Cougar women notch sixth win of the season

Submitted by By Jeremy Woznick, Scottsbluff Star-Herald Reporter

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team turned back a scrappy Fort Carson Army Base squad to earn an 86-44 win on Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace in Scottsbluff.

While not many style points were awarded in the contest that proved rugged from the start, the Cougars managed to run its season record to 6-1 with the win.

“We played well enough to win,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish said. “We certainly turned the ball over too many times and I don’t think we executed very well offensively. But our defense was as solid as it’s been since the start of the season, which I was happy about.”

WNCC limited Fort Carson to 26.4 percent shooting from the floor in the game.

The Cougars, who have now won four in a row after suffering their only loss of the season in overtime against Colorado Northwestern back on Nov. 10, never trailed following the opening tip. WNCC led 47-22 at halftime before extending its advantage to over the 30-point mark with eight minutes to play in the second half.

WNCC sophomore Kyra Peterson led all scorers in the contest. She poured in 19 points with a trio of 3-pointers. Peterson was joined in double figures by Jessica Aratani and Leona Garrett. Aratani, a freshman from Morrill, netted 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting from the field. Garrett added 11 points and shot 7 of 8 at the free-throw line.

Two other Cougars just missed reaching the double-figure scoring column. Lisa Durden finished with nine points and Kelsey Doddridge added eight.

Harnish said he was pleased with his team’s offensive performance when the Cougars managed to run their offense, which is something he wants to see more often.

“When we run our offense, we certainly can be very good,” Harnish said. “But we struggled to get into our sets offensively. They [Fort Carson] did a good job of denying the wing on us. We have to create better habits offensively so we can execute no matter what the defense is taking away from us or what the score is.”

As a team, the Cougars shot 45.5 percent from the field. WNCC also finished 7 of 16 from behind the 3-point line led by Peterson. The Cougars shot 19 of 31 at the free-throw line.

WNCC held a slight 42-41 edge in rebounding. Garrett paced the Cougars on the glass with eight boards. Aratani and Idil Ozbayrak each tracked down six rebounds, while ChaCha Ofoegbu had five.

Jasmine Shaffer, Peterson and Doddridge all collected four steals each for WNCC.

Samantha Sanders dished out a team-high five assists for the Cougars from her point-guard position, while Peterson and Doddridge each handed out four helpers.

Angela Goodman led Fort Carson in scoring with 10 points. Latrica Perryman pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

WNCC will return to action on Thursday and Friday when it hosts the Thanksgiving Classic. The Cougars will play Colorado Northwestern on Thursday at 7 p.m. before taking on Oglala Lakota on Friday at 5 p.m.

Harnish said he hopes to see continued improvement as his team prepares for conference play next semester.

“These are preseason games. It’s nice to get wins, but the important thing is that we keep getting better for conference play,” Harnish said. “We’re still trying to learn what each player does best and what our best combinations are to put out on the floor. We’re just trying to use these games to get better as a team and to make each player better individually.”



Fort Carson                22 22 — 44

WNCC (6-1)                47 39 — 86

FORT CARSON

Adrian William 6, Latrica Perryman 5, Angela Goodman 10, Sarah Clark 4, Dee Bowens 4, Chris Brennan 7, Kenyatta Bell 2, Jakie Kershaw 2, Kenya Howard 4.

WNCC

Samantha Sanders 6, Jasmine Shaffer 4, Leona Garrett 11, Lisa Durden 9, Kyra Peterson 19, ChaCha Ofoegbu 2, Idil Ozbayrak 5, Kelsey Dodridge 8, Jessica Aratani 15, Ajsa Zdovc 7.

WNCC volleyball team falls in four sets in Final Four at nationals

                WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Western Wyoming Community College volleyball team received a double-double from libero Cori Perrault and the Mustangs ended the Western Nebraska Community College Cougar’s bid for back-to-back national titles with a four-set win Friday evening in the semifinals of the NJCAA national championships.

                WNCC came back from a 7-point deficit in the opening set to capture the set 28-26. After that, the Mustangs’ energy level was high octane as Perrault finished with 19 digs and 11 service points in rolling to three straight set wins 25-19, 25-16, 25-18 to earn the schools’ first-ever berth in the championship match.

