WNCC will final regular season contest on Saturday

                It will the regular season final match for the Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams on Saturday.

                The squads will battle Western Wyoming Community College at the Landers Soccer Complex. The women will play the Mustangs at 11 a.m. and the men will battle the Mustangs at 2 p.m.

                The two matches are the final contests before the two teams enter the Region IX playoffs. The Cougar women are 5-5 overall and 1-4 in the conference play, while the Western Wyoming team is 3-11 and 0-5 in conference. WNCC defeated WWCC 5-3 on Sept. 24 in Rock Springs.

                For the Cougar men, they are hoping to finish the regular season on a high note. The men are 6-8-1 on the season and are 2-7 in conference play. The men are locked into the No. 5 position entering the regional playoffs. Western Wyoming enters with a 9-7 overall record and are 4-5 in conference. The two teams will face each other in the first round of the regional playoffs on Wednesday in Rock Springs, Wyo.

                The other first-round regional contest will pit Northeastern Junior College facing Northwest College in Powell, Wyo. Otero and Laramie County received first-round byes.

                The contest will also be the last time for AYSO players in uniform to come out and watch the Cougars for free. WNCC and AYSO are teamed up for the special home match promotion.

Strong serving, energy propels WNCC volleyball to 29th win

               The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team used strong serving while flashing its depth in rolling past Otero Junior College 25-14, 25-11, 25-9 Thursday night at Cougar Palace.

               The top--ranked Cougars had eight different hitters finish with three or more kills while Debora Araujo and Tasha Meyer each finished with double-digit points serving in the Cougars 29th win of the season.

               The way the Cougars played Thursday night was a marked difference in the way they played in a sweep over Eastern Wyoming College on Tuesday. Taylor VanderWerff, who finished with four kills, said the difference between the two matches was the energy on the court.

               "Tonight we definitely had a lot more energy. Tuesday was a little rough, thinking we would go in and take it pretty easy and went in thinking they [EWC] wasn't so scrappy," VanderWerff said. "We did pull through on Tuesday and tonight we depended on the energy."

               WNCC's convincing win at home was totally different of how they played Otero last weekend, when the Cougars were locked in a battle in all three sets. Thursday, VanderWerff said, the big difference between the two matches was that they were playing in front of their home crowd.

               "A big part of that difference was that we were at home and the crowd brings us a lot of energy," she said. "This week we really worked on having enthusiasm and that was a huge thing in practice."

               Midway in the first set was when the Cougars started to dominate. Up until that point, WNCC held a slim 10-7 lead. But, after a Jodi Huddleston kill and four Danika Youngblood service points, the Cougars went up 15-7. WNCC pushed the lead to 19-9 on three Alex Rivera points and then cruised to the 25-14 win.

               WNCC dominated the second set from the get-go, running out to an 8-1 lead behind the net play of VanderWerff and Lais Soares. The Cougars extended the lead to 13-8 after Meyer had four points. Rivera got in the serving spirit, serving four points, including two aces for a 20-7 lead and then Alyssa Olson added three points to help the Cougars to the 25-11 win.

               Strong serving from Araujo spearheaded the Cougars start in the third set, as the sophomore outside hitter served six points behind big kills from Abbey Wade and Alyssa Ostrander for an 9-1 lead. WNCC kept playing strong as Meyer served five points to push the lead to-15-3. Wade added five points for a 23-6 lead as Huddleston had two monster kills. VanderWerff finished off the match with a thundering kill.

               VanderWerff said that what is making this team click is its depth and tonight it showed. Araujo led the way with 11 kills followed by seven from Soares and Huddleston, six from Youngblood, five from Wade, four kills from VanderWerff, and three kills each from Ostrander and Megan Johnson.

               "It is great that we are really mixing it up on offense because the other team doesn't know what to do with it," the 6-foot-1 middle hitter from New Orleans, La., said. "I like mixing it because it makes the game fun."

               Araujo also finished with nine digs, while Fernanda Goncalves had nine digs, six points, three aces, and 34 set assists. Also for the Cougars, Meyer had 11 points and six digs; Youngblood had four points, one ace, and six digs; Rivera had seven points, three aces, and eight digs; Olson had three points and six set assists' Wade had five points; and Soares had two blocks.

