WNCC soccer teams set for home matches on Friday, Saturday

 The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team can’t wait to get the season underway with a home match on Friday.

The women, who have had four scrimmages thus far, will finally kick off the regular season against Dodge City Community College at 12:30 p.m. on Friday followed by the men’s game at 3 p.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex.

The women and men will then be back in action on Saturday when they face Pratt Community College. The women kick off at 12 noon followed by the men’s game at the Landers complex.

                Sophomore Rachelle Tekler said the team can’t wait to get the season started.

“We are really excited to start the season because we have been playing teams that are a lot harder and we have been playing really good against them even though we lost,” Tekler, of Kersey, Colo., said. “Those scrimmages will help us because we have been practicing really hard so we will play at their [the four-year school] skill level. Our play in the games will be like the preseason games.”

The women’s team found the going tough in the three preseason contests against Regis, Metro State and the Colorado School of Mines, the three teams that are picked in the top five of the RMAC conference. The Cougars were blanked by a combined 31-0 score in all three of the games. The Colorado School of Mines is ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II preseason polls.

Tekler said they now know what it takes to win and be a championship squad.

“Those teams were really good. They played really good together and they connected passes and they are really aggressive,” she said. “We just need to get that first goal this weekend and then we will have some confidence and we will then know we can get a second one.”

Tekler said this team has all the potential to do great things this season. She added they are working on playing a faster game then in the past.

“I think we have a lot more talent than last year,” she said. “We have players that can score and we can defend well. We play really well together. We are scrimmaging a lot this week and we are trying to get one or two touches on the ball, so it is a lot faster play.”

While the women’s team will be making their season debut, the men already have a contest under their belt. The Cougar men topped Northwest Kansas Technical College 2-1 on Sunday behind goals by Baboucarr Sarr and Mason Nab.

Sophomore Riley Mathis, of Cheyenne, Wyo., expects good things from this year’s squad.

“There is a lot of talent this season,” Mathis said. “We lost some really good sophomores last year, but we have some good guys coming back. There are also a couple freshmen that have stepped up and playing at a top level. There are some players that can really handle the ball really well.”

The Cougar men definitely have found success during the preseason and their one regular season game. Mathis said that they are looking forward to playing Dodge City, a team that defeated the Cougars on a goal in the last seconds last season.

“Hopefully we can get an early lead so we can run some of the other players in and get them some experience,” he said. “They are kind of a rival team. Last year Dodge City beat us on a goal in the last few seconds so it will take us to come out and pound the ball quickly and try to get some early goals. We have been scored on late in the game this preseason so having that already happen to us will help us to stay strong.”

Mathis said the team is getting excited for this weekend’s series.

 “Everybody is getting excited in practices,” he said.  “Everyone is getting pretty pumped. It will definitely be good to see how we do against JUCOs that have good talent. The team we played this weekend was their first year. It will be good how we stack up against the test of other talent.

The Dodge City men come into the contest with an 1-1 record. DCCC defeated Northeastern Junior College 5-0 before falling to No. 15 Western Texas 9-0. The Dodge City women enters Friday’s contest with a 0-1 record falling to No. 10 Western Texas 7-0.

After this weekend’s matches, the Cougar teams will host Northwest College in a Region IX contest on Wednesday.

WNCC soccer schedule change

               The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer matches slated for Monday, Sept. 5 against Cloud County Community College will be moved to Tuesday, Oct. 4. The women will kick off at 1 p.m. followed by the men at 3 p.m. The contests will be played at the Landers Soccer Complex.

                WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said the purpose of the schedule change is because the Cloud County bus is broken down in another state and will not be ready for the team to travel.

                The Cougar women will open their season on Friday, Sept. 2 when they host Dodge City Community College at 12:30 p.m. followed by the Cougar men. The women’s match on Sunday against the Colorado School of Mines was just a scrimmage due to the fact that NCAA Division II schools cannot start their season until this Thursday.

Three Cougars make all-tournament team of Iowa Western Invite

                Three Western Nebraska Community College volleyball players made the all-tournament team of the Iowa Western Invite that was played this past weekend in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

                Cougar sophomores Fernanda Goncalves, Debora Araujo and Lais Soares earned a spot on the 10-player team. The No. 1-ranked Cougars won all their matches in the tournament to finish with a 4-0 mark.