                The Cougars, even though their dream of back-to-back titles is over, still have a chance to bring a trophy back to western Nebraska as they play San Jacinto College in the third place contest Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (MST). Western Wyoming will face Blinn College for the title. Blinn earned a trip to the national championship match with a 27-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-22 win over San Jacinto.

                Saturday’s third place showdown will be a rematch of last year’s title match in which WNCC defeated San Jacinto in five sets. And, for the 40-2 Cougars, the third place contest will be a chance for them to finish the season strong.

                WNCC sophomore Lais Soares said this loss is hard to take, but said head coach Giovana Melo gave them an emotional speech afterwards reminding them they are still winners and they played heard with a lot of heart.

                “She said to keep our heads up and that we played hard and played with heart,” the sophomore rightside hitter said while fighting back tears. “It  is real hard to find words to express this feeling right now. We wanted to go to the finals especially for our sophomores but we played hard. We have to come and play hard for third place. We did a good job.”

                WNCC gave it their all, but that all wasn’t enough to stop a Western Wyoming team that had luck and energy on their side. In fact, every time WNCC made a run and got up by two or three points, the Mustangs found a will and a way to come back.

                Soares said while her team played well and tried their best, Western Wyoming was just a little better on the night.

                “They are a really good team, too. They came with heart and today they were better and that is fine,” Soares said. “But, I think this team played really good. They played together and really hard. We didn’t have too much luck but I am still proud for this team.”

                Both teams played with spirit and the first set the tone. Western Wyoming forged to a 13-6 lead behind five points from Perrault, but WNCC immediately answered back as Danika Youngblood went on a six-point service run of her own highlighted by Jodi Huddleston’s front row play to put WNCC up 15-13.

                The lead didn’t last long as the Mustangs went up 20-18 only to see WNCC come back to take a 23-22 lead on a Huddleston block. Both teams traded sideouts until Debora Araujo hammered home three straight kills for the first set win.

                The second set saw the Mustangs lead from start to finish except for the four ties that was in the set. What set the Mustangs off from the Cougars was Western Wyoming managed a couple key service runs, including a run by Kortnie Christensen for a 13-8 lead and then a huge 3-point run by Perrault for a 22-14 lead.

                The third set saw WNCC jump to a 2-1 lead before Christensen went on a 4-point service run for a 6-2 lead. WNCC cut the lead to three points on a couple occasions, but Makayla Keck slammed any hope of a comeback with a 6-point service run for a 23-12 lead.

                WNCC came out in the fourth set inspired as they jumped to a 9-5 lead behind a Taylor VanderWerff kill and later led 13-10 on a Araujo kill. But the Mustangs’ strong serving was too much  as Keck had two points to tie the contest at 13-13 and then Olivera Medic and Perrault had five combined points to put the Mustangs up 21-15.

                Perrault not only had a double-double, but she also had two aces in the contest. Medic paced the Mustangs with 17 kills and four solo blocks, while Arielle Allen had 15 kills, two solo blocks and four assisted blocks.

                WNCC was paced by Araujo’s double-double of 23 kills and 14 digs. Aruajo also had four solo blocks. Danika Youngblood also finished with a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs.

                Also for the Cougars, Alex Rivera had 13 digs; VanderWerff had four kills; Soares had four kills and three digs; Fernanda Goncalves had 15 digs and 45 set assists; Huddleston had three kills and four blocks; Dani Grace had seven digs; and Megan Johnson had seven kills and two blocks.

