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.”
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