead to 4-3. Schmidt pushed the lead to 10-5 on three points, including two blazing hits by Lais Soares.

Otero stayed tough as they sliced the lead to three points on many occasions, including the last time at 17-14. Things changed after that as Stock served six straight points to close out the second set 25-14.

Once again, the Cougars had balanced hitting and serving as the team finished with 10 kills and served for 14 points.

WNCC didn’t change anything in the third set, finishing with 16 kills as a team while serving for 14 points. The big statistic for the match was the Cougars only missed three serves all night compared to seven for the Rattlers.

Goncalves started the third set with a strong service run, pushing the Cougars to a 6-1 lead with five points. After Otero cut the deficit to four points, 10-6 on a kill by Ashley Delores Aloi and two points by Jayde Ashida, the Cougars opened up the contest as Araujo hammered a kill and then served three points to double the score on the Rattlers at 20-10, including a kill from Mackenzie Westphal.

Austin and Westphal finished off the Rattlers by collecting kills in the final two points.

The fifth-ranked Cougars had a balanced attack on the floor in the win. Araujo finished with nine kills, 12 digs and six points; Austin had 10 kills; Torres had five kills and two blocks; Soares had five kills and three blocks; Goncalves had 10 points and 30 set assists; Jodi Huddleston had a block; Westphal had two kills; Schmidt had three digs and five points; Hoehn had 24 digs, five points and three set assists; and Sarah Hirschfeld had a set assist.

WNCC, 21-3, will be back in action Friday when they host Lamar Community College at 7 p.m. followed by a home contest against Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday at 1 p.m. Lamar fell to Northeastern Junior College Thursday night 25-22, 25-19, 25-20. Stock said these sub-region matches are important.

“Yes they are important and we are ready for them,” she said. “We are going into the sub-region games and take care of business. Tonight, we took care of the simple stuff, stay disciplined, and didn’t make mistakes.”

WNCC basketball teams will hold Cougar Madness on Oct. 1

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams will have a Cougar Madness on Friday, Oct. 1 – the first day junior college basketball teams can officially start practice.

The Cougar Madness will take place following the WNCC and Lamar Community College volleyball match. The volleyball match begins at 7 p.m.

The Cougar Madness will include an introduction of both men’s and women’s basketball teams. There will also be a 3-point and slam dunk contest, as well as a 10-minute scrimmage. There will also be team photos for autographs.

Both teams had their first official practice Friday afternoon. The Cougar men, who are ranked No. 9 in the Sporting News Basketball Preview Magazine, open the season Nov. 2 at Oglala College in Kyle, S.D. The men will have their home openers on Nov. 5 and 6 against Buckley Air Force and Oglala College.

The Cougar women will open the season Nov. 5 at home against Little Big Horn College and then Hastings College junior varsity on Nov. 6.

WNCC men's soccer falls 4-0 to Otero

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team put themselves in some must-win up-coming Region IX matches after suffering a 4-0 loss to Otero Junior College Wednesday at the Landers Soccer Complex.

The Cougars fell to 1-4 in Region IX play while the Rattlers, a first-year program, sit on top of the standings at 4-0-1. Only the top four teams make the Region IX Playoffs that begin Oct. 23 in Scottsbluff. Western Wyoming Community College, at 0-4-1 in conference play, is currently in fifth place and the odd-team out of the playoffs

What makes the playoff race interesting is the Cougars and the Mustangs play each other twice this season, Saturday in Scottsbluff and then Oct. 16 in Rock Springs, Wyo. A win Wednesday could have kept the Cougars’ hopes alive for one of the top two seeds. Now, it is a survival to just get to the playoffs.

“These upcoming Region IX games are critical. We have to beat Western Wyoming twice and Northwest College once and to me, they are must wins,” WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said. “We need to win in order to be one of the top four seeds to get into the playoffs. We have the talent, we have the players, we have the right mix of boys out here playing; the problem is we are not focused at playing at the right speed right know. We have to get more aggressive, more physical in the game. Some of it is that we have a large group of freshmen having to adjust to the game at this level, but those days should be gone now. We are halfway through the season and they should be adjusted and ready to play at this level.”

Wednesday, the Cougars played a complete second half. The problem was that that Otero did the damage in the first half, scoring three goals to take a commanding 3-0 lead at halftime. It didn’t take the Rattlers long either to get on the score board as 11 minutes into the game, Cartu Palombo put the ball into the net.

The Cougars held the Rattlers, 7-1-1 down in the majority of the first half after giving up the early goal. Otero finally broke that ice as Alex Fernandez nailed a penalty kick with 7:21 left in the opening half for a 2-0 lead. Otero added another goal with 1:26 left in the first half as Adrian Carrillo took a pass from Aaron De La Cruz for another goal.

The second half saw a different Cougar team come out to play; a team that was more determined. The difference in the halves for WNCC was obvious; in the first half the Cougars managed just three shots while in the second half they had five shots.

Still, the Cougars couldn’t find the back of the net. Otero also had trouble scoring in the second half except for one goal, which came with 3:22 to play as Jose Gallarza took a pass from Fernandez.

Rasnic said the inconsistency in halves has been the story to their season all year.

“We are really working hard to get the guys to play both halves the same way because the game momentum is lost too quickly when you come out and play flat in the first half,” he said. “It has been story of our season so far and we are over halfway through the season already. If we want to be a team that gets a few more wins this season, we need to figure it out quickly.

“This team needs to learn how to be consistent with their effort on the field. Honestly, we are not losing because of skill; we are losing because of effort right now.”

The Cougars, 3-8 overall, have two more regular season home match left. WNCC will host Western Wyoming on Saturday with the women’s contest starting at 11 a.m. with the men’s match to follow. WNCC will then follow that when Iowa Western Community College comes to Landers Soccer Complex on Monday with the women’s match starting at 10 a.m. and the men’s match to follow.

WNCC volleyball tops McCook in four sets

MCCOOK – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team had three players register double figure kills in leading the Cougars to a four-set sub-region win over McCook Community College Tuesday in McCook.

Debora Araujo finished with 14 kills in the 25-12, 23-25, 25-13, 25-11 win over the Indians. Ariel Austin also chipped in 11 kills, while Kathryn Stock had 10 kills. The win was also the Cougars’ 20^th victory of the season.

Sophomore Emily Hoehn said this was a wake-up call for the team as they took the Indians lightly.

“I think we came in a little relaxed and we were taken back on our heels when they beat us a game,” she said. “Eventually we had to really focus on our game and not play to their level to come out with a win.”

The Cougars dominated the opening set, capturing the win 25-12. The team then stumbled a bit in set two as McCook fought hard to register the 25-23 win. WNCC rebounded in set three and four to capture the match with ease.

Hoehn said they can take a lot from this match for the rest of the season.

“This game showed us that we can’t take a team lightly. Every team that plays us will be out for blood. Everyone wants to beat us. We are the team to beat so we have to realize that teams that look easy to beat will be ready to play us. We have to be ready for that and take these games a little more seriously and go into them with the intent that we are going to make ourselves better.”

WNCC played everyone in the contest as Araujo finished with eight digs to go with her match-leading 14 kills. Stock had seven digs and two aces.

Also for the Cougars, Tania Torres had eight kills, two blocks and four digs; Jodi Huddleston and Tori Bozzo had two kills; Fernanda Goncalves had 34 set assists, six digs and four aces; Sierra Schmidt had six set assists and an ace; Emily Hoehn had two aces and seven digs; and Kuulei Kabalis ahd nine digs.

The Cougars, 20-3, will return home this weekend for three sub-regional matches as they host Otero Junior College Thursday at 6 p.m. followed by a contest against Lamar Community College Friday at 7 p.m. and Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Hoehn said they will be ready for the weekend matches.

“I really think we will take a lot from this game,” she said. “Losing a game from McCook was an eye-opener to us that we can’t just walk in and expect to win. We actually have to go in and play. We can’t anyone for granted and we can’t be relaxed.”

WNCC baseball, softball teams go to bat for Team Ashytn Foundation

The Western Nebraska Community College softball and baseball teams will be holding a “Go to bat for Team Ashtyn” on Sunday, Oct. 10 at the Cleveland Field baseball and Volunteer Field softball fields, located on West 20^th street in Scottsbluff.

