WNCC men fall short against No. 25 Sheridan College

                The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team gave the No. 25-ranked Sheridan Generals all they wanted Tuesday night at Cougar Palace.

                In the end, though, the Generals late charge was enough to stop the Cougars’ upset bid, claiming an 86-84 victory. The loss was the Cougars third straight, and fourth straight at home.

                WNCC coach Russ Beck said his team made a strong comeback and just came up on the short end.

                “We started out better in the game and that was our main focus in the first five minutes of the game, so it was neck to neck. We let them get a little bit of a separation their in the middle part of the first half. But, we did battle back. It seemed that we got a little tired. They beat us on a few hustle plays to end the half, which was very frustrating. I thought we came out in the second half and had good fire, good energy, and we were attacking the hoop. We just came up a little bit short.”

                The Cougars trailed 49-43 at halftime as the Generals scored four points late points to take the 6-point lead.

                WNCC came out in the second half with a different mentality and, behind the play of guard Aamir Kelliehan, the Cougars took their first lead of the contest at 57-56 with 14:57 left in the game. Kelliehan scored seven straight points to help WNCC grab a 60-56 lead, including a driving dunk.

                WNCC kept excelling on all cylinders as they held a 66-61 lead on a Justin Omogun dunk and then was up 68-63 on a Raul Delgado bucket. Sheridan made a drastic charge, scoring the next six points to regain the lead at 69-68 on a Rolands Narkis 3-pointer.

                The lead changed hands a couple times until Sheridan’s Lamong Prosser, the 6-foot-7, 240 pound freshman took matters in his own hands, scoring six straight points for an 84-78 lead. Prosser finished the contest with 17 points to lead the Generals.

                WNCC battled back as Kelliehan made two free throws followed by a bucket by Kovacevic. Kelliehan sliced the Sheridan lead to one, 85-84 with 39 seconds to play. The Generals ran the clock down before Kendrick Morse made 1 of 2 free throws with 12.2 seconds to play. WNCC had a chance to tie the game, but missed the front end of a one-and-one with five seconds to play to end the dramatic comeback attempt.

                “It never comes down to a free throw at the end of the game because we had other opportunities to win the game,” Beck said. “We had 19 turnovers in the game. We are a young team, but we have to cut that down.”

                WNCC had plenty of bright spots in the contest, including out rebounding the Generals 26-25 and shot a blistering 89 percent from the free throw line compared to 61 percent for Sheridan. The Cougars also shot 63 percent from the field, but were just 1 of 8 from beyond the arc. Sheridan, on the other hand, was 6 of 19 from the long-range arc.

                Beck said they couldn’t find an answer for Prosser, who played the last five minutes with four personal fouls.

                “We played a little bit better and defensively we made some adjustments,” he said. “No. 44 [Prosser] is a load for Sheridan. He is a good. We had a hard time getting stops when he touched the ball down the stretch.”

                WNCC had five players finish with double figures. Omogun led all scorers with 21 points followed by Kelliehan with 17, Hauns Brereton with 12, Justin Standley with 11, and Kovacevic with 10.

                WNCC will finish out the first semester this weekend when they compete in the Central Wyoming Classic where they will face Salt Lake Community College and Central Wyoming College.

                “When I looked at the schedule, I knew that starting with the CSi game through the Salt Lake and Central Wyoming game that it was going to be a killer road. But it is like we are on the bench press; we are throwing a lot of weight on there right now and trying to get stronger.”

Sheridan (8-0)                   49 37 – 86

WNCC (8-4)                        43 41 – 84

SHERIDAN

Khion Sankey 16, Omar McDade 12, Kendrick Morse 5, Max Glover 10, Jermaine Lippert 6, Rolands Narkis 8, Jarrell Crayton 12, Lamont Prosser 17.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Mike Peltz, 7, Preston Eaton 2, Justin Standley 11, Hauns Brereton 12, Raul Delgado 4, Aamir Kelliehan 17, Marko Kovacevic 10, Justin Standley 21.

WNCC men fall to Williston State in first day of Thanksgiving Classic

Williston State College didn’t have any ill effects from a 10-hour bus trip Thursday. In fact, the Tetons blistered the net for 52 percent and lead from start to finish in handing the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team their second straight home defeat 94-79 Thursday night in the first day of the Thanksgiving Classic at Cougar Palace.
                The Tetons wasted little time in taking control, zipping out to an 8-0 lead to start the game on 3-pointers by Blake Nash and Derik Hawkey. WNCC coach Russ beck said that quick start by the Tetons set the tone for the rest of the game.
                “We lost this game in the first 10 minutes of the game,” Beck said. “Hauns was 0-for-6 in the first half, and a lot of the shots we were taking were not going from the inside out. We probably touched the post just two times in the first half. When we were able to make our run [in the second half] we were able to throw the ball into the post and work inside out and we were pretty effective when we did that. Unfortunately we had some calls that got our big people that we could throw it in to into foul trouble and had to bring them back out of the game. That is when their lead started to grow again. It hurt us when Marko and Justin had to come out of the game. We need to be a little bit more disciplined and not put ourselves in position to get in foul trouble.”
                Beck gives Williston a lot of credit in getting the win.
                “Give them credit, they came in and played hard. They drove 10 hours today and got off the bus and came in and kicked our tail.”
                The Cougars, after that initial 8-0 run by Williston State, did come back slicing the lead to two points on several occasions in the opening half. WNCC trailed just 20-16 after a technical foul shot. The Tetons, however, bounced back going on a 10-0 run to up the score to 30-16 and pushed the lead to 41-28 at intermission.
                The Cougars started their comeback in the first minutes of the second half. WNCC went on an 8-0 run behind five points by Justin Omogun and a 3-pointer by Joe Stock. The Cougars gut the deficit to a single point, 49-48 on a Hauns Brereton 3-pointer and later two free throws.
                The inside play of Omogun and Marko Kovacevic kept dominating as Omogun had another bucket and then Kovacevic slammed home a dunk to cut the lead to 54-52. After a 3-pointer by Nash, the Tetons started widen the lead once again, going on a 12-1 run to take a 69-53 lead.
                WNCC kept fighting, even in foul trouble, slicing the lead to 80-69 on a 8-2 run. Williston State kept the Cougars at bay as they connected on 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch to hand the Cougars their second defeat of the season.
                Beck said his team didn’t have that same killer instinct they had over the weekend or even the Central Wyoming loss on Nov. 16.
                “I didn’t feel this was a game similar to the Central Wyoming game because we didn’t play all that physical,” he said. “We didn’t get on the floor for a loose ball until 15 minutes into the game and we didn’t do a good job boxing out.”
                Williston State had four players in double figures, led by Nash with 32 points, including four 3-pointers. The Tetons also out-rebounded the Cougars 47-28, as well as converting 28 of 43 free throws to WNCC’s 14 of 26 free throw shooting.
                Beck said Williston State is a good ball club.
                “They have a good coach. They have good players. They have a good point guard,” he said. “They have all the pieces, but I guess we are trying to discover which team we are, the team that beat CSI or the team that doesn’t play with a whole lot of energy.”
                WNCC had four players finish in double figures, paced by Justin Standley with 17 points. Also hitting the double-digit column was Brereton with 14 points, Omogun with 12 points (all in the second half), and Stock with 10.
                WNCC will look to rebound Saturday when they face a 9-1 Indian Hills team that got by Eastern Wyoming College 68-62 in the early game.
                “That will be a big game and we will see if we can bounce back and get after it a little bit,” Beck said. “Indian Hills has a great coach, great ball club, great program, and we have our work cut out for us.”
                The Thanksgiving Classic continues Friday with three games. The Eastern Wyoming women will face Oglala Lakota College at 3 p.m. followed by the Indian Hills and Williston State men at 5 p.m. The WNCC Lady Cougars will finish off the day at 7 p.m. by taking on Williston State. Action on Saturday begins at 1 p.m. with four games. Saturday’s festivities include the a bounce house for the youngsters during the 5 and 7 p.m. games.

