The
third-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team continued to
flash its offensive depth in sweeping past two more opponents in the second day
of the Wyo-Braska Invite on Saturday.
The
Cougars opened up the day as Danika Youngblood pounded home 18 kills as the
Cougars rolled over No. 20 Central Wyoming College 25-7, 25-19, 25-19, before
the Cougars combined for 40 kills in a sweep over Northwest Wyoming 25-17,
25-13, 25-20 to finish the tournament unbeaten at 4-0.
Luiza
Martins, who recorded 72 set assists in the two matches, likes the offensive
arsenal she has to choose from.
“I
have confidence in all the girls [hitters],” Martins, who only has been setting
since 2009, said. “I think having all these hitters along with good passing has
helped me a lot. They [the players] give me confidence so I can play with the
girls.”
Overall,
while the Cougars swept both opponents, Martins said they have a habit of
sometimes letting up and letting teams back into sets. Fortunately, each time
that happened, one of the hitters would come through with a big kill.
“I
think we played well,” Martins said. “I think we need to be better because in
the third games we go down and we need to do a better job at that. But, we are
playing good. We are always ready to play.”
Martins,
the freshman setter from Brazil, said she has learned how to play American
volleyball.
“I love
playing with this team and I am learning a lot of things,” she said. “I am from
Brazil and there we play way different than here. When we are winning, it is
just an amazing feeling.”
WNCC
has been doing a lot of winning as of late. The Cougars have won 15 straight
matches and have dropped just four games in their last 14 matches. Saturday was
another dominating performance from the Cougars.
In
the opening match against ranked Central Wyoming, The Cougars blew out the
Rustlers in the first set, winning 25-7. They accomplished it with great
serving as martins started things with a four-point service run, followed by
Tasha Meyer with a four-point run to put the score at 13-3. Later, Alex Rivera
had a four-point run for a 20-6 lead before Martin finished out the set with
four straight points.
The
next two sets were tighter. In the second set, WNCC held a 20-13 lead only to
watch Central Wyoming come back to cut the lead to 22-19. After a missed serve,
Martins finished off the set with two service points.
The
third set saw the Cougars build a 16-11 lead only to watch the Rustlers cut the
deficit to 16-13. WNCC rebounded as they went up 21-14 on two Youngblood points
and a kill. She even had a backrow kill during her serving rotation that she
sent so hard that it made a dent in the floor.
WNCC
had a multitude of offensive starts in the win. Youngblood finished the match
with 18 kills, three blocks, 17 digs and 10 points. Priscila Menes and Megan
Johnson each finished with seven kills. Johnson also had five assisted blocks,
five digs, and four points; while Mendes had two blocks, 10 digs and four
points.
Also for the Cougars, Agson had two kills; Yoro Tovar had three
kills and three blocks; Martins had two blocks, 39 set assists, 13 points and
15 digs; Tasha Meyer had seven points and 10 digs; Alex Rivera had 18 digs and
two aces; and Allora Tanner and Taylor VanderWerff each had two kills.
The Cougars kept spreading
around the offense in the win against Northwest. In the opening game, WNCC
built a 10-5 lead and led by as much as 16-11 before the Trappers sliced the
lead to 18-16. Agson then powered home a kill and Meyer served four straight
points for a 23-16 lead. WNCC won on a Youngblood service point.
The second set saw the Cougars
hold a slim 7-6 lead before starting to open up the contest in taking a 16-9
lead and led by as much as 19-10 on two Youngblood kills. Rivera finally
finished off the set with three service points as Tovar hammered home the last
point.
WNCC
opened the third set 6-0 before the Trappers came back to tie things at eight
on five points from Ana Jakovljevic. Both teams were knotted at 12-12 before
WNCC opened things behind a Tanner kill and three Rivera points for a 16-12
lead.
Northwest
battled back to within two, 21-19, but after a missed serve, Meyer served up
two points and WNCC would won the match on a Trapper missed serve.
Youngblood
led the way with 13 kills and nine digs. Tovar also pounded home 11 kills with
three blocks, while Mendes had seven kills, three blocks, and eight digs.
Also
for the Cougars, Agson had four kills; Martins had two kills, two blocks, six
digs, and 32 set assists; Johnson had two kills; Rivera had 13 digs and two
aces; and Meyer and five digs.
Martins
said the team is a little tired right know, but they will be ready for next
week when the Cougars host four matches, beginning on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against
McCook Community College. After that, they will host Otero Junior College on
Thursday, Lamar Community College on Friday, and Trinidad State on Saturday.
Martins
said this team has improved by leaps and bounds from the beginning of they
year.
“We
can’t compare the improvement from the beginning of the year,” she said. “At
the beginning we were lost and now I think we are improving step by step and we
are playing well.”
Saturday’s Scores
@ WNCC
Cowley County over Sheridan, 25-12, 25-16, 25-14
Casper over Air Force Prep, 25-11, 25-14, 25-23
WNCC over Central Wyoming, 25-7, 25-19, 25-19
Casper over Dawson, 25-18, 25-17, 25-9
Cowley County over Laramie County, 25-20, 25-12, 25-15
WNCC over Northwest, 25-17, 25-14, 25-20
Laramie County over NJC, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15, 33-31
@ EWC
Northwest over Dawson, 25-12, 25-15, 25-7
Western Wyoming over Lamar, 25-8, 25-12, 24-26, 25-22
Seward over EWC, 25-27, 25-23, 25-18, 25-27, 15-13
Western Wyoming over NJC, 28-26, 25-18, 21-25, 25-19
Sheridan vs. Air Force Prep
EWC vs. Lamar
Seward vs. Central Wyoming
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