The two Cougar teams will join forces from 4-6 p.m. as they help raise money for the Team Ashtyn Foundation. Participants, for a fee per event, can hit batting practice off the Cougar pitchers, shag balls in the outfield, and clock over- and underhand throws. There will be prizes for the longest hit, the shortest hit, fastest throw and the slowest throw. Hot dogs, chips and a drink will also be available for purchase.

All proceeds will benefit the Team Ashtyn Foundation, which was created in honor of pediatric cancer patients and their families. The Foundation is honor of Ashtyn Schwartz, the daughter of Tory and Jennifer Schwartz of Gering, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblast leukemia. She is expected to complete her treatment of some sort by December 2010.

For more information on the event, or to call to donate to the Team Ashtyn Fundraiser, contact WNCC softball coach Maria Winn-Ratliff at winnm@wncc.net or 308-635-6198.

WNCC softball goes 2-3 at Triple Crown Tournament

FT. COLLINS, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College went 2-3 at the Triple Crown Invitational over the weekend in Ft. Collins, Colo. The Cougars played all four-year colleges.

The Cougars opened the tourney on Saturday by falling 8-7 to Black Hills State and then to 15-7 to Regis University. WNCC then picked up a 10-1 win over McPherson College. On Sunday, the Cougars topped the University of Great Falls 14-3 before falling to Metro State 7-5.

WNCC sophomore Amanda Saldivar said this was a good weekend to see where the team stands.

“I think we did pretty well this weekend considering we played a bunch of four-year schools,” Saldivar said. “We, as a team, just have to make more adjustments and we’ll be OK. “

Despite falling three times, Saldivar said there were plenty of positives from the games.

“We did a lot better at the plate and a lot better communicating with each other.”

The Cougars will take what they learned from this weekend’s contest as they face Chadron State College in a scrimmage Tuesday at Volunteer Field, which is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Against Black Hills State, WNCC held a 7-3 lead before allowing BHSC score five runs in the sixth inning to sting the Cougars 8-7. Freshman Chelsi Townsend had the big bat for the Cougars, going 2-for-4 with two home runs, six RBIs and two runs scored. Townsend had a 2-run shot in the first inning and then had a grand slam in the second inning.

Bree Bitton also collected two hits in the contest with a double and a single. Aria Agle also slapped a double in the loss.

Agle took the loss in the circle, giving up eight runs on 17 hits and striking out just two.

In the Regis contest, Ashton Hughes took the loss giving up eight runs in three innings of work.

Offensively, the Cougars pounded out seven hits. Jocelyn Stubbs went 3-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBIs and a double, while Sarah Hawryluk went 2-for-3 with two singles. Saldivar also collected multiple hits, going 2-for-5 with a run scored.

Freshman Amanda Jones pitched the Cougars to their first victory in the tournament with a dominating performance against McPherson. The Henderson, Nev., flame-thrower scattered six hits and struck out three.

WNCC pounded out 13 hits in the contest led by Megan Bourdon’s 3-for-3 performance, including three runs scored, a double and a triple. Hughes, Jacqui Cappuccilli and Allie Alverson also picked two hits each. Hughes was 2-for-2 with a double, while Cappuccilli was 2-for-3 with a double, and Alverson was 2-for-3 with a double. Townsend also pitched in a double and a run scored.

WNCC continued its winning ways against Great Falls with a 20-hit attack. The Cougars had seven players finish with two or more hits. Hughes paced the team with a 3-for-4 game, including two runs scored.

Also for the Cougars, Bourdon went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs; Jordan Schoepflin went 2-for-2 with a double; Rae-lee Tresierra went 2-for-3; Hawryluk went 2-for-3; and Bitton went 2-for-3 with two singles and two runs scored.

Sarah Ward-Hadden picked up the pitching win, throwing four innings and scattering six hits and striking out one.

The Cougars finished the tourney with a 7-5 loss to Metro, in which they led 3-2 after two innings before a grand slam my Metro in the third inning put the Roadrunners up for good.

Hughes picked up the loss, going 2 2/3 innings and giving up seven runs on five hits. Jones finished off the game by allowing one hit over 2 1/3 innings.

WNCC pounded out six hits in the contest. Saldivar paced the team with a 2-for-2 contest, including two runs scored. Townsend also went 1-for-1 with a double and two RBIs.

After Tuesday’s contest with Chadron State College, WNCC will have three more fall contests, including a Oct. 8 home contest with North Platte Community College. WNCC will also hit the road Oct. 7 at the University of Wyoming and Oct. 9 at Greeley, Colo., to face UNC and Colorado State.

WNCC women's soccer wins two matches in dramatic fashion

BOULDER, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team is making some noise at the CU-Boulder tournament after capturing two victories Saturday in dramatic fashion.

The Cougars opened the contest with a 1-0 win over the Colorado State University Green team, who is coached by former Cougar Nikki Marotta. The Cougars scored just 2 minutes into the match as Brittany McNeal put the ball in the back of the net off of assists from Leticia Lopez and Ashley Gleason.

The match stayed that way the rest of the way as the Cougars defense played another strong contest.

WNCC advanced to the bracket round after winning a sudden death penalty kick shootout with CSU Green and CU White. All three teams finished 1-1 in their pool. The Cougars advanced in the second set of penalty kicks as McNeal scored. WNCC goalkeeper Jessica Taylor then made a diving save to put the Cougars into the Gold Bracket tournament.

In bracket play, the Cougars won another intense contest against Salt Lake Community College 2-1. Salt Lake took a 1-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, Jordan Lutkin was fouled within the penalty box and Rachelle Tekler took the penalty kick and tied the game with a beautiful shot.

Regulation ended 1-1 forcing penalty kicks. WNCC and Salt Lake ended the first penalty kick showdown tied 2-2 as Lopez and Lutkin each scored. That set up a sudden death penalty kick.Taylor saved the Bruins shot on net on the first shot of sudden death. Then Gering’s Jacee Roseberry ended the match by finding the back of the net with her shot.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said that Salt Lake is a good team and his team needed a win like this.

“They are a good team,” he said. “We also dominated them the whole game. They had better play in the second half. The entire game was a battle in the mid-field. It was a good game for us to be involved in.”

The win moves the Cougars into the quarterfinal round with a game Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. against the No. 1 seed CU Gold team. Rasnic said they will need to play tough to move into Sunday’s semi-finals.

WNCC volleyball falls to No. 6 Western Wyoming

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team committed 19 hitting errors and Western Wyoming Community College sophomore Chelsea Sorensen pounded home 17 kills in leading the No. 6 Mustangs to a four-set win over No. 3 WNCC in the final day of the Wyo-Braska Shootout at Cougar Palace.

Western Wyoming finished with 64 total kills compared to just 52 for the Cougars in earning the 25-20, 13-25, 25-19, 25-23 win. The loss snapped the Cougars 13-game win streak. It also was the team’s first home loss since over six seasons ago.

Sorensen, 6-foot-4 outside hitter from Riverton, Utah, said this is a huge win for the Mustang volleyball program.

“This win is really big for our team. Last year we weren’t ranked so this year being able to keep winning and moving up in the rankings is really good for us. We came into the match wanting to just play like we normally do. We needed to play our hardest and keep our skills there.”

That is what the Mustangs did in their three sets that they won. In the first set, Sorensen hammered home a kill to tie the set at 8-8 and after that the Mustangs wouldn’t relinquish the lead again.

Western Wyoming held an 8-7 lead in the second set before Fernanda Goncalves changed all that as the freshman setter served 11 straight points for a 19-8 lead to help WNCC even the match at a set a piece.

WNCC held a 12-10 lead in the third set, but it was short lived as Western Wyoming came storming back to grab a 20-17 lead and finished off the Cougars on an ace serve.

The Cougars couldn’t find any sustained momentum in the fourth set. The Mustangs’ Arielle Allen served up five points to give Western Wyoming a 11-6 lead. WNCC would come back to cut the lead to 15-12, but another service run put the Mustangs up 20-13.

WNCC wouldn’t go without a fight as Lais Soares served three points to slice the lead to 22-19. Goncalves then brought the Cougars back to within one, 22-21. Sorensen stopped the run with a kill and a service point from Kara Cotter put the score at 24-21.

Debora Araujo stopped the run with a kill and then a kill by Kathryn Stock gave the Cougars life at 24-23. But Sorensen closed the door on the Cougars comeback with her 17^th kill of the match for the win.

