WNCC volleyball set for home opener against EWC on Tuesday

               The Western Nebraska Community College and Eastern Wyoming College volleyball match on Tuesday at Cougar Palace will be a contest between two teams entering with winning streaks.

               The Lancers have hit a positive stride after going 3-1 at the Colby Invite over the weekend, which included wins over Trinidad State, Otero and Clarendon College after opening the tournament falling to ranked Western Texas College.

               The Cougars enter their home opener with a sparkling 8-0 record after sweeping through the Iowa Western Invite two weeks ago and the Salt Lake Invite last weekend. WNCC has now won 14 straight dating back to last November at the Region IX tournament when Northeastern Junior College handed the Cougars a rare defeat.

               The battle of the Highway 26 teams take to the court at 7 p.m. at Cougar Palace. Preceding the college game will be the Leyton and Lingle-Ft. Laramie high school volleyball match.

               EWC coach Verl Petsch said this team made strides over the weekend.

               "I thought we had a very good weekend. We started off with that West Texas group, who was real strong and deep, and we played them competitively," Petsch said. "Obviously we have a very young group which we are still trying to get their feet on the ground. We showed a marked improvement after that first match and played pretty well. We had those typical ups and downs but I was very pleased with our progress and performance over the weekend."

               Petsch said Tuesday's contest is the start of a difficult week as the Lancers face three ranked teams. After facing top-ranked WNCC today, the Lancers will have Casper College, who earned honorable mention votes, on Thursday and then No. 3 Western Wyoming Community College on Friday.

               "You always want a team to go in and be competitive, but I want my team to go out and be successful, and by successful I am referring to in executing of what we do and competing," he said. "if we can do that, we will feel good about our play."

               Petsch said Region IX could be the premier region in the country this year as far as volleyball talent.

               "Region IX is going to show to be one of the premier if not the premier region in the NJCAA this year," he said. "This week is tough for us with the Cougars [today] and then we have Casper who is always strong even though they have stumbled a little bit this year. Then we get Western Wyoming at home, so we are going to see some quality NJCAA volleyball this week. This week will be an educational experience."

               WNCC is one of the top-notch volleyball programs in the country after winning the national championships twice in the last four years. The Cougars also entered this season as the preseason No. 1 ranked team.

               The Cougars showed their depth at this past weekend's Salt Lake Invite where they dropped just one game. swept Northwest (Wyo.) College, No. 7 Salt Lake Community College, College of Eastern Utah, and went four sets against No. 5 College of Southern Idaho.

               The Cougars are led by sophomores Debora Araujo, Fernanda Goncalves and Lais Soares, but also have received stellar play from sophomore Jodi Huddleston and transfer Dani Grace. The Cougars have also seen outstanding play from outside hitter Danika Youngblood and defensive stalwart Alex Rivera at the libero position.

               Araujo is second in the nation in kills, averaging 4.58 kills and has an hitting efficiency of 40 percent. Huddleston is also among the leaders in hitting efficiency as the Scottsbluff graduate is hitting at a pace of 42 percent. Megan Johnson, a freshman, is fifth in the nation in hitting efficiency at 58 percent, while Rivera is third in the nation in digs per game at 5.5. Goncalves is second in the nation in setting at 11.25 per game, just behind Western Wyoming's Makayla Keck at 12.21 per game.

               GAME NOTES: Tonight's action can be heard on the radio at Double Q County 105.9 and can be watched live on the Internet at sports.wncc.edu. Also, it is Pack the Palace promotion night as individual that come dressed in Cougar colors will pay just $1 admission charge. The Cougars next home match will be Monday, Sept. 19 against Iowa Western Community College when they will raise last year's national championship banner.

