WNCC volleyball team wraps up regular season with win over JNJC on Oct. 24

[Oct. 24, 2012] STERLING, Colo. — The NJCAA No. 2-rated Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team capped its regular season Wednesday with an impressive 3-0 sweep (25-15, 25-20, 25-21) over Northeastern Junior College.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo, whose team won for the 34th time this season, said the Cougars played well overall but still have lots of room to improve before the regional tournament kicks off Nov. 1 in McCook.

"I think we are getting better, but we are still making some unforced errors that we should not be making," Melo said. "We need to focus on getting a little bit better for regionals."

Melo is satisfied with where the Cougars are at right now, and especially pleased to see her players buying into her system.

“We have done pretty good with the group that we have," she said. "I thought we were pretty young, and I thought it would be hard [for the players] to make changes and adjust to them. It’s a different system, but I thought we did a pretty good job of getting into that system.”

The Cougars enjoyed a balanced attack against NJC. Danika Youngblood finished with nine kills and seven kills, and Kat Agson had nine kills and two blocks. Priscila Mendes finished with seven kills and 11 digs; Yoro Tovar had five kills and two aces; Allora Tanner had four kills; and Megan Johnson and Taylor VanderWerff each had two kills.

The biggest difference in the match was service errors. WNCC had 10 and NJC had eight, but NJC's miscues came at crucial moments.

The Cougars played exceptionally well in the opening set, committing just one service error while forging ahead 14-6. Alex Rivera had three service points during WNCC’s early run.

The second set was a barn-burner as WNCC tied the set at 7-7 and again at 16-16, each on Tasha Meyer points. Meyer followed the second tie with two more points to give the Cougars their first lead of the set, and they went on to win, helped by a big Youngblood kill and thee service points by Luiza Martins.

The third set was close early. The teams were tied at 10-10 before a Tovar kill turned the momentum in WNCC’s favor. Martins then served two points to give the Cougars a 13-10 lead. NJC cut the deficit to 18-17, before a Tanner kill stopped NJC’s rally. Tanner then served two points to put the Cougars up 20-17. Agson finished off the match with a solid block.

Melo was pleased to see her players keep their composure and respond well in the final two sets.

"We’re good at coming back and playing from behind," Melo said. "But we have to be focused on the present moment and maybe not make as many errors as we did tonight. We pulled it out, but I thought we made way too many errors."

Martins finished the match with 34 assists and eight digs; Rivera had two aces, 14 digs and four points; and Meyer had three digs, two aces, and five points.

WNCC soccer men end season in playoffs on Oct. 23

               [Oct. 23, 2012] POWELL, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team saw its season come to an end in the first round of the Region IX playoffs after dropping a 3-0 contest to Northwest College in Powell, Wyo., on Tuesday.

                The Cougars finish the season at 4-13 while Northwest advances in the playoffs with a 14-5 mark.

                WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said his team just couldn’t score despite having chances.

                “We just couldn’t score. We had chances, but we just didn’t finish,” he said. “We did not possess the ball enough and we were not patient with the ball when we were in close at all. They [Northwest] did well offensively and penetrated on us and found some success.”

                The Trappers scored first scoring with 12:30 left in the first half on a goal by Will Moats. Northwest added another first half goal with 5:23 left as Dean Johnson found the back of the net for the 2-0 halftime lead.

                Northwest added just a single goal in the second half 15 minutes into the final period with Marcus Couldridge scoring.

                The Trappers held a huge shot advantage 20-1. Northwest had 15 shots on goal while the Cougars didn’t have any shots on frame. Northwest held a 6-2 corner kick advantage. Joey Rasnic had 12 saves in net in his final game in a Cougar uniform.

                Rasnic said it is time to go back to the drawing board in recruiting for next season. He said what hampered the team all season were injuries, especially to the defenders. The Cougars played the match with four injured defenders.

                “I thought we were going to be strong at defender and the midfield at the beginning of the season but it never happened because of injuries,” he said.

                WNCC loses 10 sophomores off this year’s team in Joey Rasnic, Mason Nab, Cody Thompson, Harry Buerno, Kyle Gonzales, Jacob Santos, Adhemar Lino, Mark Hubbard, JC Fernandez, and Tiki Lee.