Sorensen said when they lost the second set, it was because they couldn’t get a good hit on the ball.

“In the second game when we lost, it was our passing and serving that we had trouble with,” Sorensen said. “After that set, the key was being able to get our kills down and to score against them.”

Sorensen and Olivera Medic each had double-double kills. Sorensen had 17 and Medic had 12. Medic also had 19 digs.

Sorensen said this was a good tournament for them.

“We played well in the tournament,” she said. “There were some teams that we should have played harder against but altogether we came together as a team and worked and played hard. It was good.”

Araujo finished with a double-double for the Cougars with 22 kills and 12 digs. Araujo also had six blocks. Stock also chipped in 12 kills and nine digs, while Soares had nine kills, two blocks, six digs and five points.

Also for the Cougars, Ariel Austin had six kills and four blocks; Tania Torres had three kills and nine blocks; Goncalves had two blocks, eight digs, 12 points, and 40 set assists; Kuulei Kabalis had three points, 13 digs, and Emily Hoehn had six digs and four points.

WNCC, 19-3, will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to McCook Community College before returning home to face Otero Junior College, Lamar Community College and Trinidad State Junior College Thursday through Saturday.

Cougar women fall to CU White in tourney

BOULDER, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team couldn’t find the back of the net in the first day of the CU-Boulder soccer tournament Friday in Boulder, Colo.

The Cougars fell 1-0 to the University of Colorado White team in a game that WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said his team was unlucky in scoring goals.

Both teams went scoreless in the first half. CU finally cracked the back of the net off a corner kick on a shot that Rasnic described as pure luck.

Rasnic said his team outshot the CU team, but couldn’t get the equalizer to go into the net.

“We had a couple balls hit off the cross bar and we had a couple of good shots in front of the net, but we couldn’t get anything to go in.”

The Cougars will try to rebound Saturday at 9:45 a.m. when they face the Colorado State University Green team. If they win that contest, they will more than likely play later that day in the top 12 tournament. A loss will send the team into a contest on Sunday.

Cougar volleyball team picks up three more wins

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team ran their winning streak to 13 as they picked up three more wins Friday in the second day of the Wyo-Braska Shootout at Cougar Palace.

The third ranked Cougars topped No. 9 Laramie County Community College 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18; and then Yavapai (Ariz.) College 25-20, 25-19, 25-14, before sweeping past Northwest (Wyo.) College 25-17, 25-13, 25-20.

The Eastern Wyoming College Lancers went 1-2 in the Wyo-Braska Shootout in which they co-host with WNCC. The Lancers defeated Trinidad State 25-16, 25-13, 25-20 before falling to Lamar Community College 14-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-18. The Lancers finished off the second day by falling to Yavapai in four sets 25-20, 17-25, 25-22, 25-18.

The tournament wraps up Saturday with three matches at each site beginning at 10 a.m. WNCC will look for win No. 20 as they face No. 6 Western Wyoming Community College at noon at Cougar Palace. The Lancers will face Dodge City Community College at noon at Torrington.

WNCC’s three wins was highlighted by strong play, both offensively and defensively. Kuulei Kabalis, who had 25 digs against Northwest Wyoming, said they played well defensively as a whole.

“We weren’t always on but when we were, which was the majority of the time, we did awesome,” she said. “We were on our toes and we were ready to go. We didn’t let anything drop. We just had the attitude of go get it.”

In the Northwest match, the Cougars played exceptional defense in the second set. One play stood out the most and it was when Kabalis used her shoulder to make a save and the ball ending up going over the net for a point.

“I was waiting for the ball to come and it came to me and I was ready to dig it anywhere on my body,” she said. “It came off my shoulder and it was a hard hit, but it worked for a point.”

The Cougars, after winning the first set against Northwest 25-17, took control of set two in dominating fashion as they raced to a 12-4 and 21-8 lead behind stellar defensive plays and long rallies.

Kabalis finished that game with 25 digs, but three other players also had double-digit or near double-digit digs. Kathryn Stock and Debora Araujo each had 12 digs, while Emily Hoehn had nine.

Blocking was also a big key for the Cougars in the match as WNCC had 14 assist blocks and four solo blocks. Lais Soares finished with five blocks and five kills, while Tania Torres had three blocks and three kills. Stock finished the match with five kills, two blocks, and nine points, while Araujo had 12 kills, three blocks, and 10 points.

Also for the Cougars, Fernanda Goncalves had three blocks, nine points and 23 set assists, while Ariel Austin had eight kills and two blocks.

WNCC was just as impressive in the opening two matches. One of the biggest wins for the Cougars was against No. 9 LCCC as it was hard fought by both teams. WNCC won the first set coming back from a 20-16 deficit to sting the Golden Eagles on three service points by Goncalves.

LCCC captured the second set, but the Cougars rebounded to take the third set in dramatic fashion. The Cougars trailed 23-21 before a Araujo kill gave WNCC the serve. Araujo then served three straight points and Torres put up a block to earn the victory.

LCCC jumped on top of the Cougars 10-8 before Goncalves served three straight points to put WNCC in front for good. The Cougars kept rolling, pushing the score to 23-16 on their way to the match win.

Araujo and Stock each had double-figure kills. Araujo finished with 24 kills, including five digs and five points. Stock had 12 digs and six points. Also for the Cougars, Torres had six blocks; Soares had four kills and four digs; Goncalves had 13 points, three aces, 45 set assists, and seven digs; and Kabalis had 12 digs.

WNCC was just as impressive against Yavapai College. After a first set struggle, which the Cougars won 25-20 on a Stock kill, the Cougars opened the second set with a bang as Kabalis served seven straight points to push WNCC to a 10-1 lead. WNCC went on to win 25-19 and then took the third set 25-14.

Torres and Austin were the big hitters for the Cougars. Torres finished with 11 kills, while Austin had 10 kills. Soares collected seven kills, seven blocks; Stock had seven kills, six blocks, 11 digs and five points; Mackenzie Westphal had six kills and four digs; Goncalves had five digs, 30 set assists and two aces; and Kabalis had nine points and 19 digs.

Friday’s Results

At Scottsbluff

Dodge City over Lamar 19-25, 25-27, 25-19, 25-19, 15-10; LCCC over NJC 25-19, 25-22, 25-20; WNCC over LCCC 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18; Casper over Air Force Prep 25-12, 25-16, 25-15; Casper over Lamar 25-21, 25-22, 25-23; Western Wyoming over Air Force Prep 25-20, 25-8, 25-11; WNCC over Yavapai 25-20, 25-19, 25-14; NJC over Northwest Wyoming 20-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-16; Casper over NJC 27-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23; WNCC over Northwest Wyoming 25-17, 25-13, 25-20; LCCC over McCook 25-16, 25-9, 25-13.

At Torrington, Wyo.

Sheridan over Yavapai 15-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-23; Western Wyoming over McCook 25-12, 25-10, 20-25, 25-18; EWC over Trinidad State 25-16, 25-13, 25-20; Northwest Wyoming over Seward County 25-13, 25-17, 25-17; Dodge City over Trinidad State 25-17, 25-12, 25-21; Sheridan over McCook 25-10, 25-27, 25-17, 25-23; Seward County over Sheridan 25-17, 25-18, 25-23; Lamar over EWC 14-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-18; Dodge City over Air Force Prep 25-11, 25-11, 25-18; Western Wyoming over Seward County 25-15, 25-16, 25-18; Yavapai over EWC 25-20, 17-25, 25-22, 25-18.

Saturday’s Schedule

At Scottsbluff

10 a.m. – Northwest Wyoming vs. Yavapai, LCCC vs. Trinidad State; noon – WNCC vs. Western Wyoming.

At Torrington, Wyo.

10 a.m. – McCook vs. Casper, Sheridan vs. Air Force Prep; noon – EWC vs. Dodge City.

WNCC wins 10th straight, sweeps three opponents in Wyo-Braska Invite

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball won their 10^th straight match in sweeping through their three opponents Thursday in the first day of the Wyo-Braska Shootout that is being co-hosted by WNCC and Eastern Wyoming College.

The Cougars, 16-2, opened the day by dropping Air Force Prep 25-8, 25-9, 25-8. The Cougars then swept Sheridan College 25-14, 25-12, 25-13, before dropping No. 19 Seward County Community College 25-19, 25-16, 25-17. WNCC has now won 25 straight sets.

