WNCC sweeps NJC in home finale

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team made the seven sophomores final match at Cougar Palace a successful one as they swept past No. 9 Northeastern Junior College in impressive fashion Thursday at Cougar Palace.

The Cougars Debora Araujo finished with a double-double of 14 kills and 12 digs to powering No. 4 WNCC team to a 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 victory. It was the Cougars 17^th straight victory and 36^th win of the season. The win also sewed up the No. 1 seed in next week’s south sub-region Region IX tournament in La Junta, Colo.

Kuulei Kabalis, one of the seven sophomores, had another extraordinary night in the back row. Kabalis finished with 19 kills, including several pancake or one-armed saves. Kabalis now has 914 career digs and is just one of 15 Cougar players to amass 900 kills.

Kabalis said this team came ready to play.

“Honestly, we have been working really hard in practice, making sure that we come out strong every single game no matter who we play,” the sophomore from Hawaii said. “It is a big accomplishment for us [to stay strong]. We are really proud and excited for regionals. If we can accomplish this, we probably can accomplish anything that we put our minds to.”

The Cougars, in fact, have strung together two well-executed matches this week. On Tuesday, they swept No. 14 Iowa Western Community College and Thursday night, they handled NJC with somewhat ease.

“It is showing right know how good we can be in that we won these two past games,” Kabalis said. “If we keep working hard, we will make it to nationals and prove we can be number one.”

The NJC contest, however, wasn’t no gimme. The two squads hooked up in a top 10 battle that was tightly contested. In the first set, there were 10 ties, the last one at 16-16 as NJC’s Alyssa Muller had a service point. But a Plainswomen missed serve – NJC had seven missed serves in set one – gave the Cougars the momentum and they ran with it.

Araujo and Ariel Austin each had monster kills to push the lead to 19-17. After a sideout, Austin and Tania Torres pounded home two more kills for a 21-17 lead. WNCC never miss fired after that as Emily Hoehn served the final point.

NJC started the second set off well, grabbing an 8-7 lead after Alexa Kippes served four straight points. Kathryn Stock stopped the run with a kill and then served three points for an 11-8 lead. Both teams kept battling back and forth like two top 10 ranked teams.

WNCC held an 19-17 lead when Lais Soares hammered home a monster kill. Stock then served four points, including two aces for a 24-17 lead. Araujo finished the set with another monster kill for the win.

The Cougars started strong in the third set, but watched the Plainswomen come back to tie the set at 7-7 on a Karen Rivatto ace serve. After a missed serve, Kabalis served three points on two huge kills from Araujo for a 11-7 lead. WNCC pushed the lead to 15-10 on a Torres and Stock block, and later went up 19-14 on two Hoehn service points on their way to the sweep.

One of the keys to the match was the defensive intensity the Cougars had on the floor as they stayed in a number of long rallies and then winning those back and forth bouts. Kabalis said this team will do anything to keep the ball alive, and they definitely did that in the team’s final regular season match.

“We just have that mindset to just get everything and anything,” she said. “So, if we have to run to the bleachers, we will run to the bleachers. We won’t give up on anything. It was great tonight. No one gave up.”

Araujo finished with 14 kills, 12 digs, four points and two blocks; while Stock had seven kills, 12 points, three aces and nine digs. Also for the Cougars, Austin had four kills and two blocks; Torres had five kills and five points; Lais Soares had two kills and six blocks; Fernanda Goncalves had four blocks, 22 set assists and six points; Kabalis had 19 points digs and three points; and Hoehn had six points.

WNCC will next be in action next Friday and Saturday at the Region IX tournament. For now, Kabalis will savor the win after she and the other sophomores finished playing at Cougar Palace in style.

“I am getting chicken skin right know just thinking about having played my last match here,” she said. “It has been a really good two years on this court with all the girls and teammates. I love them all. I just enjoyed it.”

WNCC volleyball set for final home match of the season on Thursday against No. 9 NJC

The Western Nebraska Community College and Northeastern Junior College volleyball match Thursday night will not only be a match-up of two top 10 teams, but it will be the final game that seven sophomores will be playing in Cougar Palace.

Thursday’s final regular season contest before regionals is set for a 7 p.m. first serve. The contest will also be “Yellow-Out” night as individuals are asked to wear yellow to brighten up the palace.

The night will also be special for the seven sophomores, Mackenzie Westphal, Ariel Austin, Kathryn Stock, Sierra Schmidt, Tania Torres, Emily Hoehn, and Kuulei Kabalis. The seven have been a part of a two-year record of 77-7.

Schmidt, a Gering High graduate, said there could be some tears shed before and after the game as they get ready to embrace their final match at Cougar Palace with great warmth.

“I think it will be pretty good to play that last home game just because of the fact that it is the last time to play on our home court and for some of us, it will be the last time we will be playing altogether,” Schmidt said. “I think it should be a pretty intense game with everybody getting into it.”

The Cougar women, fresh off their sweep of Iowa Western Community College on Tuesday, come into the contest ranked No. 4 in the nation with a 35-3 record. The Cougars have won 16 straight matches, their longest of the season.

NJC, who enters with a lofty No. 9 ranking and a 28-5 record, came oh-so-close of upending the Cougars last week in Sterling. WNCC, however, stung the Plainswomen in five sets 25-17, 21-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-9.

Schmidt said she is hoping they bring the same type of energy to the court they did Tuesday night in Council Bluffs.

“I am hoping the intensity from that game carries on for tomorrow [Thursday]. We need to keep up the intensity like we did against Iowa Western because we did a good job of staying consistent throughout the whole match.

But, it is more important to play their game and not worry about NJC.

“You can always expect, but you can’t always predict, and what I am hoping for is that we just play a tough game,” Schmidt said. “I don’t really care how [NJC] plays; I just hope our team plays well since it is our last home game and the last chance for some of us to prove what we got because not everyone will be able to go to regionals or nationals to watch us, so it is really our last showing.”

For sure Thursday final home game will have tears shed because of the friendships and memories that the players have encountered.

“Usually coach does something really nice for us and at the beginning of the game we are sometimes worked up,” Schmidt said. “But, we can just play for her, ourselves, and the crowd since it is the last chance to play at home for them all.”

Schmidt said that she has accumulated a lot of memories and made new friends in her two years at WNCC. As for her playing days next year, it is still up in the air.

“I am not sure yet if I will play or not. It just depends if I get a scholarship somewhere. If I do, I definitely consider it,” she said. “But, I don’t think it will ever be my last night playing for sure because I will probably go on and do some other stuff with volleyball if I don’t go on to play at another college somewhere.”

No. 4 WNCC sweeps No. 16 Iowa Western

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The Western Nebraska Community College started a little slow, but warmed up in dropping Iowa Western Community College in straight sets 25-23, 25-22, 25-19.

The victory gave the fourth-ranked Cougars their 35^th victory of the season. It was also the team’s 16^th straight win. WNCC also swept its last three opponents after claiming a five-set win against Northeastern Junior College last Tuesday. The 16th-ranked Reivers fall to 39-6 on the season.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo said the team came ready to play.

“The girls came out ready to play,” the third-year head coach said. “We were ready and a lot has to do with us having a good road trip. We enjoyed the day together that we had. We did start a little slow, but they were ready to play and stayed strong.”

The Cougars trailed in the first set 11-6 before fighting back to knot the score at 15-15. The Cougars kept clawing away at the Reivers before capturing the set 25-23. Melo said the key in the set was the girls not losing focus.