               The win pushed the Cougars to 29-0 overall and 5-0 in subregion play. VanderWerff said that being undefeated is driving this team to stay on top of their game.

               "I think that is what is really pushing us is being undefeated and that we have high expectations for ourselves and for our fans," she said. "That pressure is pushing us more than being an hindrance. "

               WNCC will continue its home campaign by entertaining Lamar Community College on Friday at 7 p.m. in dorm parent recognition. Then, on Saturday at 1 p.m., the Cougars will face Trinidad State Junior College as last year's national championship banner will be unveiled in a special ceremony before the start of the contest.

WNCC picks up 28th win with sweep over EWC

               TORRINGTON, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team didn't play their best Tuesday night against a red-hot Eastern Wyoming College squad, but the Cougars found a will and swept the Lancers 25-19, 25-12, 25-22 on Breast Cancer Awareness night in Torrington, Wyo.

               "This is hard because we have been playing so well before [tonight]. We got here and we did not perform up to our level," WNCC coach GIovana Melo said. "We definitely have some things to work on . Hopefully, this weekend, we do a little better job of representing ourselves."

               The Cougars, however, had their backs against the wall against a Lancer squad that has improved by leaps and bounds from their first meeting on Sept. 8. Tuesday night, the Lancers were close to stopping a Cougar 62-set win streak.

               WNCC trailed 16-9 in the third set and the Lancers had the Cougars number early on. WNCC, however, found a way to come back as Debora Araujo had an 8-point service run behind the strong net play of Taylor VanderWerff to take an 18-16 lead.

               That comeback made Melo smile just a little bit.

               "Obviously it was good to see us come back, but we won't be able to do that against everybody," she said. "We have to be able to play a little better and come out and be better from the beginning."

               EWC's explosive start in the third set all started with timely serves. Shelby Brewer started things with four points followed by Karson Dingman collecting two more for a 7-2 lead. The Lancers led 9-3 on a Kassie Woodie point.

               EWC coach Verl Petsch was pleased with how his team played against the top-ranked Cougars, especially early on in the third set.

               "We executed really well in the third set early on and did a nice job," he said. "We got a little passive late and you can't do that against a quality team."
               EWC held a 16-9 lead after Dakota Clough recorded a kill. Fernanda Goncalves stopped that with a setter dink and that is when Araujo took over at the service line in putting the Cougars up 18-16. EWC came back to tied the set at 18-18 on a Dingman point only to see Lais Soares and Danika Youngblood pound home two kills for a 20-18 lead.

               Dani Grace pushed the lead to 23-19 with three service points before the Cougars captured the match on a missed service.

               The way the Lancers played in the third set was really the way they played all night, they were not going to back down. In the first set, they hung with the unbeaten WNCC squad, coming back from a 16-12 deficit to trail 17-16. EWC was with the Cougars at 20-18 on two Austin Daley points and trailed 21-19 on a Abby Welniak kill. But, a Youngblood kill and three Goncalves points sealed up the first set 25-19.

               The second set started out as a battle as the Lancers trailed 11-10 on a Daley kill. Youngblood came back with a kill and then she had three service points for a 17-11 lead. After a Jodi Huddleston kill to make the score 18-12, Alex Rivera served seven service points, including three kills by Megan Johnson to finish the set at 25-12.

               Petsch was pleased with how his squad played, especially after they lost two of three last week.

               "I as overall pleased with the way we played," he said. "I thought we were in a slump last week and I am pleased of how we came back against a quality team like the Cougars. They executed really well against us and did a nice job. They are, unquestionably, a very, very talented team. I thought our kids played really hard with a lot of heart and we did a lot of good things that will help us the rest of this week and next week."

               WNCC was led by Araujo with 13 kills and nine digs, while Soares had 10 kills and two blocks. Youngblood finished with eight kills, three blocks, three aces and eight digs, while Jodi Huddleston had six kills and four blocks.