EWC also had a successful day, going 2-1 with wins over McCook Community College 25-10, 25-11, 12-25, 25-18, and Air Force Prep 25-21, 25-6, 25-13. The Lancers finished the day by hanging tough against No. 11 Northeastern Junior College before falling 25-21, 25-22, 25-17.

Jodi Huddleston, who was moved into the starting line-up for injured Tania Torres, said the team played O.K., but they will need to pick it up as they face two ranked teams on Friday and then No. 6 Western Wyoming Community College on Saturday.

“I think we played pretty well as team, but we still have a lot of stuff we need to work on,” the Scottsbluff High graduate said. “We did a lot of different things today that was the key to winning. Serving, however, was our downfall today. If we pick it up tomorrow [Friday] we do great.”

It doesn’t get any easier for the Cougars on Friday as they face No. 9 Laramie County Community College at noon and then Yavapai at 4 p.m. followed by Northwest (Wyo.) College at 8 p.m. Huddleston, who had six blocks on the day, said the big key to wins was everybody clicking together.

“It feels like we are playing very strongly as a team and it feels great to have us all click together,” she said. “We got the win against Seward County, but playing as a team matters the most. Winning is great, but playing together as a team makes it the glue to the success.”

In the win against the No. 19 team in the nation, the Cougars were led by Debora Aruajo’s 16 kills and seven digs and five points. Kathryn Stock also finished with double-digit kills with 13. Ariel Austin also came up big with eight kills and three blocks, while Huddleston had three blocks.

Also for the Cougars, Emily Hoehn had eight points and four digs; Fernanda Goncalves had 27 set assists, five points and two kills; Kuulei Kabalis had 11 digs and three points; Sierra Schmidt had two points and seven set assists; and Tori Bozzo had two kills and two blocks.

Against Air Force Prep, Stock pounded home eight kills, had 10 points, and five digs. Hoehn finished with 13 points, four aces and 11 digs.

Also for the Cougars, Araujo had six kills, three digs, eight points and three aces; Austin had five kills; Lais Soares had three kills, seven points and two aces; Bozzo had four kills, two blocks, and two digs; Goncalves had six set assists and two aces; Mackenzie Westphal had six kills and three points; Schmidt had four digs and 14 set assists; and Sarah Hirschfeld had seven set assists and two digs.

The Cougars were just as impressive against Sheridan Goncalves finished with nine points and 20 set assists. Stock also had a good serving game, finishing with 12 points and three aces. Stock also pounded home eight kills and had eight digs.

Also for the Cougars, Araujo had 10 kills, two blocks, three digs, and five points; Kabalis had eight digs and four points; Soares had four kills, two blocks, and six points; Schmidt had nine set assists; and Westphal had three points and three kills

Thursday’s Results
At WNCC – WNCC over Air Force Prep 25-8, 25-9, 25-8; Sheridan over Trinidad State 25-15, 27-29, 25-10, 25-17; Yavapai over Casper 25-22, 25-23, 25-21; LCCC over Lamar 25-22, 25-21, 25-18; WNCC over Sheridan 25-14, 25-12, 25-13; Casper over Seward County 25-14, 25-23, 25-16; LCCC over Yavapai 25-11, 25-20, 25-16; Sheridan over Lamar 17-25, 31-29, 25-15, 25-17; WNCC over Steward County 25-18, 25-16, 25-17; Casper over Trinidad 25-8, 25-15, 25-7.

At EWC – EWC over McCook 25-10, 25-11, 12-25, 25-18; Dodge City over Seward 23-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-18; Northwest Wyoming over McCook 25-15, 25-12, 21-25, 25-21; NJC over Dodge City 25-18, 27-25, 25-15; EWC over Air Force Prep 25-21, 25-6, 25-13; Western Wyoming over Trinidad State 25-9, 25-17, 25-18; Dodge City over McCook 25-19, 25-11, 25-16; Western Wyoming over NJC 25-19, 25-15, 29-27; NJC over EWC 25-21, 25-22, 25-17; Northwest Wyoming over Air Force Prep 25-11, 25-10, 25-14.

Friday’s Schedule
At WNCC – 10 a.m. – Lamar vs. Dodge City, NJC vs. LCCC; noon – WNCC vs. LCCC, Casper vs. Air Force Prep; 2 p.m. – Casper vs. Lamar, Air Force Prep vs. Western Wyoming; 4 p.m. – WNCC vs. Yavapai, NJC vs. Northwest Wyoming; 6 p.m. – NJC vs. Casper; 8 p.m. – WNCC vs. Northwest Wyoming, LCCC vs. McCook.

At EWC – 10 a.m. – Sheridan vs. Yavapai, Western Wyoming vs. McCook; noon EWC vs. Trinidad State, Seward County vs. Northwest Wyoming; 2 p.m. – Trinidad State vs. Dodge City, McCook vs. Sheridan; 4 p.m. – Sheridan vs. Seward County; 6 p.m. – EWC vs. Lamar, Dodge City vs. Air Force Prep; 8 p.m. – EWC vs. Yavapai, Western Wyoming vs. Seward County

WNCC men top LCCC 3-2, women fall 7-2

If ever the Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team needed a win, today was the perfect time to get it.

It’s been three years since the Cougar men, who have been shut out in their last three contests, have beaten Laramie County Community College, and Wednesday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex, the Cougar men stopped both streaks with an impressive 3-2 win over the Golden Eagles.

The Cougar women couldn’t match the men’s accomplishment as Laramie County sophomore Amanda Halter had her first hat trick in leading the Golden Eagle women to a 7-2 win.

The Cougar men played one of the better matches of the season from start to finish. Miguel Leon, who scored the winning goal in the second half, said the win was much needed.

“This is a big win for us after losing a couple games, and LCCC is a rival. I think we played hard for the full 90 minutes. The second half we lose a guy, but we kept working hard and got the win.”

Wednesday’s win wasn’t no regional championship, but it felt close, especially since the Cougar men haven’t beaten the two-time defending champs for the past three years.

“This win feels great,” Leon said. “This is my sophomore year and last year we lost three games to Laramie County 1-0, and it feels good to beat them in our house.”

WNCC quickly set the tone in the match as they scored as they scored two goals in the first 19 minutes of the contest. Jose Netto scored the first goal, taking a pass from Leon just eight minutes into the match.

Eleven minutes later, WNCC went up 2-0 as Marcel Sales scored from the middle after taking a pass from Alex Ferreyra. The lead would stay that way through halftime.

Leon said the way his team came out in the first half was the difference in the game.

“We kept the focus in the first half and in the second half, we never thought that we were one man down,” he said. “We kept working hard and that was the key in the game.”

LCCC wasted little time to score in the second half. Just 30 seconds into the final 45 minutes, Casey Allen drilled a penalty kick into the back of the net to slice the deficit in half. The Golden Eagles tied the contest at 2-2 with 26:31 to play as Gulherme Andrade scored from a pass from Cord Stimpston.

WNCC kept fighting and scored the go-ahead goal with 17 minutes to play as Leon took a pass from Sales and hit a soft kick over the goalkeeper into the bottom corner of the net. Leon said he saw an opportunity and found the opening in the defense.

“I kept working to get that shot all game and finally I got it,” Leon said. “I just saw the keeper coming out and I kicked it in.”

After that, the Cougar defense took over as they stopped many scoring chances by the Golden Eagles.

Leon said the defense played well.

“The last 10 minutes of each half was kind of hard because they attacked a lot,” he said. “We kept working hard and we kicked the ball out of their end. We just focused on defense.

LCCC outshot the Cougars 19-9, but it was Jesus Alvarado’s play in net that was golden for the Cougars. The freshman from Cozad made 13 saves in net to give the Cougars their first Region IX win this year to three defeats.

Next for the Cougars is a contest against the University of Colorado Gold team Sunday in Boulder. They will then return home to face Otero Junior College in a Region IX contest on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

The women’s game was a different story for the Cougars. The game started out as a dual between two Region IX powers but later it became a one-sided contest. The Golden Eagles scored first as Monica Lubin took a pass from Emi Yamamoto just 4:15 into the contest for a quick 1-0 lead. The Cougar defense settled down and the offense came through to tie the game at 1-1 with 23:20 left in the half. Brittany McNeal had the unassisted goal as she launched about a 35-foot shot that sailed over the goalkeeper’s head right into the net.

