(picture is of freshman Debora Araujo)The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team will get another stern test when it competes in the Salt Lake Invitational Friday and Saturday.
The No. 5-ranked Cougars, who rolled to four victories last weekend on Council Bluffs, Iowa, will face No. 3 Salt Lake Community College on Friday at 2 p.m. and No. 1 College of Southern Idaho Saturday at 1 p.m.. WNCC coach Giovana Melo her team is ready for the challenge.
“I think we are ready to go out and compete,” she said. “We are very young and we have a lot to learn. I don’t know much about the other teams. We played Central in Spearfish but it was just a scrimmage, so I guess we are going to get there and see.”
The Cougars will also face Central Wyoming College (5-0) on Friday at noon and Western Wyoming Community College (3-2) Saturday at 9 a.m.
The Cougars performed well last weekend in winning four matches, while dropping just one game. The Cougars rolled through Hutchinson Community College and MSU-West Plains, two teams that competed at last year’s national tournament, without dropping a game.
WNCC also defeated Marshalltown Community College and then got by Jefferson College in four games in the tournament’s final match.
The Cougars were led by freshman Debora Araujo, who averaged 10 kills a match in the four wins. Araujo had 13 kills against Jefferson, 11 against MSU-West Plains and 10 against Hutchinson.
The team also put up a big block, finishing with 29 solo blocks for the tournament. Freshman Lais Soares finished the weekend with an astonishing 13 solo blocks, including eight in the Jefferson College win.
WNCC also has strong defensive play as a number of Cougars notched nearly 20 digs in a match. Sophomore Emily Hoehn had 19 digs and Araujo had 19 digs in the win against Hutchison. Sophomore Kuulei Kabalis then had a stern performance against Jefferson, finishing with 19 digs.
With all the positives, Melo said that there is room for improvement.
“We still have a long ways to go and we are a work in progress,” she said. “We have had some great moments in every area but now we need to learn to be a bit more consistent.”
After this weekend’s matches, the Cougars return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Torrington, Wyo., to face Eastern Wyoming College in a match that begins at 7 p.m.
The Cougars first home match is set for Wednesday, Sept. 15 when No. 6 Iowa Western Community College comes to Cougar Palace. That night is “Help Spike Hunger Night,” where anyone that brings a canned food item will get $1 off the admission price. All food donations will go to the Valley Mobile Food Pantry.
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