Friday;s Results

Match 13 - Temple def. Barton, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-22)
Match 14 - North Idaho def. Western Texas, 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 26-24)
Match 15 - Miami Dade def. Gadsden State, 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-20)
Match 16 - Mineral Area def. Wallace State, 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-23)
Match 17 - Iowa Western def. Central Florida, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20)
Match 18 - Southern Idaho def. Eastern Arizona, 3-2 (23-25,19-25,25-22,25-18,15-7)
Match 19 - North Idaho def. Temple, 3-1 (25-22, 25-19,18-25,25-23)
Match 20 - Mineral Area def. Miami Dade, 3-1 (28-26,25-22,17-25,25-23)
Match 21 - Western Wyoming def. Western Nebraska 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-16, 25-18)
Match 22 - Blinn def. San Jac 3-1 (27-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-22)

Saturday;s Matches (All times MST)
9 a.m. -- North Idaho vs. Mineral Area 9th Place
Noon - Central Florida vs. Eastern Arizona 7th Place
1:30 p.m. - Iowa Western vs. Southern Idaho 5th Place
3:30 p.m. - Western Nebraska vs. San Jac 3rd Place
5:30 p.m.  - Blinn vs. Western Wyoming (Championship)

WNCC women down Colorado Christian JV 77-43

Story courtesy of Dave Brunz, Star-Herald Sports Reporter

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team showcased a balanced attack on both offense and defense as the Cougars downed the Colorado Christian JV squad 77-43 Thursday night at Cougar Palace.

The win extends the Cougars’ season to 5-1 overall.

“Tonight’s game showed some balanced scoring,” WNCC sophomore Kyra Peterson said after the game. “You can see we’re all contributing. We are doing pretty well with getting our offense and defense situated.”

Despite a sluggish start to the first half, the Cougars found some rhythm midway through when Leona Garrett hit a 3-pointer that sparked a 13-1 Cougar run to put them up 27-16 late in the half. Colorado Christian was only able to muster nine more points in the frame after that, while WNCC closed it out with a 10-2 run to extend the lead, 41-25 at halftime.

Although Colorado Christian showed signs of life in the first half by going 9 of 20 from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line, WNCC stiffened up and held Christian to just 18 second-half points and 34.7 percent shooting for the game. Additionally, WNCC played a clean second half after not allowing a Colorado Christian JV free throw in the second half.

Peterson, who finished the night with 13 points, said that this year’s squad has really stepped up on defense, and is playing a lot better in the paint, which helps to jumpstart their offensive production.

“Our defense is getting to the point where other teams know that Western Nebraska is a threat,” she said. “We are finally rebounding again. We are blocking out well and it shows that we are tough defensively. That leads to our offensive play.”

The second half was all WNCC.

Up 45-30, the Cougars got the train rolling again when Kelsey Doddridge converted the three-point foul early on in the half. After free throws by Garrett and Jessica Aratani, WNCC erupted again for a 21-6 run to close out the game.

WNCC won the battle of the boards on the night after out-rebounding Colorado Christian 39-23, more than doubling the Christian JV squad 48.4 percent to 22.6 percent on the offensive side.

WNCC was equally impressive off the bench, out-scoring the Colorado Christian JV’s 34-7 in the contest.

The Cougars were led by a pair of sophomores as Peterson and Samantha Sanders tallied 13 points apiece. Additionally, Sanders added eight assists, while Peterson finished with three.

Colorado Christian JV was paced by Laura Magee with 15 points and five rebounds, while Staci Davis followed with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Cougars will next see action when they take on Fort Carson Army Base on Saturday at 2 p.m.

CCJV                 25 18 — 43
WNCC (5-1)     41 36 — 77
CCJV — Magee 15, Davis 10, Haleigh Spaulding 5, Sloane Lindsey 5, Erika Heckman 4, Joelle Anderson 2, Kelsie Hert 2.
WNCC — Samantha Sanders 13, Kyra Peterson 13, Kelsey Doddridge 10, Ajsa Zdove 9, Leona Garrett 8, ChaCha Ofoegbu 7, Jessica Aratani 7,  Idil Ozbayrak 6, Lisa Durden 2, Jasmine Shaffer 2.

WNCC volleyball team back in the Final Four, captures 40th win of the season

                 WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team found themselves back in the Final Four for the eighth straight year after two sweeping performances in the first day of the NJCAA national volleyball tournament in West Plains, Mo., on Thursday.

                The Cougars received a 10-kill performance from Jodi Huddleston and a 17-point serving performance from Tasha Meyer as the Cougars easily controlled Western Texas College 25-16, 25-14, 25-4 in the first round.