“I really don’t know why it takes a little bit to get going,” she said. “I think they like to give us a little bit of a heart attack. What I liked was they did play really hard.”

The second set was nip and tuck throughout as neither team. Iowa Western led by three early on a number of occasions. WNCC never lost site as they hammered away with some clutch kills from Ariel Austin, Kathryn Stock, and Debora Araujo to take a 19-17 lead.

The Cougars kept strong as they captured the second set 25-22.

Fernanda Goncalves started the Cougars off well in the third set, serving four straight points. Iowa Western came back to slice the deficit to 9-7 before WNCC picked up the pace once again behind solid play.

Kathryn Stock put the Cougars up 22-16, their largest lead of the match. Both teams then traded sideouts until Araujo finished off the match with her 15^th kill for the 25-19 win.

Melo said the thing that impressed her the most about the win was the team played together the entire time.

“I liked that we played the whole time,” she said. “Even though we were behind, we still stay focused in the game and we were playing as a team every single point. We have been working on it the entire season and it is coming around.”

Araujo led the Cougar attack with a double-double, finishing with 15 kills, 15 digs, and three points. Lais Soares pounded home double-digit kills with 12 and three blocks.

Also for the Cougars, Stock finished with nine kills, four digs and five points; Ariel Austin had seven kills; Tania Torres had six kills and seven points; Goncalves had 28 set assists, two kills, two blocks, two aces, and nine points; Kuulei Kabalis had 10 digs and three points; and Emily Hoehn had six points.

WNCC will finish the regular season on Thursday when they host Northeastern Junior College at 7 p.m. That contest will be the last home match for the Cougar sophomores. The Cougars will then compete in the Region IX tournament Nov. 4-6 at La Junta, Colo.

WNCC women ranked 18th in NJCAA basketball pre-season poll, men open season in one week

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team had a hard-luck season last year, falling in the quarterfinals of the Region IX tournament. This year, however, could be a different story according the NJCAA pre-season rankings that were released Monday morning.

The Cougar women, 24-8 a year ago, are pre-season ranked No. 18 in the country. Defending Region IX champions Casper College enters the 2010-11 campaign ranked No. 3 in the nation in the NJCAA preseason poll. Gulf Coast Community College is the pre-season No. 1 team followed by Central Arizona, Casper, Copiah-Lincoln and Monroe Community College.

WNCC women’s coach Dave Harnish said it doesn’t matter where you are ranked now, it is the end of the season that matters the most.

“We don’t know what we have and I think the biggest thing is to find out how the team competes, not only in a scrimmage or a game,” he said. “To be a top 20 team, you have to do a lot of things well. One of them is being able to compete hard on a nightly basis. The pre-season outcasts are based basically on talent. As we saw last year, we were ranked high and had the talent, but we never could put it together or have that competiveness atmosphere. For all teams early in the year, you really don’t know what you have and the same thing with rankings, you don’t know what you have until you go out and play games. We will learn where we should be in the rankings.”

Unlike the women, the men’s basketball team finds themselves unranked in the NJCAA pre-season polls after being ranked No. 9 in the Sporting News Magazine poll. Men’s coach Russ Beck said that his team is preparing for the season as usual and isn’t too concerned right now about the rankings.

“With the first NJCAA poll or any poll really like the Sporting News poll, it all is based on what people think you have,” he said. “A lot has to do with the team’s success the previously year or years past. You can’t take a lot out of a pre-season poll because no one has done anything yet. We did have a chance to see Casper and they look like a pretty good team. Sheridan has a good team, but I feel like our team is right up there with those guys. It gives us something to work for. It is not about where you start, but where you finish.”

Casper College is the only Region IX team ranked on the men’s side, coming in at No. 30. Midland College starts out the season at No. 1 followed by Howard College, North Idaho College and Northwest Florida State College. WNCC will play a couple of ranked teams in November, facing No. 14 Indian Hills Community College at home over the Thanksgiving break, as well as playing No. 24 College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho.

The men’s team will open the season in one week when they travel to Kyle, S.D., to take on Oglala Lakota College on Nov. 2, while the Cougar women open the season Nov. 5-6 at home. The women will have two pre-season scrimmages coming up when they face Metro State in Denver on Friday and the Chadron State Wednesday, Nov. 3 at Cougar Palace.

Harnish said his squad is making headways through the first few weeks of practice.

“It is just like last year where we have 12 freshmen and it is always difficult when you are dealing with a lot of freshmen and not a lot of returners. The steps are small,” he said. “But, I think the kids have enthusiasm and excitement. They have gotten better every day, which is helpful.

“Only time will tell what our strengths and weaknesses will be, but I would hope that we are a little bit more athletic and more up tempo then we were the last two years. That is something we are going to try to stress. It depends how the kids react. We have a couple scrimmages coming up and we will find out a little bit more about ourselves.”

The women return four players back from last year’s squad in 6-foot-7 Thais Pinto, 5-10 Carolina Alves, 5-9 Tiffany Moorer and 5-4 Shelby Campbell of Hemingford.

Beck said his team is ready to open the season.

“They are pretty excited for the season to start. I think after the scrimmages ended in Casper on Saturday, I think they realized that we are about a week away from opening it up,” he said. “They put in a lot of hard work. We have done a lot of conditioning, a lot of lifting, and a lot of people have commented at the jamborees from college coaches of how strong our guys look. That is a good compliment to Coach Bonner and to the guys. If we play smart, hard and together, I think this team has a chance at some very good things.”

Beck sees a lot of potential after watching his team perform at several jamborees throughout October. The Cougar men went to a jamboree in Casper, Wyo., over the weekend.

“I have seen in the early scrimmages that we will be able to do things pressing-wise that we weren’t able to do last year because of depth,” he said. “Our guard play has also been good. We really have missed Marko [Kovacevic], who has been out with a broken hand for five weeks. He came back this weekend, but he is a little rusty. It will take him a little bit of time to get that feel back. But, we had guys like Justin Omogun and Aaron Turner really step up in his absence. They helped solidify us in the post. I think our team defense has been getting better and offensively we are still learning our system a little bit because we have a lot of freshmen.”

The one that stands out with this year’s team is the number of players that make plays. Something they lacked last season.

“We have more guys that can make plays with the ball than last year,” Beck said. “Last year we had some very good skilled guys with Paco and Geddes, who could get us a basket when we needed it. This year we are more even across the board. We have a little bit better depth and I think that will help us stay fresher. I think we may have made Paco and Geddes play a lot of minutes last year, I think that wore on their bodies as the year went along.”

Both the men’s and women’s team open the home season Nov. 5 and 6. The women will face Little Big Horn College on Friday and then Hastings College junior varsity on Saturday. The men will take on Buckley Air Force Base on Nov. 5 before hosting Oglala Lakota College on Nov. 6.

“We are progressing, which is good, but we are definitely still green,” Beck said. “We are trying to learn some little things that will help us have success in the long run. But, I am pleased with effort. We have gotten more and more competitive the deeper we got into practice and a few of our scrimmages.”

The women are also getting excited for the season opening games that are about 10 days away.

“I think every team is excited for their first home game and to get the year started,” Harnish said. “It will have been almost five weeks since the start of practice, so everybody is excited whether it is coaches or players for the first game.”

WNCC sweeps Casper College for 15th straight win

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team made Think Pink night a successful one as the Cougars ran their winning streak to 15 matches with a straight set win over Casper College 25-15, 25-18, 25-18 Saturday night at Cougar Palace.