               Also for the Cougars, Goncalves had three kills, two blocks, 33 set assists, and 12 digs; Rivera had 12 digs; Johnson had three kills, three blocks and two digs; and VanderWerff had two kills.

               The Lancers were led by Daley Welniak each with seven kills, followed by Alanna Freel with six kills. Brewer finished with 12 set assists and five points, while Kassie Woodie had 10 set assists. Kassie Dingman had two blocks and five points, while Clough had 11 digs.

               The Lancers will be back in action Thursday when they travel to Casper College followed by a road contest against Western Wyoming Community College.

               The Cougars, 28-0, return to Cougar Palace with three sub-region contests on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday's contest against Otero Junior College has a 6 p.m. start time.

WNCC volleyball wins 27th game with sweep over Lamar

               LAMAR, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team made quick work of Lamar Community College on Saturday afternoon, sweeping through the Lopes by scores of 25-8, 25-13, 25-6.

               The win pushes the top-ranked Cougars to 27-0 overall and 4-0 in the sub-region. The win was also the team's 19th straight sweep over an opponent.

               The Cougars played everyone in the contest and received fine performances from several individuals. Debora Araujo led the way with eight kills, six blocks and two aces. Also picking up eight kills as freshman Abbey Wade. Wade also had two aces.

               Also for the Cougars, Alex Rivera had nine kills, and Fernanda Goncalves had 16 assists and five aces.

               WNCC will next be in action Tuesday when they travel to face Eastern Wyoming College. After that, the Cougars will host Lamar, Otero, and Trinidad State next weekend. Saturday's contest against Trinidad will begin at 1 p.m. and will include the unveiling of the national championship banner.

WNCC men fall to Otero 3-1 in rainy conditions

               The Western Nebraska Community College and Otero Junior College men's soccer teams braved the rainy and cold conditions at the Landers Soccer Complex Saturday afternoon, but it was the Rattlers that excelled the most in posting a 3-1 conference victory.

               WNCC coach Todd Rasnic didn't blame the weather conditions on the team's performance considering both teams had to endure the elements.

               "The weather conditions don't matter because both teams are under the same weather conditions," he said. "The other team performed technically well on the field, and finished two goals out of the air. Quite honestly, it is not acceptable of the way we played today."

               The contest, which started 90 minutes later because of a late arriving Otero team, saw both teams trying to figure out the elements in the first half.

               The first 45 minutes turned out to be a defensive battle as each team was fighting the cold rain and wind. The Rattlers, however, snuck a goal in with under 30 seconds to play as Cantu Palombo scored off an assist from Noe Rios for the 1-0 lead.

               The Rattlers went up 2-0 just 11 minutes into the second half as Carlos Rea scored after going one-on-one with Cougar goalkeeper Jesus Alvarado. Otero made it 3-0 with another goal in the 30th minute as Palombo scored his second goal.

               The Cougars had a number of chances in between the Rattlers' goals, but misfired on a number of chances. WNCC finally got on the scoreboard in the 86th minute as Erwin Sanchez scored after taking a pass from Mason Nab.

               Finishing was a big key for the Cougars. Both teams, despite the horizontal rain, combined for 42 shots. Otero finished with 22 shots compared to 20 for the Cougars. The difference was Otero made their shots.

               Rasnic said that the game came down to his team not finishing their opportunities.

               "We played well enough to win the game, but we just didn't finish our opportunities and we gave up two goals that should have never been in the back of our net," he said. "The team has the ability to come together completely by playoffs and finish strong for the season, but we just need to put things together in all areas of the field. We just can't have the defense have a good game, the midfield have a good game, or the forwards. They will have to put it together at the same time. The season is running out."

               Joey Rasnic and Jesus Alvarado shared time in net, each collecting eight saves. Rasnic gave up one goal, while Alvarado gave up two goals.

               The loss drops the Cougars to 2-7 in conference play and 6-8-1 overall. Otero moves to 6-1-1 in conference and 10-2-2 overall. WNCC will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday when they host Western Wyoming Community College at 2 p.m. in the team's final regular season contest. The Cougar women will also host Western Wyoming beginning at 11 a.m.