               

WNCC drops Casper in sophomores last home game on Oct. 20

                [Oct. 20, 2012] The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team capped off an undefeated home campaign (12-0) but topping Casper College 25-10, 23-25, 25-14, 25-15 on Saturday night at Cougar Palace.

                It was the final home game of the six sophomores -- Danika Youngblood, Kat Agson, Megan Johnson, Taylor VanderWerff, Alex Rivera, and Tasha Meyer -- and the six helped the Cougars to their 33rd win of the season against just two defeats. It was also the team's 27th straight victory with one regular season left -- Wednesday night at Northeastern Junior College.

                Youngblood capped off her career of playing at WNCC with an exceptional night. The outside hitter from South Jordan, Utah, tallied a triple-double of 23 kills, 14 digs, 11 points and four aces. The other sophomores also put in quality time with impressive performances in their last time playing in front of the Cougar crowd.

                Johnson finished with 10 points, two aces, three kills, and two blocks; Agson had nine kills and four blocks; Rivera had 14 digs, six set assists, six points, and an ace; VanderWerff had three kills and three blocks including a solo block; and Meyer had 10 digs and three points.

                WNCC started the final home match with authority, jumping out to a9-2 lead after Johnson served four points. The Cougars pushed the lead to 12-3 on two Meyer points and went up 16-5 on three Youngblood points. Youngblood also added two back-row kills during her service run. WNCC went on to win the contest 25-12 on three Johnson service points.

                The second set was a battle. WNCC went ahead 14-9 on a Johnson kill and led 19-15 on a Youngblood kill and Johnson service point. Casper came back to take a 22-21 lead on two Fallyn Griffin points before winning the set 25-23.

                The third set was another dogfight. WNCC took a 9-6 lead before watching Casper tie the game at 9-9 on two Sydney Marchant points. WNCC came back after a Yoro Tovar kill and four Muiza Martins points for a 14-9 lead. The Cougars pushed the lead to 17-11 on a Youngblood kill and two service points. WNCC captured the third set as Lauren Knox hit a kill and then Priscila Mendes served four points with Youngblood tallying three kills for the 25-14 win.

                The fourth set was all WNCC as the Cougars vaulted to a 8-2 lead and led 15-5 on three Rivera service points, aided by two Youngblood kills. WNCC led 22-9 at one time before Casper tried a late comeback with two Stanka Panic points, but the Cougars would prevail as VanderWerff finished off the match with a kill.

                Besides the sophomores outstanding performances in their last home match, the Cougars also received outstanding performances from everyone that played. Mendes finished with seven kills and 14 digs; Martins 48 set assists, 15 digs, nine points, and an ace; Tovar had seven kills, seven points, and three blocks, and Knox had five kills and five blocks.

               

WNCC soccer teams fall to Otero on Oct. 20

                 [Oct. 20, 2012] The Western Nebraska men’s and women soccer teams were blanked by Otero Junior College on Saturday at the Landers Soccer Complex in the team’s final regular season contests.

                The Cougar women ended their season with a 6-0 loss to No. 11 Otero, who entered the contest with a 13-1 record after suffering its first defeat on Friday to Laramie County Community College 3-1.

                The Cougar men played without many starters because of yellow card infractions and suffered a 4-0 setback to the Rattlers. The Cougar men will enter the Region IX playoffs with a road game on Tuesday against Northwest College.

                WNCC women’s sophomore Laura James said this was a tough season for the ladies, but what she saw from the season was they always fought hard, despite not being able to score goals.

“There was no point in the season where we just gave up, we at least kept trying and telling ourselves to keep our heads up,” James said. “It [the season] didn’t end up the way we wanted, but sometimes that happens and we have to keep going. That is what we tried to do.”

                Saturday, playing in their final match of the season, the Cougars gave it all against an Otero team that came in with just one loss on the season and ranked No. 11 in the country. The Cougars fought to the end despite the score on the scoreboard.

                “I definitely can say we played pretty tough but the game didn’t end up the way we wanted,” she said. “The one good thing is every one tried their hardest and we definitely got a lot of yellow cards. We definitely didn’t give up in the matches this season so that was good.”