The contest stayed tied for the next 10 minutes before Halter took control, scoring three straight goals. Her first came with 13:08 left off an assist from Cori Mizel and her second game with 11:38 left off an assist from Lubin. Her hat trick goal came with 1:30 left in the half from a pass from Ghino Kunisawa. Then, with just 30 seconds left in the half, Kunisawa scored from an assist Brittney Swensen for the 5-1 halftime lead.

LCCC wasted little time to add to the lead in the second half as Junko Honda had an unassisted goal. The Golden Eagles pushed the lead to 7-1 with 13 minutes to play as Kunisawa scored her second goal off an assist from Whitney Oney.

WNCC kept fighting to the end as their timing was inches from scoring on about five breakaways. Rachelle Tekler, who usually plays defense, was moved to the forward position in the second half and missed by inches on a goal with 12:45 to play.

Tekler, however, recorded her first goal of the season with 18.7 seconds to play from a corner kick. Jordan Lutkin delivered the ball from the corner and McNeal got a piece of the ball and rebounded to Tekler who sent it flying into the net.

LCCC outshot the Cougars 13-7. LCCC also had three corner kicks to the Cougars two. WNCC’s Jessica Taylor made six saves in net.

WNCC will return to action this weekend when they compete in the CU-Boulder tournament. The Cougars first match will be Friday evening against the CU White team. They will then face a Colorado State team Saturday morning before entering bracket play. The Cougar women will return home Saturday, Oct. 2 to face Western Wyoming Community College.

WNCC moves up to No. 3, set to host Wyo-Braska Shootout

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team was awarded for their 5-0 mark last week, including a win over previously No. 2 Iowa Western Community College, in the NJCAA volleyball national poll.

The Cougars vault four spots into the top five to No. 3, right behind No. 1 Miami Dade College and No. 2 Salt Lake Community College. Iowa Western, who was undefeated before last week, dropped from No. 2 to No. 12 in this week’s poll after losses to WNCC, Northeastern Junior College and New Mexico Military.

The competition doesn’t get any easier for the Cougars this weekend as they are set to co-host the Wyo-Braska Shootout Thursday through Saturday with matches at Cougar Palace and Eastern Wyoming College. The Cougars, 13-2 after a sweep of Casper College on Tuesday, will face four ranked teams in their seven matches of the Invitational.

The Cougars open the Shootout Thursday at noon against Air Force Prep followed by a match-up with Sheridan College at 4 p.m. WNCC finishes day one with an 8 p.m. contest against No. 19 Seward County Community College.

The schedule picks up in intensity on Friday and Saturday for the Cougars. Friday’s slate has WNCC facing No. 9 Laramie County Community College at noon, followed by Yavapai College out of Prescott, Ariz., at 4 p.m. Yavapai received honorable mention votes this week in the national poll.

WNCC will finish day two with an encounter with Northwest (Wyo.) College at 8 p.m. That contest pits former Cougar teammates coaching each other as Northwest coach Flavia Siqueira and WNCC coach Giovana Melo played together on the 2001 WNCC team.

WNCC will finish the Shootout on Saturday as they face No. 6 Western Wyoming Community College. The Cougars topped the Mustangs earlier this year in four sets at the Salt Lake invite, and then the Mustangs came back to top No. 1 College of Southern Idaho in straight sets.

Eastern Wyoming College will also have seven matches in the Shootout. The Lancers will open the Shootout Thursday at noon against McCook Community College followed by Air Force Prep at 4 p.m. and Northeastern Junior College at 8 p.m.

Friday’s schedule has the Lancers facing Trinidad State Junior College at noon, Lamar Community College at 6 p.m., and Yavapai College at 8 p.m. EWC will finish the shootout off Saturday against Dodge City Community College at noon.

WNCC’s 4 p.m. matches on Thursday and Friday can be heard on the Internet at kozy1013.com, while the 8 p.m. matches and Saturday’s noon contest can be heard on the FM dial as well as the web.

WNCC volleyball sweeps Casper College for 13th win of the season

CASPER, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team picked up their seventh straight win with a sweep of Casper College Tuesday night 25-23, 25-20, 25-17.

The Cougars, who moved to 13-2 on the year, was paced by Ariel Austin’s 12 kills and Kuulei Kabalis’ 14 digs.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo said that it wasn’t the best showing on the court, but they did the things they needed to in getting the win. The things that worried Melo the most was her passing.

“More than our serving tonight, it was our passing that I was concerned with,” she said. “I told them that if we can’t serve and pass, we can’t win against good teams and our passing was absolutely terrible. It is something that we practice every day in practice and it might be boring, but if you can’t serve and pass you can’t win. We have to get better at that.”

The Cougars opened the match on fire, taking a 7-1 lead only to watch Casper come clawing back to tie the set at 14 and then later take a 23-22 lead. After a sideout, Lais Soares served up an ace and then Debora Araujo hammered home the set winner.

Set two was just as close as neither team enjoyed more than a 3-point lead until WNCC went up 22-17 and seemed to be on cruise control. The Thunderbirds fought back as they sliced the lead to 23-19. Kathryn Stock stopped the rally with a kill and then Stock and Jodi Huddleston teamed up for a kill to earn the set win.

The third set was practically all WNCC as they raced to an 8-3 lead and moved the scored to 19-11. Emily Hoehn followed with four service points to push the lead to 23-11. Casper started a mini run, cutting the lead to 24-17, but Stock pounded home the match winner to end any comeback attempt.

WNCC saw strong play from several players. Stock finished with nine points, three blocks, seven points and seven digs; while Austin had 12 kills and two blocks.

Also for the Cougars, Mackenzie Westphal finished with five kills and five digs; Araujo had six kills, six digs, 11 points and four aces; Lais Soares had three kills and four points; Fernanda Goncalves had 27 set assists, 10 digs and two points; Kabalis had 14 digs and eight points; and Hoehn had six points.

WNCC, 13-2, picked up the win, but also lost starting middle hitter Tania Torres to an ankle injury early in set one. Melo said that Huddleston came in off the bench and did well in her place.

“We have been trying to play everybody as much as we can so when something like this happens, they will be ready,” she said. “Obviously, Jodi came in and did a good job for us.”

WNCC will have one day off before they are set to host the Wyo-Braska Shootout that begins Thursday at WNCC and EWC. WNCC will play seven matches in three days, including against four teams that have received national poll attention. WNCC will open Thursday against Air Force Prep at noon, Sheridan College at 4 p.m., and No. 18 Seward County Community College at 8 p.m.

Friday’s action will see the Cougars facing No. 9 Laramie County Community College, Yavapai (Ariz.) College, who received honorable mention votes, at 4 p.m., and Northwest (Wyo.) College, who is coached by former Cougar and Melo’s teammate Flavia Siqueira. Saturday’s action has WNCC facing No. 8 Western Wyoming Community College.

Melo said they have to be ready.

“We have to play better than this,” she said. “We will get one day of practice to get ready. We can’t take anyone lightly; we just have to be focused for every team this weekend.”

WNCC men's basketball team ranked No. 9 in Sporting News Magazine

It hasn’t taken Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball coach Russ Beck long to bring national notoriety to the Cougar program.

In just his second season, the Cougar men are picked ninth in the nation, according to the 2010-11 Sporting News College Basketball Magazine. Beck this is the first step in getting the men’s basketball program back to the national tournament.

“It really means a lot to the program. We are in the process of re-establishing WNCC men’s Basketball as not only a regional, but a National Power,” Beck said. “We are focused on bringing in championship caliber student-athletes and getting this team back to the NJCAA National Tournament. Being ranked in a national publication like the sporting news is a step in that direction.”

The ranking is compiled by long-time JUCO news writer and Topeka Capital-Journal sports writer Tony Jimenez. Jimenez listed the Cougars in the Top 10 because of Beck’s reputation of recruiting talented players.

“Beck has plenty of reason for optimism with the return of starting point guard Joe Stock and a trio of four-year-school transfers in Hauns Brereton (Northern Colorado), Preston Eaton (Utah State) and Justin Standley (New Mexico State),” Jimenez mentioned in the article.

Beck said he wasn’t totally surprised by the ranking considering he knew the talent that he had coming in.