The win was the Cougars 15^th straight victory since falling to Western Wyoming Community College Sept. 25, and once again, the received a balanced offensive attack.

Debora Araujo paced the team with a double-double of 10 kills and 14 digs. Araujo said they played alright.

“The team played good and together,” the freshman from Brazil said. “I think we need more energy and we need consistency. But, overall, I think we played good but we can play better.”

WNCC needed to play well against a scrappy Casper team that hung with the fourth-ranked Cougars. The two teams never swayed from more than a 2-point lead early. WNCC finally started to put some distance between them as Fernanda Goncalves had three straight points for a 14-8 lead lead.

Aruajo added to the lead with two points along with kills from Tania Torres and Ariel Austin. Emily Hoehn then went on a four-point scoring spree to push the lead to 23-12 before an Araujo kill ended the first set.

Casper came out strong in the second set, grapping a 6-5 lead on a service point from Susana Cricchi. WNCC changed things after Aruajo went on a four-point scoring spree for a 13-8 lead. The Cougars went up 16-9 and later 20-13 before the Thunderbirds’ Mo Bunney brought Casper back to 20-16. But, kills from Torres and Aruajo pushed the score to 22-6 and a Torres and Austin block gave the Cougars the set win.

Casper started the third set the same way as the second, vaulting to a 9-6 lead on strong serving from Cricchi. Kathryn Stock changed everything as the sophomore outside hitter served five straight points for a 13-9 lead. Later, Torres served two points for a 20-13 lead before Tori Bozzo hammered home two kills to put the Cougars up 23-15 and the third set win.

WNCC totaled 42 kills as a team with just eight hitting errors. Stock finished with 10 kills, nine digs and seven points; while Austin had seven kills and two blocks. Also for the Cougars, Torres had six kills, three blocks and four points; Lais Soares had five kills; Goncalves had two kills, eight digs, 24 set assists and five points; Kuulei Kabalis had 14 digs; Emily Hoehn had four digs and five points; and Sierra Schmidt had two points and three set assists.

WNCC, 34-3, will have two more regular seasons remaining. The Cougars will travel to face Iowa Western Community College on Tuesday before hosting Northeastern Junior College on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the final home game for the sophomores.

Araujo said they will need to play strong, especially against NJC, who they beat on Wednesday in a five-set thriller in Sterling, Colo.

“We need to play a good game because NJC is really good,” she said. “We need to work hard to have a chance to win the game. As long as we play together, we have a lot of potential with this team.”

WNCC women fall in soccer finals

The Laramie County Community College women’s soccer team captured their second straight Region IX title with a 5-0 win over Western Nebraska Community College on a drizzly Saturday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex in the Region IX playoffs.

LCCC, with the win, will now host the district tournament Nov. 5-6. WNCC also earned a berth in the district tournament via their runner-up finish.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said they knew they faced an uphill battle against a the No. 10 ranked Golden Eagles.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match coming in. They have a very strong team; probably the best team I have ever seen them have,” Rasnic said. “We came in, tried a few different things, and had a bit of possession early on about 15 to 20 minutes in. But they certainly overpowered us with their possession in the midfield and their strong attacking play. We struggled on getting our offense organized, and once we got it organized and then started penetrating and getting a few shots, it was a bit too late in the match.”

LCCC wasted little time in scoring the first goal of the title match as Melissa Ledesma took a pass from Shino Kunisawa just four minutes in. WNCC came back with a couple of scoring opportunities of their own, just missing on a shot eight minutes in the game and later 15 minutes into the contest.

The Golden Eagles held onto the 1-0 lead until late in the first half when Amanda Halter outran the defense, going one-on-one with the goalkeeper and putting the ball into the net for the 2-0 halftime lead.

LCCC continued its strong offensive possession, netting its third goal of the contest just seven minutes into the second half. Monica Lubin scored from an assist from Halter. Both teams played tough from there, before the Golden Eagles scored another goal in the 64^th minute as Emi Yamamoto took a rebound and tapped the ball into net.

The Golden Eagles final goal came in the 80^th minute as Halter scored her second goal of the game off an assist from Yamamoto.

WNCC had three corner kicks to the Golden Eagles’ four corner kicks.

The positive that Rasnic saw from the match was his squad gained some more experience against a talented squad like LCCC.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game and we feel like the girls got some more experience playing at a good level,” he said. “We are pleased that the girls have advanced and will be involved in district playoffs. The other teams that we play, I feel we have a very good shot at hanging with and beating, so we are looking forward to that time.”

WNCC will play the winner of the Kansas Region, which could be either Hutchinson or Johnson County. By virtual of winning the regional tournament, LCCC will face North Idaho College. The district playoffs begin Nov. 5.

Rasnic thinks they should be ready, especially if they can get Daisy Rosales back, who missed the last three games with an injury.

“Hopefully we will get Daisy back because she adds a lot of speed and physical presence to the midfield,” he said. “We are looking forward to the districts and hopefully things will improve as we continue to train here over the next couple of weeks. We will put a different team on the field when we play in the district playoffs.”

WNCC soccer women down Western Wyoming, move into Regional Title Match on Saturday

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team is one win away from a regional championship after topping Western Wyoming Community College 4-1 in the semifinals of the Region IX playoffs Friday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex.

The Cougars, who outshot the Mustangs 20-7, will face the top-seeded Laramie County Community College Golden Eagles, who topped Northwest College 8-0, Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex. The winner of the regional tournament will host the District Playoffs Nov. 5-6, while the runner-up will get an at-large berth.

WNCC freshman Kristi Blicharz said they played well except they need to finish their scoring opportunities.

“We came out really strong and put together a lot of connecting passes with a lot of supportive, which made us win our game,” she said. “Getting those connecting passes is important, especially against a team like this with a high defense, it is easy to get caught offside. If we play a lot of connective passes and supportive play, we can work through their defense. That is how we got our goals.”

The Cougar women literally controlled the Mustangs from the opening kick as they had five prime scoring opportunities within the first eight minutes of the contest. Finally, the Cougars made the most of their offensive dominance as Brittany McNeil scored the first goal of the game as she took the pass around mid-field and outrun the defender to put the ball in to the back of the net with 35 minutes left in the first half.

WNCC kept playing well offensively as they had a number of scoring opportunities, but misfired on several chances. The Cougars finally netted their second goal as McNeil delivered a corner kick to the middle of the box, where Kristi Blicharz headed the ball straight into the net for a 2-0 halftime lead.

The Cougars didn’t let up in the second half. Just five minutes into the final period, Ashley Gleason took a pass from Jordan Lutkin and scored from the outside on a fading shot that found the top corner of the net for the 3-0 lead.

Twelve minutes later, Tiffany Snethen recorded a goal as she took a rebound off the goalkeeper and had an easy tap in for the fourth goal of the match. Lutkin had the assist on the goal.

Western Wyoming finally scored with under two minutes to play as a Caitlyn Chesnovar scored off a rebound off WNCC goalkeeper Jessica Taylor for the easy tap in.

What won the game for the Cougars was playing smart on the field.

“It was important for this team to play smart because we played them twice before, the first time they won and the second time they won,” she said. “So it was important for us to play smart because we know this team and how they do.”

WNCC’s trek to a regional title won’t be easy as they face a talented Laramie County squad, who is ranked No. 10 in the nation.

Blicharz said they have to come ready to play, which includes making the most of their scoring opportunities.