WNCC women shutout Pratt 10-0

   The Western Nebraska Community College women's soccer team scored seven second-half goals and posted its second consecutive shut out by dropping Pratt Community College 10-0 Saturday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex.
               Ashley Gleason, Bridget Stanton and Celia Carmona each had two goals each in the Cougars second win of the season.
               Stanton, who also had an assist in the contest, said they did well.
               "We played pretty well. I think we are starting to pick it up compared to when we played against Mines," the freshman from Longmont, Colo., said. "We are starting to see where we are at. We are also coming together as a team."
               It didn't take long for WNCC to get on the scoreboard. Just two minutes into the contest, Ashley Gleason took a pass from Ashley Baker and put the ball firmly in the back of the net. The score stayed that way for the next 14 minutes when Breanna Smith scored off a pass from Laura James and floated a shot from the corner into the far corner of the net.
               Gleason recorded her second score with just a minute left in the half taking a perfect pass from Fernanda Acorinte for a 3-0 lead at intermission. WNCC outshot Pratt 18-3 in the first half.
               WNCC expanded on the lead in the second half, scoring seven times as they Cougars peppered the goal constantly during the 45-minute half. Stanton said they did what coach Todd Rasnic told them to do and it paid off.
               "He just told us that we need to come out strong and find feet. That was our biggest thing," she said. "He also said that when we cross we needed to get the ball to the 18s so we would get more opportunities."
               Stanton started the second-half scoring by netting back-to-back goals. The first came with 38 minutes left when she scored on an unassisted goal. Stanton scored her second goal just three minutes later as Kristi Blicharz gave Stanton a perfect pass for the 5--0 lead.
               Acorinte scored the sixth goal as the sophomore took a pass from Stanton, made a turn to the goal and beat the goalie for the easy score. The seventh goal came as Acorinte game an assist to Ariana Herrera for the 7-0 lead.
               Carmona came back with back-to-back goals. The first came with 19 minutes to play off an assist from Gleason while the second goal came with 13 minutes to play. Blicharz got an unassisted goal with 11 minutes left to close out the scoring.
               Stanton said they played solid in the second half.
               "The second half was finding open players and making good passes to feet," she said. "That was the main thing. Also, the defense was doing good."
               WNCC 's second half defense didn't allow on shot on goal by the Beavers. The Cougars outshot Pratt 34-3 as they peppered the net for 16 shots in the second half.
               WNCC, 2-0, will next be in action Wednesday when they face Northwest (Wyo.) College at 10 a.m. in a Region IX contest at the Landers Soccer Complex.

Santos gets the hat trick, Cougar men top Pratt 5-3

Jacob Santos recorded a hat trick to lift the Western Nebraska Community College men's soccer team to a 5-3 win over Pratt Community College on Saturday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex.
               Santos played the match with a little extra weight on the field in the form of a cast on his hand after suffering a broken hand during the preseason. Santos said the cast really doesn't bother him except he is afraid of breaking his other hand.
               "It is hard playing out there with a cast on my hand because I am scared that I will break my other hand so it is hard," he said. "But it felt good to get three goals. I didn't let it go to my head. I just did my best."
               The win was a team effort, Santos said, especially how they played after Pratt tied the match at 3-3.
               "After they tied it, we started to play as a team and we did what we are suppose to do," he said. "We just continued working to get the win."
               Santos said it was a team win as they dominated play the last 25 minutes of the contest.
               "I thought we played good today," the freshman from Louisiana said. "Everybody played as a team and it showed on the field of what we did today."
               WNCC wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as Jose Netto found the ball from a pass from Darwin Carranza to put in a header for a quick 1-0 lead just nine minutes into the contest. That lead stayed that way until Pratt tied the contest with 14 minutes left in the half as Jonathan Hendeson scored.
               WNCC didn't waste any time in going back on top as Santos scored two goals in a matter of minutes. Santos' first goal came with 12 minutes left in the half while his second goal came with 11 minutes left. Both goals were assisted by Kyle Gonzales to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead.
               Pratt came out in the second half with plenty of energy, cutting the lead to 3-2 just one minute into the half on a goal by Nick Bohne. The Beavers tied the contest with 31 minutes left on a goal by Travis Sandy.
               Santos put the Cougars back on top with 23 minutes left as he recorded the hat trick by nailing a shot form outside the box on a shot that rifled into the net. Adhemar Lino solidified the lead by putting the Cougars up by two with a goal. Lino's goal was assisted by Carranza.
               WNCC outshot Pratt 29-13. The big key was how the Cougars shut down the Beavers after tying the contest in the second half. Pratt only had one shot after that tying goal.
               Joey Rasnic started in net, giving up one goal and making seven saves. Jesus Alvarado was in net in the second half, giving up two goals and had just one save.
               WNCC, 2-0-1, will be back in action Wednesday when they host Northwest (Wyo.) College in a Region IX contest beginning at 12 noon at the Landers Soccer Complex. Note the game time change because it was changed on Sunday.

