Blicharz, Netto each score three goals, women defeat Western Wyoming while men fall in double overtime

               ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. -- Kristi Blicharz scored three goals and the Western Nebraska Community College women's soccer team stopped a four-game losing streak by registering a 5-3 win over Western Wyoming Community College Saturday in Rock Springs, Wyo.

               The Cougar men also received three goals from Jose Netto, but they weren't as fortunate, falling to the Mustangs 6-5 in double overtime in a Region IX contest.

               "The women played pretty good. They moved the ball well," WNCC soccer coach Todd Rasnic said. "We still made some mistakes and missed some of our scoring opportunities. We came out with several injuries. The game was extremely physical.

               "As for the men, they played well for much of the match. We can't put together a complete game and until we get the complete packaged put together, we will continue t have these type of games. We can almost outscore opponents, but when we stop scoring on our chances, the other team stays in the game."

               The women led 2-1 at intermission after getting goals by Celia Carmona and Bridget Stanton. WNCC opened up the contest as Blicharz went off on the Mustang defense scoring three goals in the second half. It was Blicharz third career hat trick in her two years at the college. Blicharz had back-to-back hat tricks to open the season last year.

               Earning assists for the Cougar women were Stanton, Ashley Gleason with two, and Fernanda Acorinte.

               The win for the Cougar women stops a four-game losing streak that saw the Cougars out-scored 20-0 during that stretch.

               The Cougar women out shot the Mustangs 17-11. Bailey Wenz picked up the win in net, collecting eight saves and allowing three goals.

               The men's contest was intense. WNCC held a 2-1 lead before both squads ended up tied at 5-5 after regulation. Western Wyoming won the contest with two minutes left in the second overtime to pick up the conference win.

               Netto had the hot leg, scoring three times in the match. Netto now has 12 goals on the season. WNCC also received two goals from Baboucarr Sarr in the match. Picking up assists for the Cougars included Sarr, Erwin Sanchez with two, and Jabob Santos.

               WNCC out shot Western Wyoming 22-18. Joey Rasnic made five saves and gave up four goals, while Jesus Alvarado made five saves and gave up two goals.

               The Cougar men and women will be back in action Sunday when they face North Idaho College in Rock Springs, Wyo. The two squads will then return home to face Laramie County Community College on Wednesday at the Landers Soccer Complex with the men's contest starting at 1:30 and the women's game at 4 p.m.

No. 1 WNCC takes down No. 2 Western Wyoming

               The battle between No. 1 and No. 2 went the way of Western Nebraska Community College as the Cougars swept past Western Wyoming Community College behind 14 kills from Debora Araujo to open the Wyo-Braska Shootout on a positive note Friday at Cougar Palace.

               The Cougars earned the much anticipated match with Western Wyoming by earning the sweep over the No. 2 ranked Mustangs 25-20, 25-20, 25-18. WNCC followed that marquee match with a sweep over No. 15 Barton Community College 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 to push their record to 17-0. The mustangs fall to 18-1 after the first day of the tournament.

               WNCC sophomore Lais Soares said the win against Western Wyoming was sweet, but she was surprised to get a sweep over a talented Mustang squad.

               "We played like a team. we played together," she said. "It is surprising that we won in three sets because I thought it was going to go five sets. The team, however, did a good job today."
               This marquee match up was all it was made out to be as both squads fought like two prize fighters going for the championship of the world. The opening set was nip and tuck after Western Wyoming sliced the lead to 15-14. WNCC rebounded as Megan Johnson hammered down a kill and then served three points to go up 19-14.

               Western Wyoming bounced back to 19-18 as Olivera Medic served four points. WNCC came back to take a 21-18 lead and then went up 24-18 on a Jodi Huddleston and Fernanda Goncalves block. The Cougars won the first set as Araujo put down a soft hit for the winner.

               Western Wyoming held a 17-16 lead late in the second set until Alex Rivera came in  to serve three straight points to put the Cougars up 24-20. Moments later, Araujo hammered home another kil for the winner.

               The third set saw Western Wyoming lead 11-7 and 13-11 in the third set. Araujo changed the momentum as she served five points, including a hammering kill by Danika Youngblood and two backrow kills from Araujo to go up 17-13. WNCC put the game away as Youngblood served four points to go up 24-15 before winning 25-18.

               Araujo paced the Cougars with 14 kills, two blocks, and five blocks. Also for the Cougars, Youngblood finished with seven kills and five digs; Soares had seven kills and three blocks; Johnson had four kills and four blocks; Huddleston had two kills and two blocks; Goncalves had two kills, two blocks, 31 set assists, and six digs; Rivera had 13 digs and four aces; and Dani Grace had five digs and two aces.

               The Cougars were just as impressive against Barton behind a 22-kill performance from Araujo. The sophomore also had 14 digs in the win. Soares also came up big against Barton with 11 kills, followed by Youngblood with nine kills, and Huddleston with six.