“We definitely need those shots on goal that we had today to make sure we capitalize on because we will be getting very limited shots on goal against LCCC,” she said. “We will need to put away the chances that we will get.”

WNCC end soccer season with 3-1 loss to Otero at regionals

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team entered the Region IX playoffs as the underdog, and despite playing tough, the Cougar men came up short to Otero Junior College, falling 3-1 in the opening game of the playoffs Friday morning at the Landers Soccer Complex.

The Cougar men allowed two first-half goals and couldn’t capitalize on a number of scoring opportunities in the match. The Rattlers advance to play Northwest College, a 2-1 overtime winner over Laramie County Community College. Saturday’s title contest between the two first-year programs will kick off at noon at the Landers Soccer Complex.

“The way we played is non-reflective of the score even though 3-1 is a difficult loss,” WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said. “We did the right things today except we didn’t execute in front of the goal and when you don’t execute and finish, you end up with the results that we had.

“That [not finishing] has been the story of our season, but with a group of 18 and 19 freshmen, the boys have improved a lot over the season and they will come out next year and be stronger. We know what we need to fix and where we need to recruit for next season.”

Both teams had 10 shots in the contest, except it was the Rattlers that found the back of the net a few times more than the Cougars. Rasnic still is proud of his guys for playing a full 90 minutes.

“Overall, they played with the attitude that I was looking for of never giving up and playing the full 90 minutes. We certainly did that today and I was proud of the guys,” he said. “If we could have finished a few more of our scoring chances, we could have made this more of a game. Hats off to Otero; they have done a great job of bringing in a first-year program and putting some quality players on the field. We are not going to take anything away from them, they worked hard to get where they are at.”

Otero’s Karamba Janneh scored the first two goals of the game. His first came off an assist from Nolan Gilvar at the 28:46 mark of the opening half. Janneh scored his second goal eight minutes later off a pass crom Adrian Carrillo.

The Cougars had three great scoring chances to score in the first half after falling behind 2-0 as one shot hits the goal and bounces away. WNCC also had another shot that had eyes for the net, except Otero goalkeeper Sean Bogardus made a sterling save.

Otero came out of the second half and quickly made it 3-0 scoring just 1 minute, 40 seconds into the half. Janneh delivered a pass to Emmanuel Kollie for the goal.

WNCC came right back and scored their first goal of the contest as Marcel Sales took a pass from Jose Netto and squarely planted the ball in the back of the net with 41 minutes remaining. WNCC continued playing well offensively, but couldn’t get another shot into the net.

While each team had 10 shots on goal, the Cougars finished with four corner kicks to the Rattlers one.

Rasnic said his team lacked composure in front of the net today.

“We might have been a bit of unlucky, but also it was a bit of inexperience in the ability to finish on the final ball,” he said. “We lacked a little bit of composure when we had opportunities in front of the keeper and ended up playing the ball directly to the keeper. We have to do better with those opportunities because those opportunities don’t come around much in a game. If you don’t capitalize and you can’t be consistent at finishing in front of goal, you will have issues. It is one of those things where we have to work on in the recruiting process for next year.”

WNCC finishes the season at 5-12 on the season.

In the other semifinal contest, both Northwest and LCCC battled to a scoreless halftime. The Golden Eagles scored first in the second half as Cord Stimpson netted the first goal. Northwest kept battling before knotting the score at 1-1 with six minutes remaining as Legoloi Crawford scored off a Adrian Elicerio assist to force overtime.

The Trappers needed just 20 seconds of overtime to move into the title contest as Leonard Mederios took a pass from Jonathon Chavez and went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and angled the ball into the net for the winner.

fWNCC win thrilling five-set contest against Northeastern Colorado

STERLING, Colo. – Deborah Araujo finished with 20 kills and 21 digs, and Tania Torres finished with 10 blocks in helping the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team escape Northeastern Junior College in a five-set thriller 25-16, 21-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-9.

The match-up between the No. 4 Cougars and No. 11 Plainswomen was all that as the Cougars were down two sets to one and down 15-13 in the fourth set. Torres said the way they played in the fourth and fifth set to win the match was all the will to win.

“It was our energy and the fact that we wanted it,” the 6-1 middle hitter from Puerto Rico said. “We put everything we had on the court. We played with our heart and we didn’t give up at any moment. That was the difference. In the sets that we lost, we kind of gave up on the ball. We weren’t playing together, our energy had dropped, and we were in that roller coaster of going up and down. But those two last sets, our energy was unbelievable and that is why we won.”

Literally, the Cougars were completely taken out of the match in the second and third sets as the Plainswomen dug practically every ball and hit through the block of the Cougars frontline. NJC’s turn around in those two sets was dramatic because the Cougars completely dominated the first set, winning 25-16.

In the next two sets, the Plainswomen played like a top five team, led by sophomore Karen Rivatto. Rivatto finished with a double-double of 18 kills and 19 digs with the most of those kills coming in those two sets.

NJC started the fourth set on a tear, grabbing a 7-4 lead and later leading 15-13. Both teams went back and fourth like two prize fighters until Scottsbluff’s Mackenzie Westphal served up two points to put WNCC up 21-19. It didn’t last as NJC fought back tying the set at 21-21 and later at 22-22. That was when NJC had a service rotation mistake that gave WNCC the point and the momentum.

Araujo then hammered home a thundering kill and served the final point to force a decisive fifth set.

Ataujo started the fourth set with four straight service points, before the Plainswomen fought their way back to cut the deficit to 8-7 on a Rivatto kill. Things changed in a heartbeat after that as Araujo hammered home a kill and Fernanda Goncalves served three points for a 12-7 lead. WNCC kept the momentum going as Araujo had another clutch kill before Ariel Austin hammered the final kill for the Cougars 32^nd win of the season.

Torres said that this win helps by showing how the team can comeback after facing adversity.

“Losing the second and third sets was more that our minds were off,” she said. “It wasn’t our frustration, it was we weren’t focusing and we weren’t playing together. The crowd being loud also played a factor because we weren’t used to that and they got us out of our game. But we came back.

Winning that fourth set showed that we never give up.”

Several Cougars stepped up in different situations. Araujo pasce the team with 20 kills, five blocks, 21 digs, three aces and 10 points; while Austin had eight kills and four blocks;

Also for the Cougars, Kathryn Stock had six kills, nine digs, three aces and six points; Lais Soares had five kills and three blocks; Torres had four kills and 10 blocks; Goncalves with 37 set assists and 15 points; Kuulei Kabalis with 27 digs; Westphal with two digs and two points; and Emily Hoehn with eight digs and six points.

WNCC, 32-3, will next be in action Friday when they host McCook Community College at 6 p.m. They will then host Casper College on Saturday in Think Pink Night at The Palace. The two sub-region rivals will meet up on the court once more as the Plainswomen come to Cougar Palace on Oct. 28.

WNCC soccer teams preparing for regional playoffs this weekend at Landers Soccer Complex

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams are entering the post-season knowing that one loss and their season is over as they prepare for the Region IX playoffs, which kicks off Friday at the Landers Soccer Complex in Scottsbluff

The Cougar men, 5-11, will open the regional playoffs bright and early at 8 a.m. when they face the top-seeded Otero Junior College Rattlers. The other men’s contest will have Laramie County Community College meeting Northwest (Wyo.) College at 10:30 a.m. The winners advance to the finals Saturday at noon. Only the Region IX winner qualifies for the district tournament Nov. 5-6 at the site of the winner of Region 1 (Arizona).