WNCC volleyball team go to 8-0 on the season

   SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team stayed unbeaten on the season after finishing the Salt Lake Invite with a 4-0 record.
               The top-ranked Cougars won both contests on Saturday by topping the College of Eastern Utah 25-11, 25-17, 25-11, before deposing of No. 5 College of Southern Idaho 26-24, 25-22, 23-25, 25-14. WNCC topped Northwest Wyoming and Salt Lake Community College on Friday to go to 8-0 on the season.
               "We played pretty well against Southern Idaho," WNCC coach Giovana Melo said. "We obviously had our ups and down but I think they fought really hard and pulled out the win. We got a little inconsistent at times, but they pulled it out because they played hard."
               In the win against the pre-season ranked No. 5 Golden Eagles, the Cougars had five players finish with eight or more kills. Debora Araujo led the way with 12 kills followed by Lais Soares with 10 kills. Megan Johnson finished with nine kills and Jodi Huddleston and Danika Youngblood had eight kills each.
               The team also played strong defensively with some plenty of defensive digs and blocking. Alex Rivera led the way from the back line finishing with 28 digs. Youngblood, Dani Grace and Fernanda Goncalves each had 11 digs, while Araujo had nine digs. Huddleston and Araujo each had six blocks, while Goncalves had four blocks, and Johnson and Soares with three blocks.
               Goncalves also had 40 set assists and three ace serves and Grace and Johnson had two ace serves.
               In the win over Eastern Utah, Abbey Wade led the way with nine kills and six digs. Aruajo, Soares and Johnson each had six kills in the victory. Aruajo also had three blocks and three aces, while Johnson had two aces and Goncalves with two blocks and 32 set assists.
               Also for the Cougars, Rivera had 11 digs, followed by Tasha Meyer and Grace with five digs.
               Melo was pleased with how the team played in the tournament to finish with a 4-0 mark.
               "It is great to play these type of teams in the beginning to see where we are at," she said. "I am very happy of how we have started out. This group has showed that they are starting to play as a team and show they can be a team. They get along really well off the court and that is transferring to on the court."
               WNCC, 8-0, will next be in action Tuesday when they host Eastern Wyoming College in its home opener. Action begins at 7 p.m. at Cougar Palace. The contest can also be heard on the radio on Double Q Country at 105.9 as well as video streamed on the Internet at sports.wncc.edu.
               "We are excited to play at home and have people come and watch us," Melo said. "They are excited to have our home crowd behind us and show where we are at."

WNCC women open season with 6-0 win over Dodge City

    Bridget Stanton and Kristi Blicharz recorded two goals each and the Western Nebraska Community College women's soccer team opened the season with a shutout 6-0 win against Dodge City Community College Friday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex.
               The Cougar women wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as Stanton took a pass from Breanna Smith just two minutes into the game to set the pace.
               WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said they did OK for the first regular season contest.
               "They came off of those RMAC scrimmages with a good rate of speed. They looked like they can get organized very quickly and do some good things," he said. "Offensively we did some pretty good things and it was a good way to start off the year in the NJCAA. Hopefully we will continue on that track tomorrow ]Saturday} against Pratt and get another positive result."
               WNCC dominated play against Dodge. After Stanton's opening goal, sophomore Blicharz took over, scoring her first goal of the season 17 minutes in the contest off an assist from Celia Carmona. Blicharz scored her second goal just three minutes later off an assist from Smith for a quick 3-0 lead.
               The Cougars went up 4-0 at intermission as Ashley Baker recorded the final goal of the first half in the 44th minute off an assist from Stanton.
               WNCC continued its dominating play in the second half scoring both of their goals in a matter of minutes. Smith netted the first goal off an assist from Fernanda Acorinte in the 21st minute. Stanton finished off the scoring netting her second goal off an assist from Baker.
               Rasnic said they have some players that can find the back of the net this season.
               "We have girls that can certainly find the back of the net," He said. "They seem very good with the ball at their feet. Once they face goal, they have a knack of finding the back of the net. So, we look forward to good things from all the forwards. Those two were kind of highlighted today in some of their play and as the season goes along we will find other players as well. You will see other girls that can finish well.
               Rasnic said some of the areas they need to work on is finishing shots. The Cougars out-shot Dodge City 27-4 with all of DCCC's shots coming in the first half. Tiffany Snethen and Bailey Wenz were in net, each collecting a save.
               "It is a good start but we have a lot of work to do and a lot of things I saw that we need ot do better," Rasnic said. "Hopefully we will get that under control and come on strong."
               The Cougar women will be back in action Saturday when they host Pratt Community College at the Landers Soccer Complex. Action begins at at 12 noon.