                Araujo finished the tournament with 58 kills and 46 digs in the four wins. The 5-foot-10 outside hitter had double-doubles in three of the four matches, including an 18-kill, 14-dig performance against Iowa Lakes. Goncalves, who was named the NJCAA national tournament MVP last season, finished the tournament with 140 total set assists.

                WNCC topped Hillsborough Community College 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21 and Missouri State West Plains 25-18, 25-20, 25-18 on Friday before deposing of Jefferson College 25-13, 25-16, 25-17 and Iowa Lakes Community College 25-13, 25-19, 25-16 on Saturday.

                Other members of the all-tournament team included Aubrey Cook and Alexa Griffith-Hardy from Iowa Western Community College; Beta Dumancic and Brooke Simpson of Jefferson; Rachel Powell of Hillsborough; Xiao Liang of Iowa Lakes; and Candyce Alexander of West Plains.

                The Cougars will take their 4-0 record into the Salt Lake Invite this weekend. WNCC will face Northwest Wyoming and Salt Lake Community College on Friday and the College of Eastern Utah and the College of Southern Idaho on Saturday.

                WNCC will open the home portion of their schedule on Tuesday , Sept. 6 when they host Eastern Wyoming College at 7 p.m. at Cougar Palace.

Men's soccer team opens with win over Northwest Kansas

                CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team started the season on the right foot with a dominating performance in the second half to register a 2-1 win over Northwest Kansas Technical College in Cheyenne, Wyo., Saturday afternoon.

                WNCC soccer coach Todd Rasnic said his team played so-so in the first half and then completely dominated play in the second half to record the victory.

                “We didn’t play the first half so well. We played at the speed and level of our opponent. We kept them in the game and gave them some confidence,” he said. “We kind of lit a fire under them at halftime and the second half we come out and dominated play. We had the ball in front of their goal numerous times.”

                The Cougars managed 23 shots in the match with seven being on frame.

                WNCC scored first as Baboucarr Sarr scored the first goal on a penalty kick after he was taken down in the penalty box. Moments later, Northwest Kansas tied the match in the 21^st minute. Both teams went into halftime tied at 1-1.

                The Cougars defense up big in the second half allowing the Northwest Kansas team just one shot on goal. WNCC, in the meantime, scored the game-winner in the 70^th minute. Mason Nab headed in a pass from Jacob Santos for the go-ahead goal.

                Joey Rasnic was in net the first half, allowing one goal and getting three saves. Jesus Alvarado was in net the second half along no goals and one save.

                The Cougar men will next be in action on Friday when they will host Dodge City Community College at 3 p.m. followed by Pratt Community College on Saturday and Cloud County Community College on Sept. 5.      

WNCC volleyball picks up two more wins at Iowa Western Invite, now 4-0 on season

                COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team finished off the Iowa Western Invite with a perfect record after sweeping Iowa Lakes Community College and Jefferson College in action on Saturday at Council Bluffs, Iowa.

                Debora Araujo finished with a double-double in both contests on Saturday. The Cougars opened with a 25-13, 25-19, 25-16 win over Iowa Lakes and then finished the tournament with a sweep over Jefferson College 25-13, 25-18, 25-17.

                WNCC opened the season on Friday with a four-set win over Hillsborough Community College and a sweep over Missouri State-West Plains.

                The top-ranked Cougars received plenty of support on the day. Against Iowa Lakes, Araujo led the team with 18 kills and 14 digs. Abbey Wade and Lais Soares each pounded down seven kills. Also for the Cougars, Alex Rivera tallied 24 kills, while Fernanda Goncalves ahd 33 set assists.

                WNCC was even more dominating against Jefferson College. Araujo and Danika Youngblood each finished with a double-double in the win. Araujo had 14 kills, 10 digs and two blocks, while Youngblood finished with 10 kills, 10 digs and two blocks.

                Also for the Cougars, Rivera had 15 digs and two ace serves, Jodi Huddleston had three blocks, Goncalves had 36 set assists, and Dani Grace had two aces.

                WNCC, 4-0, will next be in action next weekend when they take part in the Salt Lake Invite. The Cougars are scheduled to face ranked Salt Lake Community College and the College of Southern Idaho.

                 WNCC will then open the home portion of their schedule on Tuesday, Sept. 6 when they face Highway 26 rival Eastern Wyoming College at 7 p.m.

WNCC volleyball opens season with two wins

                COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa –Debora Araujo had a double-double and the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team started the season off with a bang capturing two victories at the Iowa Western Invite in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Friday afternoon.