               Youngblood also had two aces and 11 digs, while Rivera had 13 digs; Grace had four digs; Soares with six digs; and Goncalves with 10 digs and 40 set assists.

               The Cougars will have two more matches in the Wyo-Braska Shootout on Saturday as they face Air Force Prep at 12 noon and Laramie County Community College at 4 p.m. Air Force Prep topped Casper College on Friday in five sets 23-25, 25-19, 25-27, 28-16, 15-10.

               Soares says they need to keep taking one match at a time and keep playing as a team like they did on Friday.

               "We are playing strong and we are not going to let down," she said. "We are No. 1 and we have to keep coming out hard."

               The Eastern Wyoming College Lancers went 1-1 on the first day of the tournament. The Lancers opened with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-22 loss to Barton Community College, before picking up a five-set win over Williston State 21-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22, 15-9.

               In other scores in the tournament at EWC, Seward County topped Laramie County 25-11, 26-24, 25-23; Air Force Prep over Casper 23-25, 25-18, 25-27, 25-16, 15-10; Laramie County over Williston 25-13, 25-19, 25-16; Northeastern Colorado over Sheridan 25-20, 25-23, 25-15; and Casper over Seward County 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23.

               In other scores at Cougar Palace, Northeastern Colorado topped Northwest Wyoming 17-25, 25-19, 25-20, 29-27; Sheridan defeated Lamar 32-30, 25-22, 25-18; Northwest Wyoming over Lamar 22-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-20; and Western Wyoming over Air Force Prep 25-20, 25-16, 25-14.

Saturday’s Schedule

At WNCC

10 a.m. – Northeastern Colorado vs. Laramie County, Northwest Wyoming vs. Williston State; 12 noon – WNCC vs. Air Force Prep; 2 p.m. – Casper College vs. Williston State, Northwest Wyoming vs. Barton; 4 p.m. WNCC vs. Laramie County, Casper College vs. Lamar C.C.

At EWC

10 a.m. – Barton vs. Sheridan, Western Wyoming vs. Seward County; 12 noon – EWC vs. Lamar C.C.; 2 p.m. – Sheridan vs. Seward County; 4 p.m. – EWC vs. Air Force Prep, Western Wyoming vs. Northeastern Colorado

              

WNCC men's basketball will conduct a Meet the Cougars basketball camp Oct. 1

                The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team is conducting a Meet the Cougars Camp on Saturday, Oct. 1 from 1-3 p.m. at Cougar Palace.

                The camp is open to youngsters from kindergarten to eighth grade and costs just $25. The camp is designed to give campers an opportunity to spend time and get to know the Cougar athletes. The camp will involve the fundamental skills of basketball, passing, shooting, dribbling, rebounding and team communication.

                After the camp, there will be a Cougar Madness inter-squad scrimmage, including a 3-point contest and a slam dunk contest. The Cougar Madness is open to the public beginning at 3 p.m. and it will give the community a first-look at this year’s men’s basketball team.

                Camp brochures can be picked up at the Cougar athletic office or downloaded from the Cougar Athletic website at sports.wncc.edu. For more information on the camp, contact men’s basketball coach Russ Beck at 308-635-6151 or by email at beckr@wncc.net.

WNCC volleyball goes to 15-0 with sweep over No. 8 Iowa Western

 On a night when the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team proclaimed Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman as an honorary coach, the top-ranked Cougars made their “new” coach proud with a sweep over No. 8 Iowa Western Community College at Cougar Palace on Monday.

                The Cougars received a 15-kill performance from Debora Araujo and a 10-kill effort from Danika Youngblood in rolling over the Reivers 25-16, 25-20, 25-15.

                “First of all, I was very impressed and I was delighted to be the honorary coach,” Governor Heineman said.  “These young ladies are very, very good. They have a great chance to defend their national championship. I was so impressed with their power, their athleticism; it was just a lot of fun to be here tonight.

                “I was so proud that Coach Gi and the girls invited me to come to the game. They told me that this is the game they wanted me to come to. Then, to get that special plaque, it was one of the best evenings I have had as governor.”

                WNCC coach Giovana Melo said her team played well in all aspects. But, what really helped the team was their serving and passing. The Cougars recorded three aces – all from Dani Grace and received a 12-dig performance from Alex Rivera.

                The other area that stood out for the Cougars was their blocking, especially from middle blocker Jodi Huddleston, who had three solo blocks.

                “We came out pretty strong. Our serving got us going in a groove and getting us a lot of points. Volleyball is about serve and pass,” Melo said. “We were also playing a pretty good team and you can’t take anything away from Iowa Western. We had a good night of serving and we came out with a good win.”

                WNCC started slow, trailing Iowa Western 7-6 in the first set. That quickly changed as Megan Johnson went on a 3-point service run followed by Rivera serving five points behind four kills from Araujo for a 20-11 lead. The Cougars captured the first set 25-16 on a Grace ace.