Williston State                  41 53 – 94
WNCC (8-2)                        28 51 – 79
WILLISTON STATE
Perry Thaddeus 11, Derik Hawkey 4, Marc Price 1, Nick Markovich 13, Blake Nash 32, Derek Detrick 15, Terrance Motley 8, Pierre Nakada 5, Moriba Defreitas 6.
WNCC
Hauns Brereton 14, Raul Delgado 3, Aamir Kelliehan 4, Marko Kovacevic 4, Brady Mason 1, Justin Omogun 12, Mike Peltz 6, Justin Standley 17, Joe Stock 10, Aaron Turner 8.

WNCC women remain unbeaten with win over Williston State

                The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team remained perfect on the season with a complete game performance against Williston State College, topping the Tetons with an 88-46 win in the Thanksgiving Classic Friday at Cougar Palace.

                The Cougars, in capturing their 9^th victory of the season, blistered the nets for 50 percent shooting and all 13 players that suited up scored. It was a win that pleased WNCC coach Dave Harnish.

                “I liked the energy. It is Thanksgiving weekend and a couple years ago, they came down and beat us,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish said. “It was good that we had better energy this week. I even thought we had a good week of practice and got better. That really showed tonight. We came out and through it all together and that is what we did tonight. We were a little sloppy with some reaching and grabbing, but I thought we hit some shots better tonight and I thought the defense was solid throughout the night. I also thought the bench came in and did a better of job of building the lead, keeping us where we need to be.”

                The Cougars and Tetons started the game exchanging buckets. Williston held an early 4-3 lead, but a bucket by Carolina Alves and an old-fashioned 3-point play by ChaCha Ofoegbu put WNCC up 8-4. The Cougars held a slim 14-10 lead before opening up the contest with an 11-0 run that was highlighted by a Samantha Sanders trey.

                WNCC continued excelling on all cylinders in the first half as the Cougars went on another 9-0 run behind a trey by Kyra Peterson and driving bucket by Sanders for a 42-14 on their way to a 46-19 halftime lead.

                The Cougars didn’t miss a beat in the second half, opening the second 20 minutes on a 10-0 run behind five points from Peterson for a 56-19 lead. Williston finally netted its first points on a free throw at the 16:15 minute mark by Dani Sadowsky. The Tetons’ Rachel Mehus added another four points to bring Williston back to 56-24, but back-to-back buckets by Leona Garrett on two separate occasions helped the Cougars to a 72-33 lead and they never looked back.

                WNCC had four players player hit the double figure column, led by Garrett and Alves with 14 points each, followed by Peterson with 12 points, including three 3-pointers, and Sanders with 10. Alves also pulled down 10 rebounds for a double-double.

                Williston State was led by Kyli Locken with 15 points and Rachel Mehus with 12.

                The 19^th ranked Cougars, 9-0, will look to stay unbeaten in the final women’s game of the Thanksgiving Classic Saturday at 5 p.m. against Oglala Lakota College, who fell to Eastern Wyoming College 86-82 in overtime. The other women’s game pits EWC against Williston at 1 p.m.

                Harnish said it is still early for this team, but he is seeing progress.

                “We are still a young team with freshmen and it is still a learning experience,” he said. “We have to learn to play every night and every day. I think this team has done that. For nine games know, I thought we have competed well. We played well today and I wouldn’t expect anything less tomorrow [Saturday]. This team has done a good job of competing, playing defense and rebounding. I think we will continue to do that.”

                In the lone men’s contest on Friday, Williston State came back to stop Indian Hills 63-62 as Blake Nash drained a bucket with 12 seconds to play to give the Tetons the one-point lead. A late missed free throw by Indian Hills sealed the win for Williston.

                Both teams will return to action today. Williston State will take on Eastern Wyoming at 3 p.m. while Indian Hills will face the WNCC men at 7 p.m.

Women’s Game

Williston                             19 27 – 46

WNCC (9-0)                        46 42 – 88

WILLISTON

Domenique Whitmore 2, Rachel Mehus 12, Sam Heier 10, Toni Johnson 3, Kinsi Olson 1, Kyli Locken 15, Shari Hewson 2, Dani Sadowsky 1.

WNCC

Samantha Sanders 10, Ashley Soucie 3, Shelby Campbell 4, DaNae Quijas 4, Brittany Macey 4, Tiffany Moorer 5, Kyra Peterson 12, ChaCha Ofoegbu 7, Jasmine Shaffer 3, Darachia Johnson 4, Leona Garrett 14, Carolina Alves 14, Shelby Jones 4.

Men’s Game

Indian Hills   30 - 32 -- 62
Williston        35 28 -- 63
WILLISTON State
Riley Stuve 3, Dijon Farr 14, Trey Starks 2, Gary Ricks 3, Jereome Jones 16, Latroy Taylor 1, Chad Dillard 10, Stephen Coles 13.
INDIAN HILLS
Thaddeus Perry 4, Derik Hawkey 2, Marc Price 3, Nick Markovich 9, Blake Nash 18, Charles Ward 7, Derek Detrick 12, Terrance Motley 4, Moriba Defreitas 4.

WNCC will host Thanksgiving Classic Thursday through Saturday

               The Western Nebraska Community College Thanksgiving Classic will be stuffed with basketball talent when games tip off Thursday night as four teams that have had national recognition in the past five years hit the courts of Cougar Palace.

               WNCC, 8-1, will open the tournament against Williston State at 7 p.m. while the Eastern Wyoming Lancers face No. 15 Indian Hills Community College at 5 p.m. The tournament runs through Saturday.

               WNCC coach Russ Beck said his goal is to bring in top-notch competition to Cougar Palace and this weekend should wet a basketball fans' appetite.

               "This is a big tournament and these are big games," he said. "Last year Williston State was one game from getting to Hutch and Indian Hills is ranked 15^th in the country right know. We have two, quality opponents that will be coming in that bring different things to the table. But, I like our momentum going into this weekend."

               WNCC is entering the tournament with quite a bit of momentum after stunning then No. 13 ranked College of Southern Idaho 89-87 in front of 2,000 people in the K&T Invitational in Twin Falls, Idaho. The Cougars also picked up wins against TAAG Academy, a top Prep school, and Sullivan College, who was ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA Division III polls.