“For us it was not a surprise. We see the ranking as a nice compliment and a nice starting point,” he said. “At this point that is all it is, a compliment. I like the fact that our guys feel urged to work a little harder and be a little more focused because of the ranking.”

Beck said while it is nice to be ranked, their ultimate goal is the national tournament.

“These guys are hungry, rankings are nice, but getting to Hutch is what everyone is thinking this year,” he said. “We have a great opportunity this season as we have a chance at hosting the conference tournament!”

The Sporting News’ ranks Howard College as the team to beat followed by Midland College, Southeastern Illinois College, Southwest Tennessee Community College and Northwest Florida State. The rest of the top 10 includes Yuba (Calif.) College, Hutchinson Community College, Connors State College, WNCC and East Mississippi Community College.

Beck believes they have the talent to be considered among the elite this year.

“This team is strong, physical, deep and talented,” Beck said. “We have a lot of interchangeable parts. We have the size and strength and I love the team’s toughness and character at this point. We are relatively young, but our chemistry is developing. Because of our depth and speed we will be able to do some things, in terms of our style of play; that we were not able to do last year. I am really enjoying this bunch and get a good feeling about what they can do if they will continue to work on and off the floor.”

Beck said the public will get a chance to see the Cougar men on Oct. 1 with a Cougar Madness after the volleyball game. The official start of practice for junior college basketball teams begins Oct. 1.

“We are gearing up for practice to start Oct 1^st, that night we will have a Cougar Madness after the Volleyball game we hope you will come be a part of it. We hope all of you in the community are gearing up to come be a part of something special.”

WNCC softball splits in Ft. Collins; defeats CSU 1-0

FT. COLLINS, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team split a pair of games Sunday in Ft. Collins, Colo., against four-year schools.

In the opener, WNCC sophomore Ashton Hughes struck out nine and allowed three hits in leading the Cougars to a 1-0 win against Colorado State University. The Cougars then came up short against the University of Northern Colorado, falling 6-3.

Hughes was simply sensational in the win against Colorado State as she was endanger of allowing a run only once – the fifth inning, but worked out of the jam with a fly out to the shortstop.

The Cougars only run of the game came in the fifth. Amanda Saldivar led off by reaching on error. She later scored on a wild pitch. WNCC also had a prime scoring opportunity in the second inning as they loaded the bases with two outs, but couldn’t get the magical hit to score any runs.

WNCC managed just one hit in the contest as sophomore Jacqui Cappuccilli smacked a double to lead off the fourth inning.

The UNC game was also a tight contest. The Bears took a 3-0 lead in the third inning and then went up 6-0 after five innings. WNCC managed a comeback, scoring once in the sixth inning. They then scored twice on three hits, including a 2-run scoring double by Cappuccilli.

WNCC will be back in action Wednesday as they travel to take on Chadron State College in Chadron. They will then compete in the Triple Crown Tournament over the weekend in Ft. Collins, Colo.

WNCC women tie Garden City, men fall to Dodge City

DODGE CITY, Kan. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams had different outcomes in their matches on Sunday.

The Cougar men fell to Dodge City Community College 1-0 as the Conquistadors scored in the 89^th minute for the win. The Cougar women had a little bit better luck, tying Garden City Community College 0-0 in double overtime.

In both contests, the teams didn’t have a huge offensive output, said WNCC coach Todd Rasnic. The women, however, had the best chances of scoring as they hit a number of shots that bounced off the posts. Rasnic said sometimes you have to be a little lucky.

“We had several scoring chances that we just blew,” he said. “In overtime, we had a good shot that went off the cross bar. We had a couple in the game as well. It was just a combination of low numbers and just getting a bit unlucky. I think the girls proved that they were going to play with some heart. I was pretty happy with some of the non-starters that stepped up and played really well.”

Rasnic said that in the overtime period, sophomore Amairani Peregrina took a pass from a mid-fielder, beat an outside defender and went one-on-one with the keeper.

“She had a nice shot that just inched a little high on the crossbar,” he said. “In addition, we played on turf, which takes a little while to adjust to. “

Overall, Rasnic said the girls played well in getting the tie.

“The girls played pretty good. We were just struggling offensively,” he said. “For various reasons, we also played the game with just 12 players, so we had one sub and they had a roster of 20 players. They ran us a lot. I thought we played well to the very end because our fitness is really good.”

Rasnic said that if they would face Garden City again, they would come out on top.

“I think if we had to play the game again, we would come out on top,” he said. “We were missing several of our starters this weekend including missing almost our entire starting midfield. That hurt us quite a bit.”

The guys lost a heartbreaker once again, falling in the 89^th minute of the contest. It was also the third start match that the Cougars have failed to score a goal. Previously they lost to Cloud County 1-0 and Otero Junior College 3-0.

Rasnic said that the offense has been inconsistent.

“We lost in the 89^th minute and that has been the story of the last few seasons,” he said. “We defend really well and we have a pretty solid defense, but offensively we have struggled. We have struggled through the middle and up top to really produce any offense that is quality. Hopefully we can get to a point where everybody is linking up well between the defense, the midfield and the forwards, and we can start connecting a little bit better.”

The Cougars will have little time to sulk on their weekend performances as they have a big Region IX battle against Laramie County Community College on Wednesday at the Landers Soccer Complex. The men’s game kicks off at 2 p.m. followed by the women’s game at 4 p.m.

“I told the boys last week that if you don’t get things turned around quickly, since the season is short, you will see a lot of 1-0 losses,” Rasnic said. “Hopefully, we will see some improvement and we will work on different things in training to help us this week.”

Otero shuts out Cougar men

LA JUNTA, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College men's soccer team dropped a 3-0 Region IX match to Otero Junior College Saturday.

The Cougars trailed the Rattlers 1-0 at halftime. WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said his team played well defensively in the first half, the only problem is they never mounted many scoring threats all game.

"Otero is a pretty good team and we played OK," he said. "The problem with the game was we didn't develop any attacking presence and we played with just 14 players."

The Cougars registered 11 shots in the game, while Otero managed 17 shots.

Rasnic said there isn't a lot to say about the game, except they needed to develop an offense attack better.

Both Cougar teams will be in action Sunday when they travel to Dodge CIty Community College. The men's match is slated for noon, while the women will play at 2 p.m. Both teams will then return to Landers Soccer Complex on Wednesday as they face Laramie County Community College in a Region IX showdown. The men's contest starts at 2 p.m. with the women's match at 4 p.m.

WNCC softball picks up two more wins Saturday in fall season

The Western Nebraska Community College softball team picked up two more wins in dominating fashion Saturday, dropping the University of Colorado 8-0 and 18-2 at Volunteer Field.

The Cougars two wins Saturday was dominated by pitching as Ashton Hughes, Aria Agle and Sarah Ward-Haddan combined for 25 strike outs in the two games.

In the opener, Hughes tossed three innings in striking out seven. Agle finished off the game striking out seven in four innings. The two hurlers allowed two hits in the contest.

The Cougars pounded out 13 hits in the opener, scoring three times in the second and four times in the fourth. Agle, Megan Bourdon, Rae-lee Tresierra, Sarah Hawryluk and Amanda Saldivar all had two hits for the Cougars.

Bourdon went 2-for-2 with a runs scored, double and RBI; Agle went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored; Tresierra went 2-for-2 with a double and RBI; Hawryluk went 2-for-4 with two doubles, run scored and a RBI; and Saldivar went 2-for-4 with a double, 3 RBIs and a run scored.

The Cougar bats were more explosive in the second game of the doubleheader as they pounded out 18 hits in scoring their 18 runs. Joclyn Stubbs had the big stick, finishing 4-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs and three runs scored.

Stubbs led off the second inning with her towering shot, which ignited the Cougars to a nine-run inning. Other big hits in the second inning, which put the Cougars up 11-0, included a double and single by Bree Bitton, and a two run-scoring single by Stubbs in her second at bat in the inning.

WNCC added more runs in the fifth inning on seven hits. Chelsi Townsend and Saldivar each had doubles in the frame.

Ward-Hadden picked up the win, throwing five innings and striking out seven. Agle tossed the final two innings, striking out four. Each pitcher allowed one run.

Bitton went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a double; Jordan Schoepflin went 2-for-3 with a run scored; Saldivar went 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored; Bourdon went 3-for-4 with three runs scored; Townsend went 2-for-5 with a triple, double, and two runs scored.