                In the season opener, Araujo finished with 14 digs and 14 kills to help the Cougars to a 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21 victory over Hillsborough Community College. Araujo then pounded down 12 kills in a sweep over Missouri State-West Plains 25-17, 25-14, 25-13.

                The top-ranked Cougars will finish the tournament Saturday with matches against Iowa Lakes Community College and Jefferson College.

                In Friday’s opener, the Cougars had a balanced attack from several players. While Araujo had the double-double, Lais Soares pounded home 12 kills and also had four blocks. Scottsbluff’s Jodi Huddleston also came on strong, finishing with seven kills.

                Also for the Cougars, Alex Rivera had 15 digs, Fernanda Goncalves had seven digs, three aces and 39 set assists, and Danika Youngblood had nine digs.

                WNCC was even more impressive in the win against MSU-West Plains. Araujo led the team with 12 kills and eight digs. Freshman Megan Johnson also had a nice contest, finishing with seven kills, four blocks and two ace serves.

                Also for the Cougars, Soares had seven kills and three blocks, Rivera had 10 digs and two aces, Dani Grace had eight digs, and Goncalves had three aces and 32 set assists.

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WNCC women's soccer team opens season Sunday

                The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team will open the season Sunday with hopes of capturing a Region IX title.

                That dream definitely can come true as the 18-member squad prepares for the season opener Sunday against the Colorado School of Mines in Denver before hosting four straight home contests in six days beginning Sept. 2.

                WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said that this team has plenty of skill to make a run for a third Region IX title. The last time the Cougar women won regionals was in 2008. Last year they qualified for districts as the Region IX runner-up.

                “They have a lot of potential,” he said. “We played some pretty tough contests this weekend. We played short a little bit and we now have this week to work out the bugs to get us back into a position where we can get organized and win some games. They should contend again for that Region IX championship. I fully expect they will turn the corner and start working at a high level and hit full stride.”

                This past weekend, the Cougars were shutout against two of the prime NCAA Division II soccer programs in not only the nation, but the RMAC in Metro State and Regis University. Regis is picked to finish second in the conference and received three first place votes, while Metro State is picked fourth. Colorado Mines, the team’s season-opening opponent, is picked to finish third in the conference.

                “When you play a couple teams that are nationally ranked and both are picked in the top four in the RMAC, you will see players that have a lot of speed, size and are physical,” Rasnic said. “Some of the ladies are not used to that, but we will be OK. I think one of the best things we can do for the ladies is show them that level; show them what it is like to be under a great deal of adversity. That will give us an idea see what kind of character they demonstrate on the field. There were moments where we were faltering this weekend, but the ladies pulled it together and had some great moments on the field.”

                The Cougar women return eight players from last year’s Region IX runner-up team. That includes four of the top five scorers from a year ago. The returners include Brittany McNeil of Milliken, Colo.; Kristi Blicharz of Littleton, Colo.; Rachelle Tekler of Kersey, Colo.; Fernanda Acorinte of Brazil; Ashley Gleason of Loveland, Colo.; Leticia Lopes of Henderson, Nev.; Quincey Jackson of Colorado Springs, Colo,; and Tiffany Snethen of Rapid City, S.D.

                Added to these eight sophomores is a freshmen group that boasts plenty of talent. They include Kelsey Newby and Ashley Baker of Centennial, Colo.; Carolina Rojas of Cupey, Puerto Rico; Adriana Torres of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico; Bridget Stanton and Breanna Smith of Longmont, Colo.; Celia Carmona of Madrid, Spain; Bailey Wenz of Gillette, Wyo.; Ariana Herrera of Grand Junction, Colo.; and Laura James of Castle Rock, Colo.

                The women have just 13 matches on their schedule. After the season opening contest against Division II national power Colorado Mines, the team will face Dodge City Community College at home on Sept. 2. The Cougars will also face Region IX opponent and No. 5 ranked Laramie County Community College twice along with an encounter with Hutchinson Community College, who the Cougars faced last year in the District playoffs.

                The Cougar women also picked up a game earlier this week when they added a game at Boulder, Colo., against the University of Colorado Gold team.

                Rasnic said the women have a tough schedule.

                “It will be a pretty grueling schedule,” he said. “We certainly feel that this year’s teams, both men and women, will be worthwhile coming out and watching. We certainly hope we can get a lot of fans out to cheer on the Cougars and help us move into a positive direction.”