               The three wins came at a time when the Cougars needed some positive energy after being upended at home on Nov. 16 by Central Wyoming College. That loss turned out to be a positive thing for the Cougars.

               "We want to bring in quality teams, quality opponents. We started out the year with Oglala and Buckley Air Force Base," Beck said. "You know every team around plays teams early on that helps them get started. You always have to warm up that engine before you go out and rev it up. We are in that point of time where we want to rev that engine a little bit and we want to see where we stand against some of the nation’s best teams. That is why we play teams like CSI, Indian Hills, Williston, Sheridan and Salt Lake. Those are games that are not built into our schedule that we went out and found ourselves.

               The Cougars' opener against Williston State will be against a team that has plenty of offensive weapons. The Tetons are led by 6-0 freshman Blake Nash of Casa Grande, Ariz., and Terrance Motley, a 6-5 freshman from Maricopa, Ariz. Nash is averaging 20.7 points a game, including making 51.4 percent from behind the arc.

               "Blake Nash is their point guard and has the reputation of being one of the best guards on the west coast or in junior college," Beck said. "He is being highly recruited and is a red-shirt freshman. He sat out last year so he could play this year and then have three years to play Division I. He is a scorer and he will pull up in transition. We will have to definitely key on him.

               "They also have a few big bodies who will bang around on the inside. They have a nice power forward Terrance Mattley out of Arizona that we watched play this summer a little bit and he is a slasher, scorer and plays with emotion. This team plays really, really hard."

               WNCC, however, will counter with plenty of offensive and defensive mentality of their own. Several players stepped up in the weekend games in Twin Falls, Idaho.

               "Justin Omogun gives us a lot of athleticism and Marko [Kovacevic] is starting to come into his own. He had about 15 dunks this last weekend." Beck said. "Justin Standley is a red-shirt from New Mexico State and had a huge game for us on Saturday. He was 5 of 7 from the 3-point area and we expect him to continue to be that aggressive. Hauns Brereton is a great player for us. Going down the list, I think this team is really balanced. We don’t lose a whole lot as we substitute."

               The Thanksgiving tournament will also feature women's contests on Friday and Saturday. Friday's schedule has the EWC women facing Oglala Lakota College at 3 p.m., the Williston and Indian Hills men at 5 p.m. and then the WNCC women facing Williston State. Games on Saturday begin at 1 p.m.

               Beck is hoping for a big crowd to seem some good junior college basketball this weekend.

               "I hope everybody comes out and supports us," he said. "This will be a big weekend for Cougar basketball and we want to restore some of that magic to the palace."

               COUGAR NOTES: The athletic department will also be having two promotions over the Thanksgiving Classic. On Thursday during halftime of the WNCC men's game, there will be turkey bowling where individuals can win a turkey. Then, on  Saturday, the Playhouse Skate and Fun Center will set up one of their bounce houses for the youngsters to jump in during the Cougar men's and women's games.

WNCC VOLLEYBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team kept believing and the Cougar women accomplished their ultimate goal as NJCAA national champions.

                The Cougar women, 43-4, snared the championship with a heartpounding five-set win over No. 3 San Jacinto College 28-26, 25-19, 22-25, 15-25, 15-10 win over the Ravens. This was the Cougars second national title in four years.

                “This is a dream. Not a lot of people win it and I knew we had the team from the beginning with the biggest hearts. It is just a dream come true,” Ariel Austin, the sophomore who had 13 kills including the two kills that ended the first and second sets in the Cougars favor, said. “I can’t thank my team enough. We are truly a family.

                “I cannot even describe how it feels to be number one in the nation. This is unbelievable. I don’t even have the words to describe it. It feels so great. It is a dream come true.”

Fernanda Goncalves, who was named the tournament most valuable player, was still in a lack of words to describe the moment she was feeling, that feeling of “We did it.”

                “This means everything to me because I am here for playing volleyball and winning this tournament makes me happy and I am excited,” the freshman setter who finished with 15 digs, 47 set assists and four blocks, said. “I am shaking because of this win. I feel happy right know and a little bit crazy. I was really surprised with the MVP honor.”

WNCC coach Giovana Melo said her team played their hearts out as they won the contest behind a solid defensive performance, including a career best 34 digs from Kuulei Kabalis, who was named to the all-tournament team.

                “This is a feeling that I never thought I would feel or experience it,” the third year coach, who captured the tournament coach of the year honors, said. “It is here and it is the best feeling in my life.”

                WNCC quickly took a 2-0 lead after fighting hard in those sets for the win. In the first set, both squads battle tooth and nail. San Jacinto took a 21-18 lead before WNCC fought back on a Tania Torres kill and then two Emily Hoehn points to tie things at 21. WNCC then took it’s first lead of the match at 23-22 with a Kathryn Stock serve landed for an ace.

                San Jacinto came back and tied things at 24-24 and were facing set point at 26-25 before a Debora Araujo kill tied things up. Goncalves then served an ace and Austin followed with a kill for the set win.

                The second set was back and fourth to start. WNCC held a slim 13-12 lead before Kabalis had three straight service points for a 20-13 lead. Llater, Araujo hammered home a kill and then served up an ace for a 23-16 lead. Austin finished off the set with another kill to put the Cougars one set away from the championship.

                San Jacinto fought back and captured the third and fourth set to force the deciding fifth set. Both teams traded sideouts for the early going. WNCC finally tied the game at 6-6 on a Goncalves setter dump. Kabalis then served two points on kills from Torres and Araujo for an 8-6 lead. San Jacinto came back to cut the deficit to 10-9, but it was shortlived as a missed serve gave WNCC the ball and then Araujo had an ace serve and another point for a 13-9 lead.

                The Ravens came back with a point, but a Torres kill brought the Cougars to 14-10 and then Lais Soares finished off the championship run with a kill.

                Melo told the team going in the fifth set to remember last year’s semifinal and refocus. They did.

                “I told them, especially the sophomores that experienced something like this last year when we lost in the semifinals, that this win is in our hands and if you don’t want to feel that way again like you did last year,” she said. “I told them to forget about everything that happened and to just go fight for that 15 points. It felt like nothing to us after what we felt through the year and they went out and did it.”

                Austin knew they still had this game heading into that fifth set.

                “For me it was our game,” she said. “We did not give up. We stayed disciplined and we came out on top. We had the energy and came out in the end.”

                Araujo paced the Cougars with 21 kills, 15 digs, four aces and nine points. Also having a good match was Austin with 13 kills and two blocks; Torres with 11 kills and five blocks; and Soares with 11 kills and four blocks.

                Also for the Cougars, Kabalis finished with 34 digs and seven points, and Emily Hoehn had 16 digs and six points. Stock finished with 11 digs, eight kills, three blocks and six points.

                The Cougars are scheduled to arrive in Scottsbluff with the trophy sometime Monday and Melo said she wants to show everyone the hardware when they get back.

                “I can’t wait to get this trophy to Scottsbluff and show everybody,” she said. “I am so excited. I hope everybody is there waiting for us [on Monday].”