WNCC will be back in action today when they travel to Ft. Collins, Colo., to face Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado beginning at 10 a.m.

WNCC volleyball goes to 12-2 on the season with two more wins

STERLING, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team breezed through the Pizza Hut Invite without dropping a set after picking up two more wins Saturday in Sterling, Colo.

The Cougars started the day with a 25-16, 25-22, 25-10 win over Hastings College junior varsity as Ariel Austin pounded home 13 kills. WNCC then looked super sharp in a sweep over New Mexico Military Institute. NMMI topped Iowa Western Community College in the tournament as well going four sets against Northeastern Junior College.

"I thought we played well. There were a couple times where we fell apart, but we came back as a team and won both games in three," sophomore Ariel Austin said. "We came out ready against New Mexico Military. When we were watching the other teams play, they looked really good. We were ready for them and we came out strong."

The New Mexico Military contest was impressive for the seventh-ranked Cougars, who topped No. 2 Iowa Western on Wednesday. The Cougars stayed on top of their game throughout as Kathryn Stock and Debora Araujo each finished with double-doubles. Stock led the team with 15 kills and 12 digs, while Araujo had 14 kills and 10 digs.

Austin also was strong from her rightside hitting position finishing with six kills and two blocks, while Lais Soares had five kills.

Also for the Cougars, Fernanda Goncalves had two blocks, 36 set assists, 12 digs and two points; Tania Torres had 11 points and three aces; Kuulei Kabalis had 19 digs; and Emily Hoehn had four digs and four points.

WNCC was also impressive in the win against the Hastings College junior varsity No. 1 team, despite having a little bit of the hiccups in set two, which they pulled out 25-22. That contest saw Austin finish with 13 kills with Araujo getting six kills, and Torres, Soares and Mackenzie Westphal each getting four kills.

Goncalves finished with 22 set assists, seven points and two aces, followed by SIerra Schmidt with seven set assists; Hoehn with three digs and four points; Araujo with four points, two blocks and four digs; Kabalis with six points and 14 digs; and Westphal getting six digs.

Austin said that going through the Invite was a good feeling, especially how they had to fight in a couple of the sets.

"I thought we got better as a team during the tournament," she said. "I think we stayed focused and just blend, and we came out with four wins."

WNCC, 12-2, will have a big test this week. They first go to Casper College on Tuesday and then host the Wyo-Braska Shootout Thursday through Wednesday. The Cougars will face several ranked teams in the shootout, including No. 8 Western Wyoming Community College, No. 9 Laramie County Community College, No. 18 Seward County Community College, and Yavapai College, who received honorable mention status.

Austin said they will be ready for the challenges.

"We really need to focus on our blocking, our defense and staying consistent throughout the whole match," she said.

WNCC wins two at Pizza Hut Invite

STERLING, Colo.—The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team didn’t letdown after Wednesday’s big win over No. 2 Iowa Western Community College on Wednesday.

The Cougars breezed through the first day of the Pizza Hut Invite by sweeping the Hastings College junior varsity 25-17, 25-11, 25-13, and the spanking Colorado Northwestern 25-9, 25-9, 25-7 to improve to 10-2 on the season.

WNCC had a plethora of players stand out in the two contests. Against Colorado Northwestern, the Cougars tallied 17 aces as a team, led by Kathryn Stock’s seven and Tania Torres’ four. Stock finished with seven points and Torres and Sierra Schmidt both had six points.

Stock had a double-double against the Spartans as she had 12 kills and 12 digs. Also for WNCC, Mackenzie Westphal had seven kills and nine digs; Ariel Austin had five kills; Torres had three kills; Jodi Huddleston had two blocks; Sarah Hirschfeld had 13 set assists; Schmidt had 11 set assists; and Kuulei Kabalis had six digs.

Stock and Austin had huge kill games against Hasting College junior varsity No. 2 team. Each sophomore finished with 14 kills. Deborah Araujo finished with six kills, 15 digs and nine points; Torres had five kills; Fernanda Goncalves had 33 set assists, four digs, eight points and three aces; Emily Hoehn and Kabalis each had five points; Kabalis had 15 digs; and Schmidt had two points.

The Cougars, 10-2, will have two more matches today in the Pizza Hut Invite as they take on Hastings College junior varsity No. 1 team at 11 a.m. followed by New Mexico Military at 1 p.m. NMMI upended Iowa Western Community College Friday in the tournament.

No. 7 WNCC drops No. 2 Iowa Western in four sets

Debora Araujo pounded home 25 kills and the No. 7 Western Nebraska Community College Cougars knocked off unbeaten and No. 2 ranked Iowa Western Community College in four sets in an electrifying Cougar Palace Wednesday evening.

The Cougars dominated the first two sets 25-20, 25-16, before Iowa Western won the third 28-26. WNCC captured the fourth set 25-22 on an ace serve from Gering’s Sierra Schmidt to move to 8-2 on the season, while Iowa Western drops to 14-1.

“I saw a completely different team than what we have been. I think that was our best performance so far,” WNCC coach Giovana Melo said. “The bench was talking the whole time, the people on the court were doing their job, and that was something that we were working on and that was to play as a team no matter what.”

The Cougars were playing on all cylinders pretty much in the first two sets and it was because the team was playing within their game. Melo said her team played well against a team that featured talented hitters.

“They do have some really good hitters but we were able to play really good defense and play disciplined like we have been working on in practice,” she said. “Our serves were pretty goodl and that is one big improvement over our past matches. This was a great game and we can enjoy it tonight, but we have to move on and look forward to the next ones.”

Iowa Western coach Darren McBroom said this was their first test of the season.

“It was a great match with two very solid teams. It was a great match and we ended up on the short end tonight, but that happens,” he said. “We did play pretty well since this is our first real test against another nationally ranked program. This was a good test for us. We played well, but not well enough.”

The Cougars took an early 7-3 lead after Fernanda Goncalves served six points to put WNCC up. The Cougars pushed the lead to 17-10 before the Reivers made a comeback, slicing the lead to 22-20 on a Mariana Lisboa kill. Araujo came back with two big kills and Goncalves had two straight ace serves to give WNCC the first set win.

The second set was back and forth early on as Iowa Western tied the set at 6-6 on a Lisa Gregerson kill. After a sideout, Kuulei Kabalis served four straight points, aided by two Araujo kills to put the Cougars up 11-6. WNCC pushed the lead to 16-8 on a Tania Torres kill.

Iowa Western fought back slicing the lead to 20-16 on a Lisboa kill, but a missed serve gave WNCC the service and Goncalves served four straight points, including an ace serve on the set winner.

Both teams went back forth early on in the third set before the Reivers started to put some distance between them and the Cougars as Heidi Lloyd served six straight points for a 20-14 lead. Iowa Western kept playing strong going up 23-18 before an Araujo kill changed the momentum.

Araujo then served three straight points to slice the deficit to 23-22. A block by the Reivers’ Tarrah Sweet gave Iowa Western set point, but the Cougars got a sideout. Kathryn Stock and Lais Soares then teamed up on a block to tie the set at 24-24. Moments later, WNCC had match point after an Araujo kill, but Iowa Western got the sideout and Mariangel Perez served out the third set for Iowa Western.

The fourth set was a nail-biter throughout as neither team held more than a 3-point lead. WNCC finally started to gain momentum as Araujo hammered home two straight kills to put the Cougars up 19-16. Iowa Western fought back slicing the lead to 21-20 and later 23-22. WNCC got the serve back and Schmidt served up an ace for the match winner.

The Cougars had a plethora of stars in the game. Araujo had a double-double with 25 kills and 11 digs, while Stock and Austin each had nine kills. Stock also had three solo blocks, 10 digs and seven points. Goncalves also had a double-double, finishing with 41 set assists, 15 points and four aces.

Iowa Western was paced by Cook with eight kills and 4.5 blocks, while Lisboa had 11 kills and Gregerson had seven kills. Sweet finished with 16 digs and 15 set assists, while Bailey Lupardus had 24 set assists.

McBroom said he was proud of the way his players fought back in the third set, but they just ran out of gas.

“I am proud of our kids in coming back in game three and not losing heart,” he said. “We kept coming back in game four but we ran out of gas and couldn’t get it done. Tonight was a good test for us. We got to see a lot of things that we need to improve upon.”