                WNCC coach Giovana Melo then hooked up against former teammate Flavia Siqeira in the second round and the Cougars swept past the Patriots 25-17, 25-19, 25-15 behind a 15-kill performance from Debora Araujo to move the Cougars into the semifinals and a match-up of No. 3 seed and Region IX North tournament champion Western Wyoming Community College Friday at 5:30 p.m. (MST).

                Melo said this team played pretty well even though they lost a little focus at times against Central Florida.

                “I think we came out strong in both games that we played,” the fourth-year head coach said. “We were ready to go and I think the girls are excited. They know what they are here for and now we are a top four team in the country.”

                The Cougars, however, stayed tough in both contests. Melo said that as well as they played on Thursday, they will have to play even tougher in the semifinals against a good Mustang team, who also swept its two opponents. Western Wyoming defeated Barton Community College 25p13, 25-21, 25-19, and then topped Iowa Western Community College 25-15, 25-13, 25-22.

                “It definitely will be a dogfight,” she said. “But it feels great to be in the Final Four and it is something that I am proud of the girls for. I have been excited of how they have been playing the entire season.  I am very proud of them.”

                WNCC, however, was hitting on cylinders in both matches on Thursday. Against Central Florida, who came in with a 41-6 record, they opened up tight contests with pin-point serving and some monster kills to get the victory for the team’s 40^th win of the season.

                “We came out mentally ready and they were on the top of their game,” she said. “Here and there we lost our focus, but we knew what we needed to be and what we needed to do the whole time.

                In the opening set against Central Florida, WNCC held a slim 8-6 lead before the Cougars went on mini service runs, including a5-point run by Lais Soares for a 22-12 lead, which allowed WNCC cruise to the opening set win 25-17.

                The second set was intense with WNCC holding an 8-5 lead early only to watch the Patriots to cut the lead to 14-12. Danika Youngblood changed the momentum with a huge kill and then Soares had five straight points fro a 20-12 lead. Araujo hammered home her seventh and eighth kills of the set for the win.

                WNCC led just 8-5 early in set three before Meyer went on a 5-point service run for a 17-5 lead. After that, the two squads had sideout after sideout before Youngblood served the final two points.

                Youngblood and Araujo powered the Cougars to the victory. Araujo finished with 15 kills, eight digs, five points and two aces, while Youngblood had nine kills, nine digs, two blocks, and six points.

                Also for the Cougars, Soares had six kills, three digs, 10 points and two aces; Fernanda Goncalves had 31 set assists and seven digs; Alex Rivera had 12 digs; Dani Grace had five digs; Huddleston had five kills, four blocks, and six digs; Megan Johnson had three kills and three blocks; and Meyer had three digs and six points.

                In the opener, WNCC lead 99 percent of the time and completely dominated the third set behind an 11-point service run by Meyer. That service run also saw fine frontline play from Huddleston and Abbey Wade as each player pounded home two kills in the stretch. Wade then finished off the match with three-straight service points, including Scottsbluff graduate Huddleston pounding home her ninth and 10^th kill of the match.

                WNCC opened the match on a role, zooming to a 10-2 lead behind five service points from Debora Araujo and three from Meyer. Western Texas cut the lead to 15-10 before WNCC pushed the lead back to 20-12 on a Aruajo kill and service point before Goncalves served out the first game win.

                The second game saw WNCC jump out to a 6-3 lead before Western Texas fought back to take their first lead of the match at 7-6 behind three service points from Gabriella Feliciano. With the score tied at 8-8, Huddleston pounded home a kill and then Rivera served up six points for a 15-8 lead. WNCC pushed the lead to 19-10 before Huddleston finished off game two with another one of her hammering kills.

                WNCC finished with 42 kills in the match as eight different Cougars managed at least two kills. Huddleston paced the team with 10, followed by Araujo with nine, Danika Youngblood with eight, Lias Soares with six and Wade with three.

                Also for the Cougars, Huddleston finished with two kills; Fernanda Goncalves had 31 set assists and 12 digs; Araujo had two aces and seven digs; Youngblood, Rivera, and Araujo each had seven digs; Dani Grace had five digs, and Meyer had four digs.