WNCC moves into championship of national tournament after taking out Salt Lake

WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team kept their dreams alive for a national championship with a come-from-behind victory over Salt Lake Community College Friday evening in the semifinals of the NJCAA national tournament in West Plains, Mo.

                The Cougars faced deficits of five points on several occasions in the third and fourth set, but found the heart and drive they needed to succumb Salt Lake 27-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19 behind a 21-kill performance from Debora Araujo.

                The win sends the Cougars into the title game Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (MST) against San Jacinto College. San Jac swept through Western Wyoming Community College 25-21, 25-21, 25-21. This will be The Cougars third appearance in the championship match in the last six years; the last time coming in 2007 when they defeated Miami Dade for the title.

                Kathyrn Stock, who had five kills and five service points in the crucial fourth set, said this team had the confidence to win and stayed with their game of playing one point at a time.

                “It was a really big win. We went in here confident and we knew we were going to win it, but we also knew it was going to be extremely tough,” the sophomore said. “We just had to stay patient and give it our all every single point. We really, really focused on getting one point at a time. That helped us to be calm. This will give us a lot of confidence for our game tomorrow.”

                Head coach Giovana Melo was ecstatic with how her team fought back from the many deficits. The fight the Cougars had was unbelievable Friday night.

                “We had to learn from our mistakes and I had to tell them that we are a better team when we have a lot of energy, when we are happy, when we are celebrating,” she said. “We are not a good team when we are worrying about the mistakes and that [high energy] is what we went back to. This team showed that they have a lot of heart; that is for sure.”

                Stock said after they dropped that second set and were behind 15-13 in the third, they just had to remember the movie “Miracle” that they watched today as a team, where the United State came back to defeat USSR for the gold medal at the Olympics.

                “I think that movie helped a lot because there were a lot of similarities,” Stock said. “The US going against the USSR in the of the Olympic games, and we are going against a real tough team in the semifinals of a national championship. We knew it was going to be hard, but we also knew that this is the time, we have to do it know, and we have to do it as a team.

                “Going one point at a time was the key. We just had to worry about one point at a time and it kept us from freaking out. We really relied on each other as a team, playing smart with our whole hearts, every single point.”

                Salt lake controlled the first set, vaulting to a 10-7 and 13-9 lead. WNCC, however, kept strong as Stock served four points behind kills from Araujo and Lais Soares to take a 17-15 lead. WNCC kept excelling, moving out to a 24-21 lead on one of Salt Lakes’ five missed serves. But the Bruins came back taking a 25-24 lead behind three points from Kellie Turner. WNCC’s Soares followed with a kill and then Emily Hoehn served the final two points as Stock hammered home the final two kills for the win.

                Salt Lake vaulted to a 11-7 lead in the second set before a Tania Torres kill and three ace serves by Araujo put WNCC in front 12-11. The Bruins came back as Shiela Uluave had two aces for a 22-17 lead before Turner evened the match at a set apiece with an ace serve.

                WNCC jumped out on Salt Lake in the third set behind three service points from Torres for a 4-1 lead. Salt Lake came back to take several 2-point leads, the final time at 21-19 and seemed to have the set in their hands.

                The was when the Cougars picked up their game, starting with an Ariel Austin kill. Hoehn then served three points for a 23-21 lead. Stock and Aruao each had kills to give the Cougars an exciting, come-from-behind win.

                The fourth set was a dogfight from the get-go. Salt Lake controlled the tempo early on, taking a 9-4 lead and lead 13-11. That was when Stock drilled two kills to the floor to start a rally. Hoehn then had a clutch ace serve to help WNCC take a 15-13 lead.

                Salt lake came back, tying the match at 15 before Stock rattled home another kill. Stock then had five straight service points for a 21-16 lead. Salt Lake tried making the set interesting, coming back to slice the lead to 24-19, but Aruajo blistered home a spike to send the Cougars into the championship match.

                Melo and the rest of the team was over-whelmed with emotion after moving into the championship match.

                “We did come from behind just like in the movie Miracle that we watched today, where the US came from behind in every single game they played,” she said. “I think it was a little bit of inspiration for them. They did a really good job and they played with heart and that is what it takes. When it comes down to it, when somebody is not having a good day, somebody else will have to step up and that is what happened. I am very happy. This absolutely feels amazing  and it won’t be over until after tomorrow. We will see what happens.”

                Araujo paced the team with 22 kills, four aces, eight digs and nine points. Stock also came up big with 13 kills, three aces, three blocks and 12 points. Also for the Cougars, Austin had seven kills and two blocks; Torres had five kills, four digs and five points; Fernanda Goncalves had 42 set assists, four blocks and four points; Soares had seven kills and five blocks; Hoehn had nine digs and eight points; and Kuulei Kabalis had 16 digs and five points.

                Salt Lake was led by Ame’ White with 13 kills and 12 digs followed by Sheila Uluave with 12 kills and 15 digs.

                Saturday’s championship game can be heard on KOZY 101.3 FM or online at kozy1013.com. the match will also be video streamed live at psblive.com. Friday’s semi-final match between WNCC and Salt Lake had 1,000 viewers watching online, from reports from the NJCAA.

                Stock said they don’t know much about San Jac, but they just have to worry about their game.

                “All we have to do is the same thing we did tonight, keep going one point at a time; giving it our all every time and just play as a team and we are going hard every single point,” she said. “We know we can do it.”

Gering, WNCC graduate Stacy Meisner now a student assistant coach at UAA

Stacie Meisner couldn’t help but take a step back when she stepped in the West Plains Civic Center Thursday during the first day of the NJCAA national tournament in West Plains, Mo.

                It was back in 2006 and Meisner, a Gering High graduate, played for Western Nebraska Community College. That year, the Cougars made it to the championship match before falling to Iowa Western Community College.

                “I walked in and I couldn’t help to have a little bit of bitter feelings because this is where we lost to Iowa Western in the national championship,” Meisner said. “But, at the same time, it was a great experience and that experience allowed for most of us to return the next year when we won the national championship.”

                WNCC coach Giovana Melo even asked Meisner to wear her national championship ring that she won in 2007 with the Cougars as good luck. Meisner said that is a way to still show her blue and gold spirit while wearing her UAA green and yellow colors.

                “I talked to coach Gi and she told me I had to wear it [the ring] for good luck and I did,” she said. “Because I am here recruiting, I probably won’t be in the stands cheering too much. If I can wear my ring for good luck, I will do that for them.”

                Meisner’s appearance at the national tournament this year is on a different scale; she is recruiting players for former WNCC coach Chris Green and the University of Alaska Anchorage volleyball program. Meisner serves as a student assistant coach at UAA, where she played two seasons under Green after graduating from WNCC.

                And, while her UAA team was at the NCAA Division II regional tournament in California, Meisner was in West Plains, Mo., doing some recruiting. She did; however, got to watch the her Seawolves play their match Thursday against Western Washington at regionals via the Internet, while watching the action at the junior college tournament.