Iowa Western, 14-1, will continue its road trip as they face No. 11 Northeastern Junior College on Thursday before taking part in the NJC Invite over the weekend. The Cougars will next be in action Friday and Saturday in the NJC Invite when they face Hastings College junior varsity and Colorado Northwestern on Friday night.

WNCC softball open fall season with sweep of North Platte Community College

NORTH PLATTE – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team opened the fall portion of their season in impressive fashion in registering a doubleheader sweep of North Platte Community College on Tuesday in North Platte.

WNCC sophomore Ashton Hughes went three innings and struck out seven and sophomore Megan Bourdon had a grand slam in powering the Cougars to a 10-0 win in the opening game. Jacqui Cappuccilli and Sarah Hawryluk each had home runs in game two as the Cougars pounded out a 12-1 win.

Game one saw Hughes and freshman pitcher Amanda Jones sizzle from the circle. The two combined for 12 strike outs in tossing the 3-hit shutout. Hughes allowed just one hit in her three innings of work, while Jones game up two hits and struck out five in her for innings of work.

The second game was another impressive performance offensively and defensively. Sarah Ward-Hadden and Aria Agle combined to shut down the North Platte bats. Ward-Hadden went three innings, scattering six hits, striking out two and allowing one run. Agle was very impressive in her four innings of work, allowing one hit, walking two and striking out three.

Offensively, the Cougar women were ripping the leather off the ball. Hawryluk connected on a 2-run home run and then Cappuccilli went 2-for-2 with a solo home run and two RBIs.

Bourdon continued her hot hitting by going 2-for-2 with two runs scored, two walks and two RBIs; while Rae-lee Tresierra had a double and five RBIs.

WNCC will be back in action on Saturday when they host the University of Colorado in a doubleheader at Volunteer Field beginning at 11 a.m.

WNCC soccer teams fall to Cloud County on Sunday

CONCORDIA, Kan. – The Western Nebraska Community College soccer teams dropped a couple of close contests Sunday to Cloud County Community College.

The Cougar women fell 2-1 to the Thunderbirds while the men fell 1-0.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said that both teams played hard, but just fell short. He especially was pleased with how the women’s team played as the majority of them played with injuries.

“We came out expecting a battle and that is what we got from both teams,” he said. “On the women’s side, we came out, scored, and went up 1-0. I knew from the beginning it wasn’t going to be enough to win the game. Right now physically, we are beat up. We have a great deal of injuries on the team and it is injuries that will nag players for awhile. Until we get everyone healthy, we will continue to struggle a little bit.”

The women grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first half as Brittany McNeil scored in the 27^th minute off an assist from Ashley Gleason. The Cougar women couldn’t hold the lead as the Thunderbirds scored in the 55^th and 72^nd minute to register the win.

The women were outshot 3-2 in the first half and 10-4 for the game. Rasnic said he has to commend the ladies for their willingness to fight through the end.

“I have to command the ladies because they have put up with a lot of my frustration and the nagging injuries that we have had,” he said. “They really battled hard. I take my hat off to them with the way they fight. We have not quit and that could be the thing that we need as we get closer to the end of the season.”

Rasnic said the men played one of its best matches of the season despite the loss. Cloud County features 26 international players out of the 31 on their roster.

“It was the best game we played all season and I also thought the weekend was really good,” he said. “They regrouped after the loss to LCCC. They came out with the desire and effort that I thought they would.”

Rasnic said the change in the style of play was a major difference in how his team played this weekend. WNCC defeated Pratt Community College on Saturday 3-2 in overtime.

“We changed our system to accommodate the players a little bit better and now we are in a position to move forward and be a bit more threatening in the middle and final third of the field,” he said. “We will take it a game at a time and see where we head. They seemed to have turned the corner and as long as we can stay healthy.”

Both teams battled to a 0-0 tie at intermission. Cloud County scored the only goal of the contest in the 61^st minute for the win. The Thunderbirds out shot WNCC 8-3.

WNCC will return to action this weekend on the road. The men will face Otero Junior College in a Region IX contest on Saturday, before both teams face Dodge City Community College in Kansas.

WNCC will host No. 3 Iowa Western in home-opener on Wednesday

It will be a showdown of two Top 10 teams when the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team takes on Iowa Western Community College Wednesday at Cougar Palace.

The Reivers enter the contest ranked No. 3 in the NJCAA polls with a 13-0 record, while the Cougars are sitting at 7-2 and ranked No. 7 in the polls. First serve of the Top 10 battle is slated for 7 p.m.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo is excited for the home-opener.

“On top of them being a really good team as well as really good competition, Iowa Western has been playing really well. Plus, they are ranked above us,” the third-year head coach said. “It is one of the biggest matches that we have had at home. It will be a really good match and I hope the crowd comes and supports us.”

The match-up pits two teams that have been in the national tournament hunt the past four years. In 2006, Iowa Western captured its first national title by defeating WNCC in the finals in West Plains, Mo. The next year, the Cougar women captured the national championship over Miami Dade. The past two seasons, the Cougars have finished third at the national tournament while Iowa Western finished fourth in 2008 and fifth last season.

Both national powers have started this season well. The Reivers have been enjoying plenty of success so far after running through the competition of the Raider Classic in Columbus over the weekend by not dropping one game. The Reivers, in the 13 matches, have lost just one game so far and that was to Midland Lutheran College.

Melo said Iowa Western will be a stern test. The Reivers feature three players 6-foot or taller.

“They have a lot of options and they have really good hitters,” Melo said. “They run a 6-2 offense, so they have three hitters in the front the whole time. It is hard to defend a team like that. They have a lot of power and we will have to try to stop them.”

The Reivers have seven sophomores on the roster, including 6-2 Suzy Ni Xu of China, 6-0 Brianna Cox of Bothwll, Washington, 6-0 Aubrey Cook of Lizton, Ind., , 5-10 Mariana Lisboa of Brazil, 5-10 Tarrah Sweet of Roswell, N.M., 5-9 Lacey Alexander of Cedar, Iowa, and 5-7 Kylee Moore of North Platte.

Cook is the team’s leading hitter with 81 kills so far this season followed by Lisboa with 74 and Alexander with 69.

Melo said they will need to be consistent to come away with a victory against a talented team like Iowa Western.

“One thing I have been talking about is that if we have to be consistent through the whole match,” she said. “If we can do that, then we can be in the game against them and hopefully get a win. But, our team has been really inconsistent so far and if we are going to be inconsistent against really good teams, we won’t be able to finish. I think we will have to be really consistent especially with our serves, as well be disciplined to beat them.”

The Cougar women should be well rested for the Top 10 showdown after having a week off. The Cougars last played last Tuesday against Eastern Wyoming. Melo feels the break came at the right time.

“I think it was a really good time for us to have this weekend off,” she said. “I think they will come in a little bit refreshed and ready to go, and ready to start again. I think it will be good for us. It was a good time to give them a little break.”

After Wednesday’s home opener, the Cougars will travel to Sterling, Colo., for the Pizza Hut Classic. The Cougars will have four matches beginning with facing the Hastings College Junior Varsity No. 2 team at 6 p.m. Friday followed by Colorado Northwestern at 8 p.m. Saturday’s schedule will see the Cougars face Hastings College Junior Varsity No. 1 team at 11 a.m. followed by the New Mexico Military Institute at 1 p.m.

Iowa Western will travel to Sterling, Colo., to face Northeastern Junior College on Thursday before competing in the Pizza Hut Invite as well.

Volleyball Notes:

l Wednesday’s home opener is “Help Spike Hunger Night” where individuals who bring in a non-perishable food item will get $1 off their ticket price. All donations go to the Valley Mobile Food Pantry.

l Season tickets for the upcoming season can now be purchased at the Cougar athletic offices. Volleyball season passes are $30 for an adult, $18 for a student. Volleyball and basketball season tickets are $75 for an adult, $40 for a student, or $85 for a reserved seat-back chair. Senior and family passes area also available for volleyball and basketball season. Senior passes are $35 while a family pass is $300.

All-sport passes, which includes softball, baseball and soccer on top of volleyball and basketball games, are also available. The prices include $50 for a senior citizen, $100 for a student, $175 for an adult, and a family pass for $400. The family pass includes two adult and two student tickets.

Tickets can be purchased in person in the athletic office located around the top of the gym or by calling 308-635-6151.