Thursday’s Scores

Western Wyoming over Barton CC 25-13, 25-21, 25-19

Iowa Western over Temple 25-20, 25-22, 25-17

College of Central Florida over North Idaho 26-24, 28-26, 25-12

Western Nebraska over Western Texas College 25-16, 25-14, 25-4

Blinn over Gadsden State 25-11, 25-13, 25-12

Eastern Arizona over Miami Dade 25-19, 25-17, 18-25, 25-18

Southern Idaho over Mineral Area 23-25, 25-17. 25-20, 25-17

San Jacinto over Wallace State-Hanceville 21-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-20

Western Wyoming over Iowa Western 25-15, 25-13, 25-22

Western Nebraska over Central Florida 25-17, 25-19, 25-15

San Jacinto over Southern Idaho 25-21, 25-21, 25-20

Blinn College ovvr Eastern Arizona 23-25, 23-25, 26-24, 25=20, 15-6

WNCC volleyball opens national tournament with sweep over Western Texas College

                WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Western Nebraska Community College’s Jodi Huddleston pounded home 10 kills and Tasha Meyer had 17 service points as the No. 2 Cougars swept past Western Texas Community College 25-16, 25-14, 25-4 to advance to the quarterfinal round of the NJCAA national tournament in West Plains, Mo.

                The Cougars will face the College of Central Florida at 4:30 p.m. (MST). Central Florida swept past North Idaho College in three hard-fought games 26-24, 28-26, 25-12. The winner of the evening contest will move into the semifinals and play either Iowa Western or Western Wyoming, who were both winners in the first matches of the tournament. Western Wyoming defeated Barton Community College 25-13, 25-21, 25-19, while Iowa Western got by Temple College 25-20, 25-22, 25-17. The semifinals are slated for Friday evening.

                WNCC, however lead 99 percent of the time in the Cougars’ opening match and completely dominated in the third set behind an 11-point service run by Meyer. That service run also saw fine frontline play from Huddleston and Abbey Wade as each player pounded home two kills in the stretch. Wade then finished off the match with three-straight service points, including Scottsbluff graduate Huddleston pounding home her ninth and 10^th kill of the match.

                Freshman libero Alex Rivera said this team played well, especially in the third set.

                “I thought we played good. We have been working on moving on from our mistakes and today I think we accomplished that goal,” she said. “In that third set, we showed our confidence since we stepped on the floor in the warm-up. I think the key to success is to trust in your talents. We have been working hard in practice for like four months and now we are getting to what we have been looking for.”

                WNCC opened the match on a role, zooming to a 10-2 lead behind five service points from Debora Araujo and three from Meyer. Western Texas cut the lead to 15-10 before WNCC pushed the lead back to 20-12 on a Aruajo kill and service point before Goncalves served out the first game win.

                The second game saw WNCC jump out to a 6-3 lead before Western Texas fought back to take their first lead of the match at 7-6 behind three service points from Gabriella Feliciano. With the score tied at 8-8, Huddleston pounded home a kill and then Rivera served up six points for a 15-8 lead. WNCC pushed the lead to 19-10 before Huddleston finished off game two with another one of her hammering kills.

                WNCC finished with 42 kills in the match as eight different Cougars managed at least two kills. Huddleston paced the team with 10, followed by Araujo with nine, Danika Youngblood with eight, Lias Soares with six and Wade with three.

                Also for the Cougars, Huddleston finished with two kills; Fernanda Goncalves had 31 set assists and 12 digs; Araujo had two aces and seven digs; Youngblood, Rivera, and Araujo each had seven digs; Dani Grace had five digs, and Meyer had four digs.

WNCC ready to add to career win record at national tournament beginning Thursday

                 The 13 players on the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team have a chance to be a part of history when the Cougars make a remarkable 13^th straight trip to the NJCAA national tournament.

                WNCC not only will have a chance to win back-to-back national titles when they take to the court Thursday, but they will also have a chance to add more highlights to a volleyball year which included being ranked No. 1 for much of the season.