                “We had a really good group of girls this year; lots of talent and lots of potential,” she said. “It was almost a younger team, but I never found that as an excuse of doing well. I think we had really high expectations for the girls. We came across some injuries that got us down at the beginning of the season. All in all, we ended up going to regionals and the NCAA tournament, which is always a goal that we always have. In that regard, they had a lot of successful moments.”

                Meisner said there is a learning curve when making the move from a player to a coach.

                “It is a little bit of an adjustment going from being a player to a coach, but it was easy for me because I have done some coaching in the past,” she said. “I had the respect from the girls already on the team last year. It has been really fun working on the coaching side with Coach Green and assistant coach Nicky Rose and learning a lot from them. It has been a really good experience.”

                One of her duties as an assistant coach is spending time at the national tournament recruiting players for next year. Meisner said as much as she wanted to be with the team in California for regionals, watching the junior college national tournament, and seeing friends from the Scottsbluff/Gering area, is making her 3-day stay memorable.

                “I really would love to be at regionals with my team, but coach needed someone to come recruit at the tournament this weekend, so he sent me down here,” she said. “That is fine because it has brought a lot of fond memories back for me and it is three days of some really good volleyball. I am enjoying myself so far.

“It is good to be here and see people from home and it is good to watch WNCC play. Even though I don’t know very many of the girls, there still is that connection to them being a player that went to WNCC and has been in their shoes before. I know the feelings and emotions that they are going through and I just wish them the best of luck.”

Meisner helped WNCC to a national tournament runner-up in 2006 and a national championship in 2007. Meisner played a variety of positions with the Cougars, coming in as an outside hitter and finishing as a libero. At UAA, Meisner was the Seawolves top defensive guru for two seasons.

Meisner said people don’t realize it, but there is plenty of talent in the junior college division.

“I think people seem to underestimate the value of junior college ball. Just watching these games here, it is really competitive,” she said. “It is not very often that you get a group of girls on the court that will go on to play at all different levels of four-year volleyball from Division I universities to Division II and III and even NAIA. You have a lot of different skill levels out there and it is not very often that you get to see put together on one court.”

                Meisner, who will finish her undergraduate studies this May and then enter graduate school at UAA, said that UAA is looking for specific position players, namely a middle hitter to replace senior Cortney Lundberg.

“We are looking to find someone with similar qualities to her who can touch close to 10-foot because that is what Courtney was touching all three years she was playing at UAA. We need that same type of athletic skill and ability to join our team next year.

                Coaching, right now, is something that is piquing her interest in the future.

                “Being a coach, is something I have always considered and planned on doing,” she said. “I am definitely learning a lot about coaching and all the tiny aspects about it that you don’t think about as a player.”

                For now, Meisner is making the most of her experiences, but still has, and always will, have that Nebraska blood in her.

                “Alaska definitely is my home right now. This will be my third year up there know,” she said. “I like it up there but of course Nebraska will always be my real home/”

WNCC men bounce back with win

Submitted by Jeremy Woznick, Scottsbluff Star-Herald

TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team rebounded from its first loss of the season with a solid 85-61 win over TAAG Academy (Fla.) during the opening day of the K&T Steel Classic Thursday night in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Hauns Brereton and Marko Kovacevic both recorded double-doubles for the Cougars in the win. Brereton had 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Kovacevic finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Justin Omogun led WNCC offensively with 22 points. He also added four blocks and four steals. Also finishing in the double-figure scoring column for the Cougars were Raul Delgado with 13 points and Justin Standley with 10.

“We had a nice run in the second half fueled by a few big plays by Omogun and strong inside play by Marco,” WNCC coach Russ Beck said. “We controlled the boards and we had good team play. It was good to bounce back from that loss against Central Wyoming. We didn’t want to lose two games in a row. I think we’re on the right track.”

WNCC held a 40-30 advantage at halftime.

The Cougars finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field and 89 percent from the free-throw line.

Omogun knocked down 6 of his 8 free throws and 8 of his 13 shots from the field.

Brereton and Delgado led the Cougars with six assists each. Aaron Turner dished out four helpers.

The Cougars, now 6-1 on the season, will take on Sullivan County Junior College (N.Y.) today. Sullivan County is the top ranked junior college in Division III. The College of Southern Idaho beat Sullivan County 87-77 Thursday. CSI is ranked 13th in the Division I national poll.

WNCC (6-1)                40 45 — 85
TAAG Academy                30 31 — 61
WNCC
Justin Standley 10, Hauns Brereton 17, Marko Kovacevic 12, Justin Omogun 22, Aaron Turner 2, Joe Stock 3, Brady Mason 3, Stephen Shepherd 2, Raul Delgado 13, Preston Eaton 1

Cougar women hold on for sixth win

Submitted by Jeremy Woznick, Star-Herald Sports Reporter

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team survived a late scare against Air Force Junior Varsity to post its sixth win of the season in the opening day of the Air Force Prep Tournament Thursday night in Colorado Springs, Colo.

After having their 10-point, second-half lead dwindled to just a single point in the final minute, the Cougars watched as a last-second jumper by Air Force bounced off the mark giving WNCC a 46-45 win.

“We almost gave it away,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish said. “We turned it over a couple times and fouled a little too much to let them get right back in it late. But it was good that we won and hopefully we can learn from it. It was a good win for us. We played hard against a very good team.”

Harnish, who went over the 600-win mark at WNCC just a couple weeks ago, said he was most pleased with the type of defense his team played on Thursday.

“We played great defense to hold them to just 45 points,” Harnish said. “They’re an upper-level team and I just thought we played great defensively all night long.”

WNCC, now a perfect 6-0 on the season, held a 26-24 advantage at halftime. The Cougars knocked down 9 of 13 free throws in the opening half, but didn’t get to the line at all in the second half.

Offensively, Carolina Alves paced the Cougars with 12 points.

“Carol has done a good job giving us a scoring punch and being a leader as a sophomore early on,” Harnish said of Alves. “She’s stepping up big for us.”

Shelby Campbell netted nine points and Tiffany Moorer added six.

For the fourth straight game, WNCC played without 6-foot-7 sophomore Thais Pinto. Pinto, who led the Cougars in scoring in the first two games of the season, suffered a stress fracture and probably won’t return until January.

“Having Thais out has really hurt us inside. She averaged 20 points a game for us and she’s a huge force defensively. She was playing well for us,” Harnish said. “But we’re learning to play without her better and it’s allowing some other kids to step up and get more minutes. When we do get her back it’s going to make us a better team because other kids have had to play in her spot. We’re developing better depth.”

WNCC will be back on the court Saturday against Trinidad State Junior College. Tip off is scheduled for 3 p.m.

WNCC (6-0)                26 20 — 46
Air Force JV                24 21 — 45
WNCC
Samantha Sanders 4, Shelby Campbell 9, Tiffany Moorer 6, Kyra Peterson 5, ChaCha Ofoegbu 5, Darachia Johnson 3, Leona Garrett 2, Carolina Alves 12

WNCC captures two wins, earns 7th straight trip to Final Four

 

                WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team moved into the semifinals of the national tournament for the seventh straight year by sweeping No. 13 Wallace State-Hanceville and then No. 5 Blinn College Thursday in the first day of the NJCAA national tournament in West Plains, Mo.