                The second set was a little more intense as neither team went up more than three points. Iowa Western led 14-13 before Danika Youngblood helped push the lead to 16-14. The Reivers sliced the lead to 21-20 on a Lisa Gregerson kill, but a missed serve gave the ball back to WNCC, and Grace served out the set with an ace.

                Iowa Western cut WNCC’s third set lead to 7-5 on a Aubrey Cook block. Youngblood came back for WNCC with a smashing kill and Fernanda Goncalves and Tasha Meyer combined on five service points to push the lead to 15-7. Grace added another two points to push the lead to double digits, 18-8, before Youngblood finished off the match with a thundering kill.

                Araujo paced WNCC with 15 kills and six digs, followed by Youngblood with 10 kills, 10 digs, and two blocks. Also for the Cougars, Grace had seven digs, three aces, and eight points; Soares had seven kills; Goncalves had nine digs and 32 set assists; Huddleston had five kills and five blocks; and Megan Johnson had five kills and two blocks.

                The win pushes the Cougars to 15-0. It doesn’t get any easier as WNCC will face No. 2 Western Wyoming Community College on Friday at noon in the first day of the Wyo-Braska Shootout at Cougar Palace. After that, the Cougars will face No. 12 Barton Community College at 4 p.m.

                “I didn’t expect to be 15-0, especially with the hard schedule that we have had,” Melo said. “We prepared them to play tough teams and we want to keep them at that level so when we get later in the season, we are ready for anything. We have had 15 games so far and everyone has played pretty well for us. We have a lot of depth and that is good.”

WNCC volleyball goes to 14-0 with two wins in Pizza Hut Classic

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team remained perfect in the season after sweeping past Otero Junior College and Dodge City Community College in the second day of the Pizza Hut Classic in Sterling, Colo.

               The No. 1 Cougars opened with a 25-10, 25-11, 25-17 win over Otero and then took down Dodge City in three sets 25-8, 25-16, 25-17. Dodge City upset Northeastern Junior College in five sets on Friday.

               Against Otero, the Cougars once again flexed their depth. Debora Araujo and Fernanda Goncalves each had a double-double in the contest. Araujo finished with 10 kills, 13 digs and five aces; while Goncalves had 11 digs and 40 set assists.

               Also for the Cougars, Danika Youngblood finished with nine kills and nine digs; Dani Grace had two aces and seven digs; Jodi Huddleston had nine kills; Alyssa Ostrander had five kills; Abbey Wade had four kills; Taylor VanderWerff had four kills, and Alex Rivera at 12 digs.

               In the win against Dodge City, the Cougars once again stayed strong in sweeping the Kansas powerhouse. Youngblood paced the team with 10 kills, seven digs, and two aces; while Lais Soares had seven kills.

               Also for the Cougars, Megan Johnson had two aces and seven digs; Goncalves had two aces, 23 set assists, three blocks, and seven digs; VanderWerff had three aces and three blocks; Araujo had five kills and seven digs; Huddleston had four kills; Wade had four kills; Rivera had 10 digs; and Grace had 12 digs.

               The Cougars, 14-0, will be back in action Monday when they host top-10 ranked Iowa Western Community College at 7 p.m. at Cougar Palace. The night will include a special honor given to Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, who is planning on attending the contest.

WNCC volleyball win two in first day of Pizza Hut Classic

STERLING, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team had little trouble at the Pizza Hut Invite in Sterling, Colo., on Friday.

The No. 1 Cougars rolled to a 25-13, 25-9, 25-19 win over Hutchinson Community College and then pounded Trinidad State Junior College 25-7, 25-9, 25-17 to move to 11-0 on the season.

The tournament doesn’t get any easy on Saturday as they will face Otero Junior College at 9 a.m. and then play Dodge City Community College at 1 p.m. Dodge City upended Northeastern Junior College in five sets, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to drop the host team.

WNCC, in the meantime, showcased its depth in both matches. Against Hutchinson, Danika Youngblood led the team with seven kills followed by Debora Araujo with five and Lais Soares with four. Araujo also finished with 11 digs, three blocks and two aces.

Alex Rivera led the team with 15 digs, while Fernanda Goncalves had six digs and 27 set assists. Also for the Cougars, Dani Grace had six digs, Soares had three blocks, Taylor VanderWerff ahd four blocks, and Jodi Huddleston had three blocks.

The win against Trinidad State was even more impressive as Abbey Wade paced the team with 10 kills, followed by Youngblood with eight kills, Alyssa Ostrander with seven kills, and Huddleston with five kills.

Also for the Cougars, Ostrander led with four blocks, while Soares had two blocks. Rivera finished with nine digs, while Grace had eight and Tasha Meyer finished with four. Goncalves finished with five aces and 18 set assists, while Alyssa Olson had 12 set assists.