WEST PLAINS, MO. – The Western
Nebraska Community College volleyball team is off to the Final Four for a ninth
straight year after fighting to win two matches Thursday at the NJCAA national
volleyball tournament in West Plains, Mo.
The Cougars, 39-2, opened the
tournament with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-11 win over Wallace State-Hanceville behind
22 assist blocks.
WNCC then fought for their lives
against North Idaho College, who defeated the Cougars back on Sept. 1. Thursday
night in the quarterfinals, the Cougars received 18 kills from Danika
Youngblood and 15 kills from Kat Agson to drop the Cardinals 26-24, 23-25,
25-16, 25-21 to move into the Final Four against Iowa Western Community College.
WNCC and IWCC will battle Friday night at 5:30 p.m. MST.
The North Idaho contest,
however, was the match of the tournament as the Cougars were getting stung by
momentum-breaking calls especially in the third set where the Cougars received
two yellow cards.
Agson, who had a number of
thundering kills in both matches, said her team survived and stayed forever
strong to move closer to a national title.
“This is unbelievable. We played
our hearts out,” the sophomore hitter from Houston said. “We had to lay everything
on the floor. We just had to put everything to the side and play our game and
play harder than we have ever played before.
“It was the biggest fight that
we had to have tonight. We couldn’t let up at all. All we had to do was play
our game and keep fighting. Even when we had just four points to go, we had to
keep fighting. We could not let up at all.”
Agson said this team has been
fighting all year to get wins and today showed just how much this team wants a
national title with the emotion that the starters and the bench showcased
against North Idaho.
“It was more emotional out there
than any other game we have played this season,” Agson said. “There were a
couple calls that we thought we were getting cheated and of course you have to take
it to heart. If you feel like you are backed into a corner, you come out
fighting and that is what we had to do; we fought.”
A big key in the win against
North Idaho was the team’s potent hitting attack. The Cougars finished with 51
kills as Agson and Youngblood combined for 33 kills. Agson, however, said that
everyone got big kills throughout the match, including seven from Yoro Tovar,
five from Priscila Mendes, four from Megan Johnson, and two from Allora Tanner.
“It is a huge thing for us to
have big hitters. We usually rely on our defense and our serve and pass when we
play our region teams. But when it comes down to the nationals, you have to
come with the big guns. I think all three of us and Allora coming in, everyone
did what they had to do in putting balls away. I also think Megan did a lot
this game.”
The Cougars also received a
triple-double from Luiza Martins, who finished with 38 set assists, 10 points,
and 17 digs. Youngblood had a double-double, collecting 12 digs and six points
to go along with her 18 kills.
Alex Rivera finished the game
with six points and 22 kills, while Mendes had nine digs and nine points; Tasha
Meyer had six points and 12 digs; Tovar had six digs and 10 points.
After the Cougars lost the second set 25-23
and losing a 19-16 lead, the Cougars fought with all their heart to capture the
third set. The Cougars went up 17-12 after Mendes served five points, including
an ace serve and an Agson kill.
The Cougars didn’t falter like
they did in set two and kept fighting in avoiding North Idaho come back, going
up 25-15 on a Johnson kill. After a side out, Johnson came back with another kill
and then Youngblood served the final three points for the win.
The fourth set, the Cougars went
up 6-2 and then later 10-5 on three Tovar points. North Idaho came back to cut
the lead to 15-12, but Martins served five poimts with an Agson block and kill
for a 21-12 lead.
North Idaho tried a comeback,
cutting the lead to 23-18. Agson stopped the rally with a thundering kill and
then Youngblood finished off the match with two kills to put the Cougars in to
the Final Four.
The tourney opener against
Wallace State wasn’t as emotional as the North Idaho contest. Still the Cougars
showed a different side of them as the team blocked with precision with 22
assist blocks and three players with double-double kills. Youngblood had a
double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs, while Agson pounded home 12 kills and
Tovar had 11.
The Cougars didn’t open up the
contest until midway through the second set. WNCC took the first set 25-19 and
were actually down 6-2 and later 13-7 in the second set. That was when the
momentum shifted with a bang. Luiza Martins went on a six-point service run
that was aided by three big kills from Kat Agson and some timely blocking for a
14-13 lead.
The Lions tied the match at
15-15 and that was when the Cougar block party went into high gear as they shut
down the Wallace State hitters for the second set. Late in the second set,
Danika Youngblood, Megan Johnson and Priscila Mendes each had huge kills.
The third set was all WNCC as the
Cougars jumped out to a 7 -1 lead on a Agson and Yoro Tovar block. The Cougars
pushed the lead to 17-3 lead as Tasha Meyer served eight points behind
fine-tuned blocking and hitting. Allora Tanner then finished off the set with a
block and then served the final point for the win.
Tovar also had six assisted
blocks and a solo block. Martins finished with 13 points, five assisted blocks,
seven digs, and 31 set assists.
Also for the Cougars, Agson had
four assisted blocks; Meyer had 13 points, an ace, and eight digs; Alex Rivera
had 10 digs; Megan Johnson had two kills and four assisted blocks; and Priscila
Mendes had three kills, a solo block, and seven digs.
The Cougars will face North
Idaho College at 5:30 CST Thursday for a berth in the Final Four. North Idaho
defeated Hutchinson Community College
First
Round Results
Iowa
Western CC over Temple College – 25-18, 25-18, 25-18
College
of Central Florida over Western Texas College – 25-12, 25-21, 25-14
North
Idaho College over Hutchinson C.C. – 25-20, 25-15, 25-16
Western
Nebraska CC over Wallace State-Hanceville – 25-19, 25-19, 25-11
College
of Southern Idaho over Faulkner Stat3 – 21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-19
Hillsborough
C.C. over Missouri State-West Plains – 25-15, 18-25, 29-31, 25-17, 15-8.
Tyler
Junior College over Redlands CC – 25-15, 25-8, 21-25, 30-28
San
Jacinto over Casper College – 25-13, 25-13, 25-19
Iowa
Western over Central Florida – 31-29, 26-24, 25-23
Western
Nebraska C.C. over North Idaho – 26-24, 23-25,25-16, 25-21
Southern Idaho over Hillsborough – 25-16,
25-21, 25-20
San Jacinto over Tyler J.C. – 25-17. 25-18,
25-23
The
Cougars’ defense was definitely on Tuesday night generating a number of
turnovers and steals. The Cougars finished with 18 steals on the night, with
Ryder benefiting with eight, Brower with three, and Laurin Rivera, Shalisa
Moffit, and Jessica Aratani with two each. Samorodova also blocked three shots
in the win.
The
Cougars continued playing strong the rest of the half. Leading 20-16, the
Cougars went on a 21-6 run to close out the half and a 40-22 halftime lead. The
lead included eight points by Stevens and five points from Ryder on two steals.
Moffit also chipped in a 3-pointer.