                The Cougars have impressively rolled to a 38-1 season and have only dropped games in four matches this season. What many don’t realize, however, this storied program has the chance to put a couple more stamps of excellence into the record books.

                WNCC volleyball first took to the courts in 1974, and now in its 38^th year, these 13 girls have a chance to move the program closer to 1,100 career wins. The Cougars currently have a 1,094-518-5 overall win-loss-tie record. The Cougars need just three wins to accomplish that milestone and that trek begins against Western Texas College Thursday morning at 10 a.m.

                WNCC fourth-year head coach Giovana Melo, who also played for this storied program in 2001 and 2002, said as usual, there is nerves playing at the national tournament.

                “There is obviously a little bit of nerves coming into a national tournament, but I think that goes with everybody and every team,” she said. “No matter how experienced they are or how they have been playing, there will be some nerves, but it is more like anxiety to just there and start playing. I think they will be ready when it comes down to it.”

                The Cougars definitely know what it takes to win at the national tournament. WNCC enters as the defending champions after capturing the title last season with a five-set, heart-pounding win over San Jacinto College. The championship was the programs second national title in four years after winning its first national crown in school history in 2007.

                WNCC’s success at nationals has been consistent in recent years, where the Cougars have appeared in the Final Four the last seven years, and have finished in the top four nine of the past 10 seasons. And, to accomplish this feat, it is not easy as anything is possible at the national tournament. The Cougars first trip to nationals came in 1988 when they finished fifth in the nation, but ever since Chris Green took over as head coach in 1999, the Cougars have been a regular participant at nationals.

                Even more impressive to the Cougars consistent winning ways is the fact that this program has won 30-plus matches the past 15 seasons. WNCC has also won 40 or more matches in 11 straight seasons and needs two win at nationals to keep that streak alive.

                To even achieve what the Cougars have accomplished at nationals in the previous 12 trips is amazing considering Melo said that all 16 participants are at nationals for a reason -- because they won their region and have one goal in mind, a national title.

                “When you get to nationals, you can say this team is the best or this team is coming in with a little bit of an advantage, it is nothing like that at nationals,” she said. “Every team that is there, is there because they have done something good throughout their season and they are there because they earned it. So, anybody we play will come ready to go and play their hardest in this tournament.”

                WNCC’s trek to a national title will definitely not be easy. The Cougars open against Western Texas College (21-12) and even though they have beat Western Texas earlier in the season, this team has to be ready.

                The road doesn’t get any easier to accomplish a national title, or move the program even closer to the program’s 1,100^th career victory. After their opener, WNCC will then play the winner or loser of the contest between North Idaho College (22-9) and College of Central Florida (40-6). Also on the Cougar’s side of the bracket, and a possible semifinal matchup are Western Wyoming Community College and Iowa Western Community College (42-7).

                Iowa Western is the only team to defeat the Cougars this season, dropping them in four games. WNCC defeated Western Wyoming in straight sets back in September. Also, the interesting match-up could be in the second round against Central Florida as Melo could coach against her former WNCC teammate Flavia Siqueira. Both players played for WNCC in 2001.

                Through it all, Melo said the players know what the tradition of Cougar volleyball is all about.

                “The freshmen have realized the tradition and what it takes to win by winning Region IX and what this program is all about,” she said. “They will experience the tournament atmosphere at the beginning and it will take the sophomores to lead them as the tournament goes on.”

                Melo said, however, this team is focused at the task at hand and excited for post-season play whatever the outcome might be.

                “We are ready,” she said. “We definitely need to be focused and they just need to give their all at every point and every play. If it turns out that we win it; that is great. But, if we give it our all and it turns out that someone else is better than us at the moment; that is OK. They are ready to play their hearts out.”

Thursday, Nov. 17

First Round

8 a.m. – Western Wyoming vs. Barton C.C.; Iowa Western vs. Temple College

10 a.m. – North Idaho vs. College of Central Florida; WNCC vs. Western Texas College

Noon – Blinn College vs. Gadsden State; Eastern Arizona vs. Miami Dade.

2 p.m. – College of Southern Idaho vs. Mineral Area College; San Jacinto vs. Wallace State-Hanceville.