WNCC women fall to Northwest Wyoming

                 The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team was outshot 16-7, including 8-1 in the second half, to fall 2-0 to Northwest (Wyo.) College in a Region IX Conference contest Wednesday morning at the Landers Soccer Complex.

                WNCC women’s coach Todd Rasnic said it wasn’t so much that they didn’t play well; his team just couldn’t break down the Northwest defense and get shots on goal.

                “If you look at the game, we possessed the game well. We had good development up until the back line of the defense of our opponent,” he said. “We just really had no success in getting our forwards into space and getting many shots off today. You can’t win games unless you can shoot the ball. “

                The Cougars shot selection was limited severely by the Trapper defense in the second half. The first half was a pretty even contest as both Region IX teams hooked up in a humdinger. Northwest outshot the Cougars 8-6.

                A big defining moment in the contest was the play of Cougar freshman goalkeeper Bailey Wenz. Wenz made four critical saves, but the big one came with 20 minutes into the contest when Wenz made a leaping save to thwart a Northwest goal.

                Both teams kept battling with neither giving an inch. WNCC had two prime scoring chances on practically back-to-back shots with five minutes to play in the first half, but neither would go in. Northwest finally answered with a minute to play in the first half as the Trappers’ Miriam Gelderloos scored to give Northwest the 1-0 halftime lead.

                WNCC came out strong in the second half as Kristi Blicharz had an excellent shot on goal to tie the contest just five minutes into the half, but Northwest goalkeeper Morgan Cox made a super save. Cox then delivered the ball to Samiha Simao, who took the ball the distance and found net just 11 seconds after Blicharz’ goal for the 2-0 lead.

                Neither team scored the rest of the way as any potential threat of a Cougar scoring opportunity was extinguished by a scrappy Trapper defense.

                Rasnic said Northwest really didn’t dominate play; it was just the fact that when you can’t shoot, you can’t win.

                “They didn’t dominate any play, but when you are not developed well enough on the offensive side of the ball and you let a team hang around long enough in a game, they will get some goals in,” he said. “Soccer is kind of weird like that. If you don’t have someone proficient at taking on defenders and getting in space behind the defense, it is pretty tough to win games.”

                Northwest not only outshot the Cougars 16-7, they also had two corner kicks to zero for the Cougars.

                WNCC, 2-1, will next be in action next Wednesday when they travel to Cheyenne, Wyo., to face Laramie County Community College. Northwest moves to 4-0 on the season and will next be in action Friday when they host North Idaho College.

                “We have some stuff to work on,” Rasnic said. “We will see how well we progress in this next week in training and hopefully we will come out stronger and be able to put a team on the field that can finish a game.”

Region IX Standings

Team                             Region IX             Overall

Northwest                  2-0-0                      4-0-0

LCCC                              1-0-0                      2-1-0

W. Nebraska              0-1-0                      2-1-0

W. Wyoming              0-2-0                      0-2-0

Wednesday’s games

Northwest 2, WNCC 0

LCCC 8, WWCC 0

WNCC volleyball opens home campaign with sweep over EWC

                 The No. 1 ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team used a balanced hitting attack and brushed off the butterflies in opening the home portion of their season with a 25-8, 25-21, 25-21 sweep over Eastern Wyoming College in front of a nearly packed Cougar Palace Tuesday night.

                The Cougar, however, didn’t play their best in the second and third sets but a lot of that was the never-say-die attitude the EWC team displayed on the court.

                Megan Johnson, a freshman from Sandy, Utah, said the nervous had a lot to play in the Cougar’s performance on the night.

                “We did OK, but we could have done better,” Johnson, who finished with six kills and three blocks, said. “I think the nerves got the best of all of us, but we pulled it out. There were a lot of nerve and I know I was really nervous at the beginning.”

                The Cougar’s quickness was a deciding factor early on and it left EWC coach Verl Petsch wondering how to stop WNCC’s quick play.

                “We have been a slow starter most of the year and we are fighting to get that taken care of and obviously it showed up some tonight,” he said. “We just seem not to get going like we should in terms of the quickness. I thought early on the Cougars’ quickness was huge. They are an extremely quick team and we didn’t adjust to the quickness early.”