                The Cougar women steamrolled through Wallace State 25-16, 25-19, 25-14 in the first round and then used strong defensive play to stop a talented and tall Blinn College 25-22, 25-21, 25-21.

                The win sends the Cougars into a semifinal match against No. 8 Salt Lake Community College, who upended previously unbeaten and No. 1 Miami Dade College in three sets 31-29, 25-22, 25-15 at 5:30 MST. The other semifinal will pit the other Region IX team Western Wyoming Community College against San Jacinto College. Western Wyoming defeated Barton Community College 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 before getting by Eastern Arizona 25-18, 26-24, 22-25, 25-14. The winners of the two semifinals will face off for the championship Thursday night at 5:30 while the losers will play for third at 3:30 p.m.

                 “Overall, I thought they played the best that I have seen them play as a team,” WNCC coach Giovana Melo said. “They were playing together the entire time and they were playing with a lot of heart. That is something that I am very proud of them for.”

                Melo said it feels great to be back in the Final Four.

“It feels great, but obviously we have to focus on the next game and see if we can make it to the finals,” Melo said. “We know how good they [Salt Lake] is because we lost to them in the regular season. But I think the girls are ready.”

                If the Cougars play anywhere to what they did Thursday, they easily could be finding themselves playing for a national title because that is just how on the Cougars were.

                “I thought we played well offensively and defensively. I have nothing to complain about,” Melo said. “We just played really strong and hard as a team.”

                What stood out for the Cougars in both matches on Thursday was their defensive play and many of those stellar defensive plays by Kuulei Kabalis, Emily Hoehn and Fernanda Goncalves kept rallies going, which saw WNCC terminate with a momentum-changing kill. For instance, in set one against Blinn, Hoen and Goncalves teamed up with two great saves that led to a Cougar point and a 10-6 lead.

                Moments later, after an Ariel Austin change-up kill for a point, there was another long rally that saw a number of saves before Austin put down another change-up klll for a point. Two serves later, Kathryn Stock picked up the momentum another notch as she won a joust at net to put WNCC up 17-13. Austin finished off the first set with a hammering kill.

                Blinn took a 2-0 lead in set two before Debora Araujo had three service points for a 4-2 lead. Blinn sliced the lead to a single point on several occasions, but the Cougars never relilnguished the lead as the Cougars won the second set 25-21.

                WNCC fell behind three times in set three, the final time at 11-9. That was when Araujo served three points behind two monster kills from middlehitter Tania Torres for a 13-11 lead. Kabalis then widened the lead as she had four service points, including a kill from Araujo and two more kills from Torres for a 21-15 lead. Austin finished off the match, sending the Cougars to the Final Four, with her 11^th kill of the match.

                Araujo led the Cougars with a double-double of 15 kills, 10 digs and nine points. Also for the Cougars, Austin finished with 11 kills, while Torres had 10 kills, two blocks, and three points. Stock had four kills and five digs; Lais Soares had four kills’ Kabalis had 10 points and six digs; Hoahn had three digs; Fernanda Goncalves had nine digs, 34 set assists, and seven points.

                WNCC was just as impressive in the opening match against Wallace State putting with two players notching double figure kills with Araujo and Stock pacing the team with 13 and 11 kills respectively. Austin also hammered home eight in the opener, while Tania Torres had five, and Lais Soares had 12.

                Kabalis, who had some eye-popping digs in the two matches, said the team played well in the opener.

                “I thought we had plenty of energy and we played together as a team and we just had to work for one point at a time,” Kuulei Kabalis said. “We just want to leave everything on the court and play with our hearts and our mind. We worked so hard for this moment, and we just want to give it all we got.”

                The Cougars dominated play for much of the match. Wallace State did hold a couple leads on the Cougars and trailed No. 4 WNCC 10-8 in the first set. Then, a Stock kill and three points from Stock pushed the lead to 12-8. WNCC went ahead 18-9 on four Kabalis service points and the first set win. 25-16.

                Wallace State jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set and led 7-5 at one time. WNCC rebounded, taking a 13-9 lead on three Goncalves service points and stayed consistent the rest of the way for the 25-19 win.

                WNCC controlled the third set from the get-go, taking a 4-0 lead on three Goncalves kills before Emily Hoehn pushed the lead to 12-3. WNCC went on to capture the match on a Araujo kill.

                Aruajo also finished with five Aces and six digs, while Stock had nine digs, five points and two blocks.

                Also for WNCC, Goncalves had 12 points, four aces, 32 set assists, and five digs; Austin had two blocks; Torres had six blocks and seven points; Soares had four blocks; Hoehn had points; and Kabalis had four points and nine digs.

Thursday Scores
Match 1: #3 San Jacinto def. #14 Jefferson (25-10, 25-13, 23-25, 22-25, 15-5)
Match 2: #6 North Idaho def. #11 Iowa Western (25-23, 25-17, 25-11)
Match 3: #10 Eastern Arizona def. #7 Florida St.-Jacksonville (25-21, 25-20, 25-19)
Match 4: #2 Western Wyoming def. #15 Barton County (25-22,25-23, 25-20)
Match 5: #1 Miami-Dade def. #16 Gadsden State (25-11, 25-12, 25-17)
Match 6: #8 Salt Lake def. #9 Midland (25-12, 19-25, 24-26, 25-22, 15-8)
Match 7: #5 Blinn def. #12 Temple (16-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-17)
Match 8: #4 Western Nebraska def. #13 Wallace State (25-16, 25-19, 25-14)
Match 9: San Jacinto def. North Idaho (17-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-20)
Match 10: Western Wyoming def. Eastern Arizona (25-18, 26-24, 25-22, 25-14)
Match 11: Salt Lake def. Miami-Dade (31-29, 25-22, 25-15)
Match 12: Western Nebraska def. Blinn (25-22, 25-21, 25-21)
Friday’s Schedule
Match 13: Jefferson vs. Iowa Western, 9 a.m.
Match 14: Florida State Jacksonville vs. Barton County, 9 a.m.
Match 15: Gadsden State vs. Midland, 11 a,m.
Match 16: Temple vs. Wallace State, 11 a.m.
Match 17: North Idaho vs. Eastern Arizona, 1:30 p.m.
Match 18: Miami Dade vs. Blinn, 1:30 p.m..
Match 19: 13 winner vs. 14 winner, 3:30 p.m.
Match 20: 15 winner vs. 16 winner, 3:30 p.m.
Match 21: San Jacinto vs. Western Wyoming, 5:30 p.m,.
Match 22: Salt Lake vs. Western Nebraska, 5:30 p.m.

WNCC ready for national tournament

After a week of hard practices and a long 2-day bus trip to the NJCAA national tournament, the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team will be anxious to get their drive for a national championship started.

That drive will begin Thursday when the Cougars open tournament play at 2 p.m. against Wallace State-Hanceville in West Plains, Mo.

WNCC enters the national tournament seeded fourth with a 39-4 record while the Lady Lions are seeded 13^th with a 52-1 mark. This will be the second straight year WNCC has faced Wallace State in the opening round, having beaten the Alabama school 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 last year.