The women’s regional playoff has a little bit more at stake. The women will qualify the top two teams to the district tournament with the Region IX winner hosting the district tournament Nov. 5-6.

Top-seeded Laramie County Community College will face No. 4 Northwest Wyoming at 1 p.m. followed by WNCC, 8-8-2, facing Western Wyoming Community College at 3:30 p.m. The winners will advance to the championship match Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Both teams feel if they play to their potential, they have a chance to capture wins on Friday. Gering’s Chris Guadarrama said the men’s team has nothing to lose in the tournament.

“We are the Cinderella team and there are doubts against us,” he said. “We have to prove to a lot of people, including ourselves, that we can do it. If we can win, it will be big for us because we are the underdogs. But, this team can do it. We have a lot of good players and good talent. Once we come together as a team, we will be alright.”

The Cougar men have played well all season, just coming up short on the scoreboard. The Cougar men have suffered four one-goal losses during the season. They also had some hard-luck losses as well. This past weekend, the Cougar men fell to Western Wyoming 2-1 and then lost to 2-0 to North Idaho.

The Cougars have faced Otero twice this year, falling 4-0 and 3-0. Otero is in their first season in fielding a men’s soccer program.

Still, optimism remains high. Guadarrama said the team needs to play like they did in a 3-2 win against Laramie County back on Sept. 22 and not worry about past matches.

“We have to clear our minds and go in there thinking this is do or die,” he said. “We just have to bounce back from those two tough losses we had this weekend and play hard like we did against LCCC and Western Wyoming. We need to use those games as motivation.”

Guadarrama said the early morning start time shouldn’t affect them too much. They are entering that contest as if it was pre-season all over again when they had 6 a.m. conditioning sessions.

“When I first heard that we were playing at 8 in the morning, I said, ‘oh man,’” he said. “But we have to wake up because if we don’t wake up, it is go home. We just need to think it as pre-season. You have to give it your all – all you have.”

That is what the women’s team will also do, go out and give it their all. The women, who started the season with four straight wins, including a 1-0 overtime win against Butler Community College, have been rattled with injuries through the middle of their schedule. Most of those players are back as they head into the regional playoffs.

Leticia Lopez, a freshman forward/mid-fielder from Henderson, Nev., said this team has the makings to capture their second regional title in three years. But they need to stay focused.

“We need to stay focused and play as a team,” she said. “We need to get our combination play on track like this last weekend.”

The Cougar women seem to be back on track after going 0-5-1 during a stretch of their season where they had just 12 and 13 players available because of different injuries that affected the team. Since the return of some key players, the team has been playing well, including going 2-0-1 in their last three games, including a 2-1 overtime win over Western Wyoming and then tying North Idaho in double overtime.

Friday’s contest will not be easy, however. The Cougars and Mustangs split matches this year. Western Wyoming topped the Cougars 5-0 at the Landers Soccer Complex. Lopez said they have to play under control to win that first-round contest.

“We played them twice already in the season and they have a couple key players,” she said. “If we can shut those players down and play the way coach tells us to play with our combinations, I think we can come out with a victory. But, we just need to come out with confidence; that is really the key. We need to come out with our heads up high.”

Region IX Playoffs Schedule
Friday, Oct. 22
8 a.m. – Otero (12-2-1) vs. WNCC (5-11)
10:30 a.m. – LCCC (10-6-2) vs. Northwest Wyo. (7-4-2)
1 p.m. – LCCC (14-3-1) vs. Northwest Wyo. (3-7-1)
3:30 p.m. – WNCC (8-8-2) vs. Western Wyo. (10-7)
Saturday, Oct. 23
Noon – Men’s Championship
2;30 p.m. Women’s Championship

WNCC women tie North Idaho, men fall in team's regular season final matches

ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College men's and women's soccer team finished the regular season with different results on Sunday.

The Cougar women played tough against a good North Idaho College squad, earning a double overtime tie at 1-1. The men, on the other hand, suffered a 2-0 loss. Both teams will now host the Region IX playoffs beginning Monday.

WNCC soccer coach Todd Rasnic said that both teams played well despite the tie and loss.

"They played well considering North Idaho had a day of rest and we played a game on Saturday that went to overtime to win the game," he said. "I had to take girls off the field because they couldn't stand up because their legs were Jello and to pull out a tie was a pretty big accomplishment."

The Cougar scored first with just 7 minutes, 30 seconds gone in the contest as Brittany McNeal scored off of assists from Ashley Gleason and Jordan Lutkin. North Idaho tied the game a couple minutes later. After that, neither team would score through the rest of the regulation and the two 10-minute overtime periods.

WNCC registered nine shots on goal, while North Idaho had 13 shots.

Rasnic said he saw plenty of positives from the women on Sunday.

"We had a good all-around game. We attacked their goal and dominated them until the very end of the second half," he said. "We defended pretty much in overtime. Quite honestly, we dominated through the middle and up top. Fernanda [Acorinte] had an outstanding game in the middle as well as the other mid-fielders. Jess [Taylor] came up big in net a few times today."

The guys also did well despite playing without their centerback and playing a team that had a days rest.

North Idaho quickly got on the scoreboard scoring just 5:30 into the match to take a 1-0 halftime lead. North Idaho added an insurance run in the 53rd minute to go up 2-0.

Both teams will have four days before entering the Region IX playoffs Friday and Saturday at the Landers Soccer Complex. The Cougar men, 5-11, will face Otero Junior College, 12-2-1, on Friday at 8 a.m. The other men's game will have Laramie County Community College, 10-6-2, facing Northwest College, 7-4-2, at 10:30 a.m. with the winners slated to face each other on Saturday at noon.

The women's regional playoffs kick off at 1 p.m. with Laramie County, 14-3-1, facing Northwest Wyoming, 3-7-1, followed by WNCC, 8-8-2, meeting Western Wyoming, 10-7, at 3:30 p.m.

Rasnic said the team will be ready, but first they have to get healed up.

"We have a lot of injuries on the women's side still. Daisy [Rosales] didn't play today because she injured her ankle on Saturday. We have to get some players healed up, do a little bit of recovery work, and then we will hit the training hard for the next four days.

"But, both teams will be fine. The men's team will bounce back and play hard in the playoffs. When you have a young team, you don't worry too much as long as they come out and put a good effort on the field and we will be OK."

WNCC women top Western Wyoming in overtime, men fall to Mustangs

ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College women's soccer team was back to full strength for the first time since the opening weekend of the season and it showed as the Cougars dominated the Western Wyoming Community College soccer team in posting a 2-1 overtime win on the road.

The Cougar men also played well, but had different results as they fell to the Mustangs 2-1.

For the women, the win was important after the Mustangs stung the banged up Cougar team earlier this season at home 5-0.The two will now face each other in the first round of the Region IX playoffs on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex.

"The girls completely dominated Western Wyoming. Virtually the ball was never in our end," soccer coach Todd Rasnic said. "They got fairly lucky on their first goal because we completely dominated them."

One of the big reasons for the turnaround for the women's squad from the first time they faced Western Wyoming is because the women had all 17 players available.

"We have all 17 girls back and it makes a huge difference knowing that you have players to run in and out of the game," Rasnic said. "The girls were definitely back on. Daisy [Rosales] helped a lot, Kristy [Blicharz] got her game back on track, and Cristina [Soto] was there and did an outstanding job in playing a centerback."