                WNCC steamrolled to the first set victory, jumping out to a 12-6 lead before Alex Rivera went on a 9-point service run that was aided by the net play of Johnson who had two blocks and kill down the middle to lead 22-7. The Cougars never looked back in earning the 25-8 win.

                The second set wasn’t much different from the first early on as WNCC rushed to a 13-7 lead on two kills by Taylor VanderWerff before Fernanda Goncalves served four points to push the score to 18-9. That was when the Lancers shifted gears and made a comeback.

                Trailing 21-9, a missed serve put the service into the Lancer’s Karsen Dingman’s hand. The freshman from Rawlins, Wyo., served three points to bring EWC back to 21-13. After WNCC went up 23-14, another missed serve gave the Lancers some more hope. This time, Chelsea Jones served five straight points to cut the deficit to 23-20.

                Austin Daley hammered home two kills to make the score 24-21, but a Goncalves and VanderWerff block gave the Cougars the victory.

                WNCC started the third set with a bang as VanderWerff started things with a kill and then Debora Araujo served five points for a 6-0 lead. WNCC pushed the lead to 13-3 on an Abbey Wade kill and three service points.

                WNCC led 17-7 at one point before the Lancers fought back. It all started with a kill from Amanda Firth and then Dakota Clough had four points to cut the deficit to 17-12. The Lancers cut the lead to 19-15 kill by Daley. WNCC went up 23-16 before Firth had another kill and Daley served three points to slice the lead to 23-20.

                VanderWerff ended the service run with a kill and then Araujo sent the game-winning kill home for the Cougars ninth victory of the season to no defeats.

                WNCC had a balanced attack, led by Araujo with nine kills, Danika Youngblood with eight, Lais Soares with seven and Johnson and VanderWerff with six each. The Cougars also put up a mean block, led by Soares’ five blocks followed by Johnson, VanderWerff and Jodi Huddleston with three each.

                Johnson said there is plenty of explosiveness on this team.

                “The hitters are very explosive,” she said. “They hitters are smart hitters and all the sophomore hitters are good hitters to help the freshmen out.”

                Also for the Cougars, Goncalves finished the contest with two blocks, 41 set assists and 10 digs. Rivera finished with 17 digs and seven points, Wade finished with three digs, four kills and seven points, Araujo added 11 digs, Dani Grace had nine digs, and Youngblood had four digs.

                Petsch said from what he saw tonight, there is no doubt that the Cougars deserve to be the top-ranked team in the nation.

                “I would say they are much, much quicker than last year’s team,” he said. “They are more athletic than they were last year. I am not sure I saw as much power as they did last year, but I am not sure they were trying to play that way. Right know there is no question they are the best team in the nation. I think they deserve to be at that point after what we saw tonight.”

                The Lancers held their own against the Cougars in the second and third set. EWC was paced by Daley with eight kills followed by Dingman with four. Clough finished with 17 digs, while Alanna Freel had five blocks and Abby Welniak had four blocks. Kassie Woodie finished with eight set assists and Shelby Brewer had five.

                EWC, 6-5, will have a tough week as they host Casper College on Thursday and No. 3 Western Wyoming Community College on Friday. Petsch said they can use this game to get ready for these two important Wyoming Conference contests.

                “We know tomorrow [Wednesday] we have to work on some of that quickness and some other things that showed up tonight,” he said. “Both the teams that are coming up are nationally ranked. We have played 10 matches before tonight, but we haven’t played that kind of quickness that we saw tonight and that will be a benefit for us.”

                The Cougars, 9-0, will be off until next Tuesday when they travel to Casper College for a 7 p.m. contest. Johnson said she is not surprised they are undefeated with the talent they can put on the court.

                “I am not surprised that we are 9-0 but as freshmen we have big shoes to fill. We have to work really hard to play to last year’s accomplishments,” she said. “We are going to practice really hard during the break, and get ready for our next game, the next tournament.”

               

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.