The nearly 15-hour drive wasn’t terribly long for the team as they broke the trip up, including a practice stop at the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Monday. The Cougars had a hour-long practice at the West Plains Civic Center Wednesday afternoon.

Sophomore Emily Hoehn said the long bus trip shouldn’t affect them on bit, especially since they made a stop at her house in Kearney on the way to stretch their legs.

“We have had quite a few long travels through the season, so it was nice that it was broken up into two days,” Hoehn said. “It wasn’t as hard, especially getting off at Kearney to practice and stretch our legs. It really hasn’t seemed like that long of a ride. I think everybody is thinking about playing at nationals so it distracts us from the long ride.  We even stopped at my house and saw my wiener dog, Chaz, who is good luck.”

Ariel Austin said the team is ready and focused for the tournament.

“We had to really focus last week. We had hard practices all week to get better,” the Woodland Park, Colo., rightside hitter said. “I think it really helped us just getting off the bus in Kearny and just moving around. Having a few extra practices has helped before we hit the court for our tournament.”

When the Cougars hit the court on Thursday, sophomore Kathryn Stock said they will be ready.

“We are really excited and we think and talk about it all the time,” she said. “We good goose bumps and chills every time we think about it because we know we can really go in there and do some damage.”

WNCC is ready as any of the top 16 teams in the nation that are here for this tournament to try to bring home a national title. Hoehn said they are the only ones that can win or lose a match.

“At the national tournament there are a lot of good teams and there will be a lot of good play, so we will have to really focus on our game and our side of the court,” Kearney Catholic graduate said. “If we do what we have been doing all season, come together and play as a team, be disciplined, we are going to come out with a championship.”

Austin said they have one of the toughest roads to haul. A win in the first round could put them up against No. 5 Blinn College, who has five players 6-foot or taller. After that, there is the possibility of playing either No. 1 Miami Dade College or Salt Lake Community College, a team that defeated the Cougars earlier this season.

“I think the tournament is pretty evened out in talent. All these teams that made it to nationals are all good teams,” Austin said. “I think, however, we have the hardest bracket. It is like coach said; we are going to have to think about every point and come out as hard as we can to get those points to win the games.”

Wallace State comes into the match with a near-perfect 52-1 campaign after dropping Gadsden State in straight sets to earn their second-straight national tournament appearance. Wallace State’s only defeat came in a four-set loss to Loyola University out of New Orleans. The Lady Lions have just one player above 6-0 in Alysha Smith.

WNCC, on the other hand, has plenty of national tournament experience. The Cougars are making their 12^th straight appearance in the tournament field having made the Final Four the six previous visits to the tournament, including a national runner-up in 2006 and a national championship in 2007.

                Hoehn said she can’t remember anything about last year’s match with Wallace State; it is all about how her team comes out and plays.

                “I am not going to lie, I really don’t remember a lot about Wallace State. I remember we played them last year but coach hasn’t talked to us about any of their strategies,” she said. “I think really to beat this team, or all these evenly-matched teams; everyone has a the talent and it will come down to who has the most heart.”

                The player’s heart for a national title will be crucial as well as performing well in all areas on the court. Stock said they will definitely need their A game this weekend.

                “It will be really tough. There are a lot of really good teams in the tournament,” Stock said. “But I know we all have the confidence that we know we can win if we give it our all and go and play our game every game.

“We have to play confident. We have to play as a team. And, we have to go hard every single point.”

While the extra practices along the bus trip was a welcomed sight, anything thing that the Cougars have in their favor is uniforms. Stock said they are not bringing their white uniforms with blue trim.

“We are not taking those uniforms,” Stock said. “Those are bad luck, I guess.”

The Cougars’ losses this season came while they were wearing those “uni­forms,” including the Region IX tournament loss to NJC, as well as the semi-final five-set loss to Missouri State-West Plains at last year’s national tournament.

Still, the Cougars have to show up and play like they did during their 21-match win­ning streak because the tournament field is up for grabs. But, having been pushed in the Region IX tournament might be beneficial in the long haul.

“When I think about regionals, it gives us motivation to work that much harder,” Austin said. “I still think about it every day in winning that Region IX title and the awards I worked for. It makes me want to work that much harder to win a national title.”

Stock said for them to come away with wins at nationals, they need to stay upbeat. Stock said the team is going in the at­titude that they can survive anything that comes their way.

“We all believe we can win a national title,” Stock said. “It is just a matter if we go in and do it. It is our choice, but we definitely have the potential.”

The Cougar games can be heard on KOZY 101.3 FM as well as the Internet at kozy1013.com. The games will also be video streamed live at psblive.com.

NJCAA First Round Games

No. 3 San Jacinto (26-9) against No. 14 Jefferson College (21-10) and No. 6 North Idaho Col­lege (26-6) against No. 11 Iowa Western (42-6) at 8 a.m.; No. 7 Florida State-Jacksonville (30-7) against No. 10 Eastern Arizona (30-4), and No. 2 Western Wyoming (37-5) against No. 15 Barton County (25-8) at 10 a.m.; No. 1 Miami Dade (33-0) against No. 16 Gadsden State (29-9) and No. 8 Salt Lake (26-6) and No. 9 Midland College (33-5) at noon; and then the Blinn/Temple and WNCC/Wallace State matches rounding out the first round at 2 p.m.

Quarterfinals will be played Thursday night with semifinals Friday afternoon. The championship is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Peltz records triple-double in win over Oglala Lakota

Western Nebraska Community College's Mike Peltz had a triple-double and the Cougar men picked up their fifth straight win with an 113-50 victory over Oglala Lakota College Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace.


               Peltz, an Alliance graduate, was just one of four players to finish with 20 or more points in the win. Peltz finished with 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists to help pace the WNCC team. Preston Eaton led the Cougars with 30 points, while Joe Stock netted 24 points including six 3-pointers.

               "Overall, as a team, we did O.K. but our defensive intensity wasn't there and coach told us in the locker room that we weren't jumping to our lines and doing the basic things that it takes to win big games," he said. "

               This was the second time in a week the Cougars has played Oglala Lakota, topping them 161-34 last Saturday. On Saturday, the Cougars played a different style of game playing just six players to match the six that suited up for the Bravehearts.

               Peltz said that sometimes it is tough to get up for a game after beating someone earlier, but they still need to learn to play a full 40 minutes. That was something they didn't do on Saturday.

               "I think potentially we can be very good," he said. "When we play hard, we definitely are really good. We just have to play hard for a full 40 minutes and do the little things right."

               Saturday the team had spurts in the game where they let up and Oglala Lakota took advantage in going on mini runs. It was obvious from the beginning WNCC had just too much talent running out to a 9-0 lead before Oglala scored a free throw with 16 minutes to play. WNCC continued excelling as Peltz eight of the Cougars' next 12 points for a 21-1 lead Eaton scored the first of his 30 points after taking a pass from Peltz.

               Oglala started to make a comeback as Tanoa Big Crow nailed seven of a nine point run for the Bravehearts to cut the lead to 28-13, but WNCC finished the half on a 18-0 run, including two treys from Scott for the 54-17 halftime lead.