WNCC men tie Dodge City 3-3

    The Western Nebraska Community College men's soccer team received a game-tying goal from Jose Netto to salvage a 3-3 tie with Dodge City Community College Friday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex.
               WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said that his team found the will to earn a tie on the day.
               "It was a slow start but obviously we tried to let them know upfront that it can be different from year to year," he said. "Dodge City has done a completely different recruiting job then they have in the past. They are a fantastic squad and it was a great game. Coming back from a 3-1 deficit and then the way we won it at the end of the match is something that will go a long ways in lifting the spirits of the guys in knowing that the never-say-die attitude that we preach in practice will go a long ways.
               "Of course we started slow but the second half we literally dominated them. They ahd three shots in that half and the ball very rarely left our half. We dominated play in the second half and took the game over. We should have done in the first half. We still have work to do to get better and continue to improve. I just take my hat off to the guys today. We played the way champions are made."
               The Cougars earned the tie with a second half that saw them dominate the Conquistadors in scoring two goals. WNCC entered the second 45 minutes trailing 3-1 and were being manhandled by the Dodge City defenders.
               Dodge City wasted dominated the first 30 minutes of play. Just 15 minutes into the game, Victor Millan put the Conquistadors on the board. DCCC went up 2-0 two minutes later as Marcus Moreno netted an unassisted goal.
               WNCC sliced the lead in half with 17 minutes to play on a header by Baboucarr Sarr, who took a pass from Erwin Sanchez off a free kick. The Cougars then missed on a prime opportunity to tie the game a few minutes later when Jose Netto had a penalty kick in which the Dodge City goalkeeper made a diving save.
               That save kept the momentum with Dodge City and the Conquistadors added a third goal when Junior Cruz planted a shot into the upper 90 for a 3-1 halftime lead.
               WNCC made it 3-2 with 23 minutes left in the contest as Sanchez scored off an assist from Netto. The Cougars then earned the gut-wrenching tie as Netto scored in the final minute off a pass form Manolo Garcia-Oronoz.
               WNCC dominated play, out-shooting Dodge City 21-12. The Cougars, however, only had 13 shots on goal.
               Rasnic said the key is for this team to play a complete game intead of only showing up for a half.
               "We need to play a full 90 minute game and not to underestimate your opponent," Rasnic said. " i think that happened a lot today. The guys thought they were going to play a different type of squad. These boys [Dodge City] came ready to play at a high level. What I told them at the end of the game is that we rose to the challenge  We brought the game back under control in the second half. They relaxed and they peppered Dodge City's goal all the time."
               Rasnic said this is a contest they can learn from.
               "We are going to build on this," he said. "I don't like ties, but it is better than a loss. We are just looking at coming out tomorrow [Saturday] when we play Pratt and play our best game."
               WNCC, 1-1, will be back in action Saturday when they host Pratt Community College at 2 p.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex.

WNCC volleyball team picks up two more wins

SALT LAKE CITY – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team continued to cruise Friday, sweeping past Northwest College and Salt Lake Community College at the Salt Lake Invite.

The Cougars opened the tournament with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-16 win over Northwest Wyoming and then followed that up with a huge 25-20, 25-12, 25-23 win over No. 7 Salt Lake Community College. The two wins move the No. 1-ranked Cougars to 6-0 on the season.

Against Northwest, Debora Araujo finished with 13 kills and 12 digs, and Fernanda Goncalves had 13 digs and 31 set assists. Also for the Cougars, Dani Grace had 10 digs; Alex Rivera had 11 digs and two aces; Danika Youngblood had 10 digs, eight kills and three blocks; Jodi Huddleston had four blocks; and Lais Soares had six kills.

Against Salt Lake, Araujo led WNCC with 16 digs, and Youngblood had 11 kills, nine digs, and one ace. Goncalves had eight digs and 32 set assists, while Rivera had 13 digs. Soares finished with six blocks, and Megan Johnson had three blocks and one ace.

The Cougars will finish the Salt Lake Invite today by facing the College of Eastern Utah and No. 5 College of Southern Idaho.

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.