WNCC men's soccer team opens season Saturday in Cheyenne

               Western Nebraska Community College soccer coach Todd Rasnic is cautiously optimistic about the kind of success his men’s soccer team might have this season.

               Rasnic attributes his optimism to the type of play the Cougars showcased in posting a 1-1-1 record against four-year NCAA Division II schools during the preseason.

               “We are cautiously optimistic about our changes this year,” the seventh year head coach said. “We have seen in the first three competitive efforts an improvement in the level of play. This team is a little bit different than in years past in that our roster size is good. The players are pretty consistent with the starting 11 and then the players coming in after that. The consistency is staying about the same in creating a potential successful season. We have a lot of work to do, but they are looking like they can do something special this year.”

                The Cougar men will open the regular season on Saturday when they face Northwest Kansas Technical College at noon in Cheyenne, Wyo. After that, they will have four straight home matches in six days beginning Sept. 2.

                Rasnic said that Northwest Kansas is a first-year program that he is not taking lightly after what Otero Junior College did last year. Otero was in its first season of soccer and captured the Region IX title and competed at the national tournament. The Rattlers enter the season ranked seventh in the NJCAA preseason polls.

                “Some first year teams are fantastic or they struggle that first year. But we are pretty cautious of how we approach that game because last year, you saw with Otero coming into our region, some of us underestimated the potential of the new team in the region and they ended up in the national tournament. You have to be very careful that you approach each game in the same way making sure your players are prepared to play at the highest level.”

                The men’s team played well the past weekend against RMAC opponents Metro State and Regis. The Cougars fell to Metro 2-1 on a goal in the last seconds and then tied Regis 2-2. Rasnic said it was good to see that kind of competition heading into the regular season.

                “We have a few things still to work on before the opener,” Rasnic said. “We still need some work on our set-piece defense. We played teams this past weekend that could find weaknesses in our system and it was good for us to see areas that we need to work on. Overall, we are ready to start, but at the same time we will continue to make changes to continue to improve as the season goes along.”

                The Cougars return seven from last year’s 5-12 record. The returning players have plenty of talent, led by Luis Tapia of Evanston, Wyo.; Jose Netto of Brazil, Manolo Garcia-Oronoz of Puerto Rico; Riley Mathis of Cheyenne, Wyo.; Seedy Ali-Sarr of Banjul, Gambia; Jesus Alvarado of Cozad; and Ricardo Marropula of Lexington.

                These seven, however, are just part of a team that boasts plenty of talent.

                The newcomers include Mason Nab, Joey Rasnic and Cody Thompson from Gering. The newcomer group also includes Armando Lezama of Lincoln; Mauricio Serrano and Ivan Nava Hernandez of Aurora, Colo.; Banoucarr Sarr and Edrissa Mendy of Banjul, Gambia; Yanis Gabon of Paris, France; Jacob Santos of Hovma, La.; Mark Hubbard of Preston, Idaho; Kyle Gonzales and Matt “Tiki” Lee from Windsor, Colo.; JC Fernandez from Denver; and Erwin Sanchez, Adhemar Lino, Darwin Caranza, and Christian Coronado from Bolivia.

Rasnic said having this much talent is a nice luxury.

                “That is the nice thing about this year in that we are not pointing to just one, two or three players to lead the team,” he said. “And one of the advantages this year is we have several forwards that can run through and keep a very high level of play going in pressuring defenses and keep them on their heels.”

                The Cougar men are hoping that this season can be special. The last time the men’s team had a winning record was back in 2003, the program’s first year of existence. That year, they finished 11-6-1 and won the regional championship. This year’s team resembles that team in many ways.

                “A lot of years, there is different ways you judge of which players start games in different positions and what we are doing right know is result oriented-type rotation,” Rasnic said. “If a player is producing well, they are getting more time in the game and it has been working out well so far. Hopefully, as the season moves along, we continue to stay healthy.”

WNCC volleyball team set to open season Friday at Council Bluffs

                After weeks of intense preseason practices, the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team is more than ready to kick off its regular season.

                The defending national champions, who are ranked No. 1 entering the season for the first time in school history, should get plenty of early tests this weekend when the Cougars compete in the Iowa Western Invite in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

                The Cougars open play Friday when they face Hillsborough Community College and Missouri State-West Plains followed by Iowa Lake Community College and Jefferson College on Saturday. WNCC coach Giovana Melo said this team is ready to go.