It took the women a half to get warmed up as the Mustangs scored 16 minutes into the match for a 1-0 halftime lead. The second half was all Cougars as they dominated play. Blicharz got back on her scoring as she scored in the 32nd minute of the second half. Ashley Gleason and Jordan Lutkin recorded the assists on the tying goal.

The match stayed that way until the first overtime period when Blicharz planted the ball firmly in frame with a 1 minute, 30 seconds left in the period for the win. Rosales and Lutkin provided the assists on the shot.

It was also Blicharz' first multiple goal game since the opening weekend when she recorded back-to-back hat tricks. After that Blicharz was out for nearly five weeks with a leg injury.

The Cougar women out shot the Mustangs 13-6 as WNCC goal keeper Jessica Taylor recorded five saves in net.

The men also dominated the Mustangs, but were just a little unlucky on the field.

"The guys played extremely well. They just beat us on two counter attacks," Rasnic said. "As for building our final third of play, we had a lot better scoring chances, and we had much better organization. We lost through the midfield a little bit, but that was because we had some guys out."

Western Wyoming wasted little time in scoring, netting the first goal just 2:15 into the match. The score stayed that way until the second half when Wetern Wyoming scored just 12 minutes into the period to go up 2-0.

WNCC finally found the back of the net in the 65th minute as Marcel Sales scored off an assist from Harry Buerno. WNCC did score three other times, but the goals were disallowed for various reasons.

WNCC outshot the Mustangs 11-9 in the contest.

Both teams will be back in action Sunday when they face North Idaho College in Rock Springs, Wyo. It will be the team's final regular season matches before competing in the Region IX playoffs beginning Friday at the Landers Soccer Complex.

The Cougar men (5-10) enter the regional playoffs as the No. 4 seed and will face No. 1 seed Otero Junior College at 8 a.m. on Friday. The Cougar women (8-8-1) earned the No. 2 seed and will battle Western Wyoming at 3:30 p.m. The winners advance to Saturday's championship matches.

WNCC sweeps Trinidad State for 31st win of the season

TRINIDAD, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team used a balanced offensive attack in rolling over Trinidad State Junior College in straight sets 25-10, 25-14, 25-14 in a sub-region match in Trinidad, Colo. Saturday afternoon.

The 4th=ranked Cougars, finished the southern Colorado road swing with three straight wins to go to 6-0 in the sub-region and 31-3 overall. It was the Cougar's 12th straight win since falling to Western Wyoming Community College on Sept. 25.

Scottsbluff graduate Mackenzie Westphal had one of her best hitting performances of the season against the Trojans with eight kills. Westphal said they dominated the Trojans from start to finish.

"We have been working hard from starting strong from the beginning and not coming out from a slow start," she said. "We did that really well today. We had a pretty good lead from the very beginning of the game and kept the momentum up the entire match."

The Cougars, who went four sets against Lamar Community College on Friday, left little doubt who was going to win on Saturday, rolling to a 25-10 first set win. The key to the victory was eliminating those long rallies and get the point quickly.

"i thought we played really good today. We put the energy up the entire game and never let down. We had really quick side outs, which was very important in our win."
Westphal and Ariel Austin each had eight kills, while Tania Torres led the team with 12 kills and eight blocks. Tori Bozzo also stepped up with strong net play, finishing with four blocks.

Also for the Cougars, Debora Araujo had 10 digs, one ace and five points; Kuulei Kabalis had eight digs, three aces and eight points; Fernanda Goncalves had nine set assists; and Sierra Schmidt had 11 set assists.

WNCC has two sub-region contests, both with Northeastern Junior College. The Cougars and Plainswomen rolled over their sub-region competition so far this season as the Plainswomen have not dropped a set against the other south sub-region teams, while WNCC dropped a two sets to Lamar Community College.

The two teams will face each other Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Sterling, Colo. Westphal said they will have to come ready to play.

"We definitely will need to come out from the very beginning because they are a good team," she said. "It is a big rivalry and it will be a fun match, which it always is. We definitely have to come out strong with a lot of momentum because it is in their house. We will have to do the basics well like pass, serve and put the ball away."

WNCC volleyball team captures 29th win of the season

LA JUNTA, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team captured it's 29th win of the season with a 3-set sub-region win over Otero Junior College Thursday night on the road.

The 4th-ranked Cougars won 25-13, 25-15, 25-20 to move to 5-0 in sub-region play.

The Cougars had a balanced attack on the night. Kathryn Stock and Ariel Austin each had nine kills to lead the team, while Lais Soares had kills. Stock also had seven digs, Austin had two blocks, while Soares ahd two blocks. Also for the Cougars, Kuulei Kabalis had 13 digs; Tania Torres had three blocks, and two aces; Fernanda Goncalves had 22 set assists, and Sierra Schmidt had seven assists.

WNCC, 29-3 will be back in action Friday when they travel to face Lamar Community College followed by a trip to Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday.

WNCC tops EWC in straight sets

Debora Araujo and Ariel Austin combined for 26 kills and the Western Nebraska Community College Cougars swept past Eastern Wyoming College Tuesday night at Cougar Palace for their 28^th win of the season.

Araujo finished with 14 kills and 10 digs, and Austin hammered down 12 kills in giving the No. 5 Cougars the 25-18, 25-16, 25-10 victory.

“We were a little slow in the beginning and we didn’t seem to have a whole lot of energy, but after a couple of timeouts, we finally picked it up, played our game and dominated [in the third set]” Austin, the sophomore rightside hitter from Woodland Park, Colo., said.

As the match progressed the Cougars started playing better and better, both offensively and defensively. Early on, though, the Lancers were hanging with the Cougars, which was something that pleased EWC coach Verl Petsch.

“I was pleased with how we came out and took as much charge as we could,” he said. “That is what we do all year; we play up and down too much. When you have those downs, you give up too many points and it is tough to rally to come back.”

The big thing in the match is both teams put together plenty of long rallies with some nice defense. Austin said that their defense was superb on the evening as six different players finished with six more digs. Kuulei Kabalis and Araujo paced the team with 10 digs each, followed by Emily Hoehn and Fernanda Goncalves with eight digs each.

“Our defense is what we have been wanting to work on and our digging went really well,” Austin said. “We still have to work on our blocks a little bit, but overall we did well on our defense.”

EWC took an early 3-0 lead behind the serving of freshman Austin Dailey and led 6-5 on a service point by Sammie Perkins. After that, the Cougars Kathryn Stock had a kill and then five straight point to vault WNCC to a 10-6 lead. Moments later, Goncalves had three points for a 15-9 lead and never looked back.

The second set was tight at the start with the Lancers staying within two points for much of the first set, the last time at 10-8. After that, Tania Torres rattled off four straight points behind two kills each from Araujo and Kathryn Stock for a 15-8 lead.

Scottsbluff’s Mackenzie Westphal then served three straight points to push the Cougar lead to 21-10, before the Lancers made a mini-run behind two service points from Dailey and a kill from Mariah Sawyer to slice the lead to 22-14. But, kills from Torres and the final kill from Westphal gave the Cougars the second set win.

The third set was all WNCC from start to finish as Torres served six straight points to push the Cougars in front 8-1. After EWC cut the lead to 11-4, Goncalves put together a five-point service run, including a powerful kill from Austin, and two kills from Araujo for a 20-6 lead. Scottsbluff’s Jodi Huddleston finished off the match with three service points, while Westphal had the final kill of the match.