               The second half was lukewarm for the Cougars as they allowed Oglala to score 33 points, including five 3-pointers. WNCC, however, was like an well-oiled machine as Scott buried three straight 3-pointers and the Cougars blitzed the nets for 65 shooting in the final 20 minutes for the victory.

               Peltz, who struggled in finding the net in the previous four games, broke out with his first collegiate triple-double. He added that it isn't all about scoring, but getting the entire team into the game.

               "It is always an adjustment to college basketball so it took a while," Peltz said. "It is good to score, I guess, but every time I get on the court I try to set people up."

               WNCC also had a double-double from Miguel Ramos, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Stephen Shepherd had 20 points, including three dunks.

               WNCC, 5-0, will be back in action Tuesday when they host Central Wyoming College. Peltz said that game will be a test.

               "We scrimmaged Central Wyoming in Casper and they are a good team," he said. "They have a lot of shooters. That is also the start of a big week for us. Hopefully we can take care of things starting on Tuesday."

Oglala Lakota                    17 33 -- 50
WNCC (5-0)                        54 59 -- 113
OGLALA LAKOTA
Byron Bear RObe 5, Cody Red Wing 9, Tanoa Big Crow 20, Leroy Lame 9, Mark Buckman 7.
WNCC
Mike Peltz 20, Preston Eaton 30, Joe Stock 24, Stephen Shepherd 22, Marcello Crivellente 5, Miguel Ramos 12.

Alves scores 21 to lead WNCC women

COLBY, Kan. -- Sophomore Carolina Alves scored 21 points and the Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team put together a solid second half in topping Hastings College junior varsity 77-60 Saturday at the Ambassador Classic in Colby, Kan.


               WNCC coach Dave Harnish said his team bolted to a big lead early and then lost focus to let Hastings College close the gap at intermission 41-38.

               "It was similar to yesterday [Friday]. We got up big early, something like 30-12 and we let them close it up to three at halftime by us fouling and getting lackadaisical," he said. "The second half was much better as we outscored them 36-22. We were better defensively and we didn't foul as much and we were more solid in the second half."

               What impressed Harnish the most was the improvement his team has made on free throws. In the first three games of the year, the Cougars made about 50 percent of their charity stripe. Friday night against Colby, they shot 68 percent and then against Hastings College, the Cougars went 20 of 25 for 80 percent.

               The Cougars also shot the ball decent from the field, shooting 42 percent for the game.

               Harnish is still waiting for this team to play a complete 40 minutes, but for now, he has seen enough progress to  make him satisfied.

               "It seems when we get leads we start reaching  and fouling. We have started games well by getting up by 15 to 20 points on teams but we let it go," he said. "We don't put them away. We played good the second half the last two nights. Making free throws is encouraging. I thought Carol stepped up tonight in baking some key baskets."

               WNCC had three players hit the double-figure column on the afternoon. Alves paced the team with 21 points followed by Kyra Peterson with 17 and Samantha Sanders with 11. Peterson added three 3-pointers to her scoring spree.

               "We made progress this weekend," Harnish said. "It is good to be 5-0 after winning three this weekend. I thought we got better as each game went along."

               Kimball graduate Kayli Rageth finished with 12 points for Hastings College junior varsity

               The Cougars will hit the road next weekend when they head to the Air Force Prep tournament in Colorado Springs, Colo., before returning home for the Thanksgiving Classic.

WNCC (5-0)                        41 36 -- 77
Hastings JV                         38 22 -- 60
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Carolina Alves 21, Samantha Sanders 11, ChaCha Ofoegbu 7, Kyra Peterson 17, Tiffany Moorer 2, Shelby Campbell 8, Shelby Jones 2, Leona Garrett 7, Darachia Johnson 2.

Goncalves ready to lead volleyball at nationals

Fernanda Goncalves as always had the dream of playing volleyball in the United States, but it took a few years after high school to achieve that dream.

Goncalves graduated from high school in Brazil in 2008 and was just playing club volleyball with hopes of getting the opportunity to play collegiate in the states. That is when Western Nebraska Community College volleyball coach Giovana Melo came calling and Goncalves was ready to make the 5,700 mile trip to Scottsbluff.

“I wanted to come here since I graduated in high school and then coach Gi watched a video and contacted me,” the freshman setter said. “It’s great for me to have Gi as a coach because she was a setter. She is a great example and I’m learning a lot with her.”

Goncalves has come a long ways in her four months in the States from hardly speaking English and volleyball. During that early learning time, Goncalves blossomed into being named Region IX’s Freshman and Setter of the Year. She also can speak relatively good English.

On top of all that, Goncalves is leading the Cougars into the NJCAA national tournament which begins next Thursday in West Plains, Mo.

Goncalves still can’t believe what kind of season she is having, and when she was named the Freshmen and Setter of the year, she was flabercasted.

“I felt really happy and it was an unexpected award,” she said. “The volleyball season is going great because we just won regionals and we are now going to nationals.”

Goncalves and the rest of the team will open the national tournament on Thursday when they face Wallace State-Hanceville at 2 p.m. Goncalves said the team is practicing hard to represent the college well with hopes of bringing home a national title.

“I feel that we can win nationals because I feel in practice how the girls want this,” she said. “The beginning of the season we had problems to get along in the court, but now we are like a family.”

Goncalves is averaging 10 set assists a game and ranks second in Region IX. But her success in volleyball should come as a surprise to anyone. Goncalves has been playing volleyball for seven years, and was named Region IX all-region along with her teammates Debora Araujo, Tania Torres and Ariel Austin.

Her goal is to continue playing volleyball as long as she can, including playing professionally someplace besides Brazil.

“I want to go pro, but I don’t want to play in Brazil again,” she said. “I want to play professionally in somewhere else. But this is just after I graduate.”

Goncalves, the youngest of three sisters, is the only sibling that has turned to sports. Her older sisters are pursuing degrees in Brazil. She said she owes a lot to her parents.

“I miss my family a lot,” she said. “Everything that I have is because my parents always stay with me and if I won something, I want to dedicate it to them.”

Goncalves has also learned a lot about volleyball from Coach Gi, who was in the same shoes Goncalves was in when she attended WNCC about eight years ago.

“It is great for me to have coach,” she said, “especially because she was a setter. She is a great example and I’m learning a lot with her.”

The biggest adjustment for her though was learning English as well as volleyball. She said that volleyball in the states is more intense since the season is within a four-month time frame.

“I thought I would never get used to this town especially because when I came I didn’t know English,” she said. “The hardest part when I came here was the fact that I have to communicate in English because when I came here, I didn’t know any English and now I can understand people. But, I still have to learn more.”

The other thing that Goncalves is getting used to is snow. In fact, when she woke up Thursday morning and saw snow, she couldn’t wait to go out in the white stuff.

“This is the first time I have seen snow,” she said. “When I woke up, I was so excited.”

What will excite Goncalves even more is capturing a national title and seeing her father in the stands watching her accomplish it.

“In Brazil, my dad went to all my games,” she said. “I would love to have him come over here to watch me.”