                Otero took a 4-0 lead at halftime as they netted two scores early. The first came off the foot of Susanna Abundiz, while the second was scored by Tori Slattery off an assist from Abundiz. The Rattlers added two more first-half goals as Abundiz scored her second of the game, before Baylee Lindsley scored in the 15^th minutes.

                Otero added two more goals in the second half, the first coming just 13 minutes into the half as Erin Cortvriendt scored off a rebound. The final goal came with just six minutes left off the foot of Stephanie House.

                Otero outshot the Cougars 14-2 and held a 6-2 advantage on corner kicks. Patty Sylvester had six saves in net for the Cougars.

                James said playing her last soccer match for WNCC is bittersweet, but is hoping to continue playing at the next level.

                It is definitely bittersweet but I am excited to see if I can play someplace else,” she said. “I will definitely miss it here. I will miss Coach [Todd] Rasnic, the team, and all the friends that I have made. I was kind of sad on walking on the field for the last time but you have to move on because that is life.”

                The men’s contest didn’t go WNCC’s way either. The Cougar men were outshot 30-3. Otero went on top 2-0 at halftime as Danny Mibtelu score in the 31^st minutes. Then, five minutes later, Santiago Alegjandro scored off an assist from Ramino Ceja.

                The Rattlers added two more goals in the second half, the first coming off a penalty kick off the foot of Noki Le just nine minutes into the half. The final goal of the contest was scored by Jacob Gonzales with 16 minutes to go.

                The Cougars Joey Rasnic and Justin Becerra split time in the net, each recording seven saves in net.

WNCC volleyball defeats NJC at home on Oct. 19

               [Oct. 19, 2012]  Kat Agson pounded home 17 kills and the second-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team wrapped up the No. 1 seed for the Region IX South Volleyball tournament with a four-set win over Northeastern Junior College.

                The Cougars, playing in front an estimate 1,000-plus fans including Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, topped the Plainswomen 24-26, 25-10, 25-15, 25-21 for their 26^th straight victory. Friday’s night was also Think Pink night in recognition of breast cancer awareness.

                Agson, who added eight digs to go with her 17 kills, said the team played well after that first set hiccup.

                “We just had to make some adjustments on our side because we were making too many errors,” Agson said. “The first set we had like 13 errors and in the second set we had just four. So, it was just a matter of us taking care of our side of the net.”

                The first set loss snapped a 45-set winning streak but the loss might do the team more good than harm.

                “I think it is a good thing because when it comes to regionals, everyone will try to come and play hard,” Agson said. “We can’t rely on our laurels anymore because we know it will be high pressure coming at regionals.”

                The first set was a dandy as both teams battled from start to finish. After WNCC lost that first set, they had to refocus, and refocus they did.

                “[The difference between the first and second set] was just minimizing our errors and playing our game,” Agson said. “If we didn’t have the set that we wanted, we just gave them the ball and let them make their own errors.”

                The Cougars played totally different in the final three sets. They won the second and third set with ease at 25-10 and 25-15. The fourth set was close at the beginning before the Cougars made a move to push the lead to around six or seven points on a strong front play from Agson, Danika Youngblood, Allora Tanner and Taylor VanderWerff for the win. VanderWerff got the final kill on the night for the team’s 32^nd win.

                The Cougars finished the match with a total of 54 kills and 11 blocks. Youngblood finished with a double-double of 14 kills and 20 digs, while Yoro Tovar had eight kills, two aces and three digs. Also for the Cougars, Priscila Mendes had three kills and four digs; Luiza Martins had three kills, 38 set assists, and 12 digs; Lauren Knox had three kills and 12 digs; VanderWerff had two kills and three blocks; Tanner had four kills; Alex Rivera had 22 digs and four set assists; Morgan Broussard had 13 set assists; and Tasha Meyer had nine digs.

                The Cougars, 32-2, will wrap up the home portion of their schedule tomorrow (Saturday) when they entertain Casper College at 7 p.m. This will also be sophomore appreciation as the six sophomores – Agson, Youngblood, Rivera, Meyer, VanderWerff, and Megan Johnson, play their final game at Cougar Palace.