WNCC had several players that stepped up. Araujo finished with 14 kills and 10 digs, while Torres had 14 points, five aces, four kills and two blocks. Also fro WNCC, Stock had six kills, seven digs and five points; Lais Soares ahd five kills; Westphal had three kills, six digs and four points; Goncalves had eight points, 37 set assists, and eight digs; Kabalis had 10 digs, two aces, and two points; Hoehn had eight digs; Sierra Schmidt had four digs and two points; and Huddleston had three points.

The Lancers were led by Perkins with 11 kills, Welsh with 13 set assists, Dailey with 10 points and Dakota Clough with 16 digs.

The Lancers, 14-16, will next be in action Thursday when they host Casper College in a sub-regional and Wyoming Conference contest. The Cougars, 28-3, will take to the road Thursday through Saturday as they head out on their southern Colorado sub-region swing of matches with Otero, Lamar and Trinidad State.

WNCC softball team holding hitting league beginning Nov. 7

The Western Nebraska Community College softball team will be holding a competitive hitting league on Sundays through November and December.

The hitting league will be held for girls ages 12-13 and comprised of three players per team. Each team will play one game per week on Sunday nights – Nov. 7, Nov. 14, Nov. 21, and Dec. 5. Time slots for the league will be 6 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

The league is designed for softball players to work on their skills and have some fun competing against their friends. The league will be limited to 12 teams or 36 players. The cost is $40 per player.

The hitting league will be held at WNCC’s indoor hitting facility, located just south of East Overland on 2nd Avenue in Scottsbluff in Comm Shop No. 6.

Registration flyers can be downloaded from the WNCC sports website at sports.wncc.edu. For more information on the camp, contact WNCC softball coach Maria Winn-Ratliff at 308-635-6189 or at winnm@wncc.edu.

WNCC, EWC ready to battle on Tuesday

The Western Nebraska Community College and Eastern Wyoming College volleyball teams will hook up for the Highway 26 border war on Tuesday, Oct. 12. The contest is set for a 7 p.m. first serve.

The fifth-ranked Cougars, 27-3, enter the contest riding an 8-game winning streak after capturing the Ozfest Invitational with wins against Redlands, Lamar, Seward County and Midland College.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo said the areas they need to work on when they face the Lancers is serving and passing.

“We need to work on serving and passing because I thought our hitting and blocking were really good this past weekend,” Melo said. “Our serving and passing broke down a bit.”

The Lancers enter the match with a 14-15 record, having split a pair of weekend sub-region contests against Central Wyoming and Northwest College. Before that, though, the Lancers won three straight matches, including a five-set win against Division II ranked North Platte Community College and then a five-set, sub-region win against Sheridan College.

Melo said the Lancers have plenty of talent and her team cannot overlook them.

“They are scrappy and they have improved a lot since the last time we played them,” she said. “EWC has been playing well and they always come with hunger while playing at Cougar Palace against us.”

The Highway 26 match-up will also feature a high school contest beforehand. Lingle-Ft. Laramie and Leyton will play before the Cougars and Lancers hit the floor. The high school varsity match is slated for a 5:30 p.m. start, with junior varsity action starting at 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday’s action will also be dorm parent appreciation night as WNCC will recognize all the volleyball dorm parents.

WNCC wins Ozfest Invite, Goncalves named tournament MVP

LIBERAL, Kan. -- Western Nebraska Community College's Fernanda Goncalves picked up the Most Valuable Player honors at the Ozfest Invitational in helping the Cougar volleyball team win all four of its matches over the weekend in Liberal, Kan.

The fifth-ranked Cougars, after topping Redlands Community College and Lamar Community College on Friday, were just as impressive on Saturday. The Cougars swept through Seward County Community College 25-21, 25-10, 25-15, before taking down Midland College 25-20, 21-25, 25-14, 25-16 to improve to 27-3 on the season.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo said they played well on Saturday.

"In the second game against Midland, we were winning pretty good and then Midland came back on us and won the second set," Melo said. "But the girls did a nice job of focusing back in and coming out strong in the third and fourth sets in beating them.
The Cougars win against a good Midland squad was because of a strong blocking game against Midland's two Polish hitters. The Cougars had 25 assisted blocks in the four-set win against the Chaparrals, led by Lais Soares and Goncalves with eight assisted blocks each. Tania Torres also chipped in six assisted and one solo block in the win. Torres was also named to the all-tournament team as a middle hitter.

WNCC won the first set against Midland 25-20 as Kathryn Stock hammered home the final point. The second set was a tussle as the Cougars held a big lead, but also had plenty of hitting and service errors that gave Midland the advantage as they evened the match at 1-1.

The Cougars responded in set three with a different attitude and completely dominated play, including three ace serves from Deborah Araujo as the Cougars never was in jeopardy of losing, winning 25-14.

The final set was close at the beginning until Torres served two straight points, including an ace to push the Cougars lead to 17-11. WNCC pushed the lead to 21-14 on a Araujo kill and then Goncalves finished off the Chaparrals with three straight points.

Melo said their blocking was a big reason why they topped Midland.

"The biggest thing we try to do against the big hitters is take away their tendency. Most of the time we take away what their strongest shot is and let our defense play around them. Today was a really good blocking day. There was some trash-talking on the field and Midland thought they would take our players out of the game. But it actually got them fired up and . I never seen our team this fired up against a team of this caliber."

Goncalves finished with 31 set assists in the match, including two ace serves, two kills, five digs, and eight blocks. Araujo had a double-double with 14 kills, 13 digs and five aces; while Stock had eight kills and 12 digs. Also for the Cougars, Ariel Austin had 10 kills; Torres had five kills; Kuulei Kabalis had nine digs and an ace; Emily Hoehn had 14 digs and an ace; and Lais Soares had three kills and eight blocks.

WNCC was just as dominating in its opening game on Saturday against Seward, sweeping the home team in three sets. Goncalves finished with 34 set assists, six digs and two aces. Araujo also collected a double-double, finishing with 11 kills, 10 digs and two aces. Also for the Cougars, Austin had eight kills; Torres had seven kills; Soares had four kills; Stock had 13 kills; Hoehn had 21 digs; and Kabalis had five digs.

The Cougars were also impressive on Friday as well as they swept through Redlands and Lamar Community Colleges. The Cougars topped Redlands 25-20, 25-17, 25-21 as Stock had a double-double of 12 kills and 13 digs, followed by the Cougars topping Lamar 25-12, 25-19, 25-10 behind Araujo's double-double of 16 kills and 12 digs.

All-tournament performer Torres finished Saturday's matches with 12 kills and three aces.

In the match against Redlands, Stock led the way with 13 digs and 12 kills, while Araujo had 12 digs, nine points and 12 kills. Also for the Cougars, Austin had eight kills; Lais Soares had seven kills; Torres had five kills; Goncalves had 33 set assists; Hoehn had 18 digs; and Kabalis had 15 digs.

WNCC was just as dominating against Lamar as Araujo had 12 digs and 16 kills, followed by Stock with 10 digs, six kills and 12 points. Also for the Cougars, Torres had eight kills and two aces; Austin had seven kills; Soares had seven kills; Hoehn had 17 kills; Kabalis had 10 digs; and Goncalves had 34 set assists.

WNCC, 27-3, will next be in action Tuesday when they host Eastern Wyoming College beginning at 7 p.m. at Cougar Palace. The contests can be heard on the radio and Internet at kozy1013.com. The contest will also be video-streamed live via Ustream.