                “The team is ready to see where we stand,” Melo said. “We have been practicing for a while know and we had a couple scrimmages and they are just ready to see how they do and see what they can put together in this tournament. For me, I have been waiting to get this season going for awhile. You get to the point in the season where and you get excited to see what they are able to put together and what they are able to do on the court.”

                There is now denying that this team has the talent, but it is raw talent. The Cougars have five sophomores on the team, three of which were starters a year ago in 5-foot-10 Debora Araujo, Lais Soares, 5-10 middle/rightside hitter, and Fernanda Goncalves, 5-9 setter. Also returning from last year is Scottsbluff’s Jodi Huddleston, a 6-0 middlehitter. The other sophomore is Dani Grace, a 5-11 transfer from Lamar Community College.

                The other eight players on the team are all newcomers and they are making quite an impression so far in practices. Melo said it is important that the entire team improves each time they step onto the court.

                “We are trying to take it one step at a time,” she said. “We are very young and I think those girls still have a lot to learn. We have to go slow with them and this weekend will be good for them to see what we have in our league and what we have to face every tournament that we go to. I think it is pretty important for them to take one step at a time and gain experience as we go.”

                The freshmen include Danika Youngblood (5-9, South Jordan, Utah); Alyssa Olson (5-9, Longmont, Colo.); Alex Rivera (5-6, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico); Alyssa Ostrander (6-0, Gordon); Abbey Wade (5-11, Roseville, Calif.); Tasha Meyer (Honolulu, Hawaii); Taylor VanderWerff (6-1, New Orleans, La.); and Megan Johnson (5-11, Sandy, Utah).

                Melo said this talented freshmen group is making strides each day in practice.

                “All the freshmen are improving,” she said. “Obviously the sophomores know where we are at and they have some little things they have to improve, but I think the freshmen have been getting better every day.”

                The biggest thing the players have to get used to is playing with a target on their back. That target was made even bigger after the Cougars were picked as the preseason No. 1 team. It is also the first time WNCC has been preseason ranked No. 1. They have, however, been number one during different parts of previous seasons.

                “You definitely know that being number one that everybody comes after you with a target on your back,” Melo said. “ But, I don’t think that is really important to me, it is important of how the team is playing and how much we are getting better every day. The ranking is good but it really doesn’t matter before the season.”

                The team has showed some spurts of greatness during their scrimmages last week, facing Nebraska-Kearney and Bellevue College,

                “We saw some really good things, we saw some bad things, and we saw some OK things,” Melo said. “I am now looking toward the team consistency and getting them to play as consistent as we go.”

                The Cougars will not have an easy schedule by any means of the imagination. After this weekend, the Cougars will compete in the Salt Lake Invite where they will play Salt Lake Community College, College of Southern Idaho, College of Eastern Utah, and Northwest College. They will also host a very tough Wyo-Braska tournament this year. The Cougars are slated to face No. 3-ranked Western Wyoming Community College, Barton Community College, Air Force Prep and Laramie County Community College.

                “It seems like it will be a pretty tough schedule,” Melo said. “We are playing some pretty good teams and that is good for us right away, and we are starting with two great teams right away [at Iowa Western]. It will take a lot more than what we have been doing to win another national title. We are a far ways from that.”

                The Cougars will open the home season on Tuesday, Sept. 6 against Eastern Wyoming College and will finish the season by hosting the Region IX tournament the first weekend in November.

WNCC volleyball will host alumni game, pancake feed this weekend

                 The community will have a couple opportunities to meet and watch the pre-season No. 1 ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team this weekend.

                The Cougar volleyball team will host former Cougar players in a scrimmage Saturday at 5 p.m. at Cougar Palace. Fatima Balza, who is now a Cougar student assistant coach, will suit up for the alumni. Balza earned three national championship rings. She earned an NJCAA national championship ring for WNCC in 2007 and then back-to-back championship rings for Penn State University in 2009 and 2010.

                On Sunday, the WNCC volleyball team will hold an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $5 a person at WNCC’s Cougar Den. Tickets can be purchased from any player or coach, or at the door.

                WNCC will open the regular season Aug. 26-27 at the Iowa Western tournament. The Cougars will face Hillsborough and Missouri-West Plains on Friday and then Iowa Lakes Community College and Jefferson College on Saturday. Their first home game is slated for Tuesday, Sept. 6 against Eastern Wyoming College. The Lingle-Ft. Laramie and Leyton high school volleyball teams will also play before the college match at Cougar Palace.