WNCC volleyball picks up two more victories

LIBERAL, Kan. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team captured their 25^th win of the season with sweeps over Redlands Community College and Lamar Community College at the Ozfest Invitiational on the campus of Seward County Community College.

The Cougars opened the invitational with a 25-20, 25-17, 25-21 win over Redlands as Kathryn Stock had a double-double of 12 kills and 13 digs. WNCC then rolled over Lamar 25-12, 25-19, 25-10 as Debora Araujo had a double-double of 16 kills and 12 digs.

WNCC will be back in action Saturday at the Ozfest Invite as they face Seward County at 10 a.m. and Midland College at 2 p.m.

Tania Torres, who finished the two matches with 12 kills and three aces, said the team kept their energy up through both matches.

“We did pretty good overall as a team. We stuck together and had pretty good energy,” the sophomore middle hitter from Puerto Rico said. “Although the last set of the first game [against Redlands] we let go a little bit, we still came back and showed that we have pretty good energy. We have to keep working hard and not go into that rollercoaster of going up and down. We have to be more consistent every single time. We did that in the last game against Lamar.”

Torres said the way they played against Lamar – in dominating fashion – is the way the team should be playing all the time.

“We did really good against Lamar. We were really loud and we were really consistent,” she said. “We were really disciplined and that is how we have to play every single time, every single game.”

Against Redlands, Stock led the way with 13 digs and 12 kills, while Araujo had 12 digs, nine points and 12 kills. Also for the Cougars, Ariel Austin had eight kills; Lais Soares had seven kills; Torres had five kills; Fernanda Goncalves had 33 set assists; Emily Hoehn had 18 digs; and Kuulei Kabalis had 15 digs.

WNCC was just as dominating against Lamar as Araujo had 12 digs and 16 kills, followed by Stock with 10 digs, six kills and 12 points. Also for the Cougars, Torres had eight kills and two aces; Austin had seven kills; Soares had seven kills; Hoehn had 17 kills; Kabalis ahd 10 digs; and Goncalves had 34 set assists.

Torres said Saturday’s competition will be tougher and they have to be ready to play.

“Both of them are pretty good teams,” she said. “They are coming for us and they want to beat us. We have to come strong and play really smart. We have to play together as a team.

WNCC softball players walk to school with Northfield Elementary students during International Walk to School Day

More photos of the event located at http://wncccougars.smugmug.com/2010-11-Cougars-in-the/Softball-and-Northfield-Walk/14072256_gJs3m#1036393856_Ls8Y9

The Western Nebraska Community College softball team participated in International Walk to School Day by walking to school with youngsters from Northfield Elementary in Gering early Wednesday morning.

“It was a fun experience,” freshman Mariah Faifer of Albuquerque, N.M., said. “The kid’s excitement and conversations of sweet nothings made my day.”

The Cougar players walked with the students from three different locations around the school. Bused students were dropped off on Country Club road, while other students were met by a school official and Cougar softball players about two or three blocks from school.

The softball players said it was worth getting up by 7 a.m. and participating in a community event such as this.

“It was a lot of fun and the kids were so freakin’ adorable,” Sarah Ward-Hadden, a freshman from Hayward, Calif., said. “I think it helps and betters the community when we work or help the younger kids. The kids had fun, too.”

International Walk to School Day was founded in 1997 as a way to bring community leaders and children together to build awareness for communities. The event used to be a one-day event, the first Wednesday of October, but lately the event has grown to a month-long celebration. Last year, students and parents from over 3,500 U.S. schools joined millions of Walk to School Day and Month participants worldwide.

Northfield and Lincoln Elementary in Gering, as well as St. Agnes in Scottsbluff registered to take part in the Walk to School Day. The Northfield walk was organized by Northfield physical education instructor Jennifer Schwartz.

Gering mayor Susan Weideman also walked to school with the youngsters, and afterwards, proclaimed October as Walk to School Month. Each student that walked to school was also presented a pair of shoe laces.

Schwartz said that every Wednesday in October will be Walk to School Day at Northfield Elementary.

Jocely Stubbs, Ward-Hadden and Faifer said that they never experienced anything like this in grade school.

“My mom wouldn’t let me walk to school,” Ward-Hadden said. “She said it was too dangerous.”

Faifer said she walked to school a few times, but nothing like she encountered Wednesday morning with groups of people.

“I walked to school a few times when I was in elementary school, but never with a group of people, or for any cause like this,” she said.

Stubbs, a freshman from Roosevelt, Utah, said this was not only was beneficial for the youngsters, but also for the players as well.

“I think that being involved in the community is important for both -- us softball players and the community,” she said. “This helps us get to know everyone who lives here in Scottsbluff.”

Faifer agrees.

“When you work with kids and get involved in the community, there is a sense of neighborly love,” she said. “You learn to appreciate the people who surround you.”

WNCC women top Northwest 2-1, men fall 4-2 to Trappers

POWELL, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams split Region IX matches against Northwest College on Wednesday in Powell, Wyo.

The Cougar women scored two second half goals to register a 2-1 win over the Trappers. The men weren’t as lucky, watching the Trappers scored twice with under 10 minutes to play to get a 4-2 win.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said the women’s team needed the goals to stop a 3-game slide where the Cougars have failed to score a goal.

“The women played pretty good,” he said. “They were under a great deal of pressure with the higher altitude up here and that was a little tougher for them. We played fairly consistent with the way we have been playing. Of course, we didn’t finish a lot of our chances. We didn’t have any major breakdowns today. I thought we did a nice job there.”

The Cougar women outshot the Trappers 11-3 for the game. Northwest’s only score came in the 27 minute as they knocked in a penalty kick to take a 1-0 lead at halftime, despite the Cougars getting six shots on goal.

The second half saw the women convert on those missed first-half scoring chances. Kristy Blicharz, in her second match back after sitting out the past five weeks with a leg injury, opened the scoring for the Cougars. Blicharz, who tallied back-to-back hat tricks in the team’s first two matches of the season before the injury, took a pass from Fernanda Acorinte to knot the score in the 52^nd minute.

WNCC took the lead with just three minutes to play as sophomore Jordan Lutkin scored the winning goal off an assist from Ashley Gleason.

The Cougar men, who have won their past two contests over Western Wyoming and Iowa Western, found the going not to their liking in falling 4-2. WNCC started the contest started the match off in roaring fashion as Marcel Sales scored off an assist from Miguel Leon in the 13^th minute. The Trappers came back in tying the score at 1-1 in the 29^th minute.

Northwest opened the second half by going up 2-1 with a goal in the 58^th minute. The Trappers kept the lead until Sales connected on a penalty kick in the 79^th minute to knot the score. Northwest kicked home the two go-ahead goals shortly after to take the win.

Rasnic said his team battled the altitude and field conditions the best they could.

“The guys played well and they continued playing hard. They gave a full effort,” he said. “We got a couple of goals, but we struggled to consistently to build an attacking play. We will need to improve upon that. Overall, it wasn’t a bad day for them. They fought through the altitude. Defensively we looked strong. Giving up the free kick inside the box was pretty major.”

The Cougar women, 7-8-1, will be back in action Sunday when they host the York College junior varsity in a scrimmage at the Landers Soccer Complex. After that, the Cougar men and women will wrap up the regular season when they travel to Rock Springs, Wyo., Oct. 16 and 17 to face Western Wyoming Community College and North Idaho College.

The two teams will then host the Region IX playoffs Oct. 22-23.