WNCC men fall in overtime to Sheridan College 107-104

              [11/3/2012]  GILLETTE, Wyo. -- Willie Mangum and Charles Ward combined for 75 points, but it wasn't enough as the Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team fell in overtime to Sheridan College 107-104 Saturday at Gillette, Wyo.

                WNCC head coach Russ Beck said his team did everything right to get back in the game and had chances to win, but the Generals made the final bucket to win the game.

                "After battling back from 17 points down early in the first half to make it a game we took a five point lead in late in the second half," Beck said. "A late Sheridan run tied the game and Sheridan had the ball with the shot clock off. A Cougar defensive stop forced overtime."

                Beck said the five minute overtime period was intense.

                "In overtime, it once again came down to a tie with Sheridan with the ball and the shot clock turned off," he said. "After running the clock down, Sheridan's Ron Mvoulka took a three over a contested hand and hit the three with .9 tenths of a second left in the game. After a timeout for WNCC, the full court desperation shot was unsuccessful."

                The Cougars played without sophomore Tahir Little, who was out with an injury. Still, Beck praised how hard his team played in the game.

                "We sure could have used his [Tahir's} defense," he said. "I loved how we competed."

                The Cougars had plenty of top performances, but nothing that Mangum and Ward accomplished. Mangum lead the Cougar players with 38 points, while Ward finished with 37 points.

                Also for the Cougars, Quantee Cooley had nine points, Chad Calcaterra had six points, Rich Williams had five points, and Youssoupha Kane had eight points.

                Cody Johnson pulled down nine rebounds to lead the team, while Kane had five rebounds.

                It doesn't get any easier for the Cougars as they will take on last year's national champions South Plains College on Tuesday on the road.

WNCC volleyball team captures 14th straight regional title

                [11/3/2012] MCCOOK – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team will be making a 14^th straight trip to the national tournament after sweeping past Northeastern Junior College 25-19, 25-10, 25-17 in the championship of the Region IX tournament in McCook on Saturday.

Not only did the Cougars earn another regional championship, the team also picked up plenty of individual honors. Yoro Tovar, who pounded home nine kills in the win Saturday, was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.

Also earning all-tournament honors was Danika Youngblood, who pounded home a match-high 14 kills, and Luiza Martins, who was also named the Region IX Setter of the Year as well as Region IX Freshman of the Year.

Four Cougars were also named to the All-Region team in Youngblood, Martins, Alex Rivera and Kat Agson. WNCC coach Giovana Melo, who was tabbed the Coach of the Year, said this is a pretty special team, considering how far they have come from a bad showing in the Regis University scrimmage in August to now.

“They are a pretty good group. We have come a long ways from that Regis scrimmage to now and it is a really different team,” Melo said. “We knew we had talent. We knew it would take a well. We knew where we were able to get and it was just a matter of time. This group is a really good group and they work really hard. They know what they want.”

The Cougars moved to 37-2 on the season and have won 31 straight matches. There last loss came on Sept. 1 against North Idaho College.

Saturday’s encounter with Northeastern Junior College was a battle in the first set, but afterwards, the Cougars put on the afterburner to pick up the championship trophy. Melo said it feels great to bring home a regional title to this storied program.

“It is obviously a great feeling and just not about this year but the success we have had in the program overall,” she said. “It shows how hard the girls have been working this year and it obviously feels really good to go home with another title.”

Well the opening set was close, after that Melo said the players stepped up their game.

“They were pretty anxious and excited and there was a little bit of emotions in the beginning of the match,” she said. “But once we got past the first game, it was obvious how much they wanted it.”

WNCC jumped to a 13-7 lead at one time only to watch NJC slice the lead to 19-17 late, but Tovar finished off the set with a hammering kill.

The second set was all WNCC as Martins served four straight points to start the contest and the Cougars went up 15-7. After an Agson kill, Priscila Mendes served five points for a 21-8 lead. Tovar then served the final two points for the 25-10 win.

Martins started the third set off with four straight points for a 5-1 lead. After NJC cut the lead to 9-7, WNCC put on the afterburner with three points, including two aces, from Alex Rivera followed by Martins getting two points for a 19-9 lead. WNCC led 24-12 before the Plainswomen put together a four-point run, but Youngblood finished off the match with a championship kill.

WNCC pounded the ball with authority, registering 37 total kills. Youngblood had 14, Agson 13, Tovar nine, Mendes seven, and Megan Johnson four.

Melo thought all the hitters stepped up in different situations and hitting rotations.

“I thought all the hitters got pretty involved,” she said. “We have been working on distributing the ball a little bit more. We told our setters to distribute the ball because we do have a lot of options with a lot of kids that are doing a good job in putting the ball away for us.”
                Martins, Region IX South’s setter and freshman of the year, finished with a triple-double with 15 points, 40 set assists, and 15 digs. She also had one ace. Also for the Cougars, Rivera had seven points, five set assists, and 15 digs; Youngblood had 12 digs; Mendes had nine digs, two blocks, and two aces; and Tovar had two blocks, seven digs, and six points.

                With the win, the Cougars will now take part in the national tournament with hopes of capturing its second national championship in three years. They last won the title in 2010. WNCC first won a national title in 2007.

                Melo said this team can compete for a national title, but they need to eliminate the little mistakes that they are making and become more consistent.

                “We make some errors on certain plays where we really don’t have to,” she said. “I think we will have to work really hard for that because we can’t mistakes that we are making against really good teams when it comes down to one or two points. When we are at nationals, everybody that we will be playing will be up to our level. Hopefully we can get them ready for nationals in the next week.”

                The national tournament will be played Nov. 15-17 in West Plains, Mo. Pairings for the tournament should be out this week.

WNCC women's basketball team opens with win over All-stars

                [11/3/2012] The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team put three players in double figures and connected on seven 3-pointers in opening the season with an 89-29 win over the Nebraska All-stars on Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace.

                Jess Samorodova paced the Cougars with 13 points followed by Mikayla Brower with 12 points. Gritt Ryder also chipped in 10 points in the win. Brower paced the team with two of the seven three-pointers.Idil Ozbayrak and Lauren Rivera each added nine points.

                WNCC coach Dave Harnish, who is starting his 25^th year as head coach, said while it was nice to get some playing time for his 11 freshmen, he saw lots of room for improvement.

                “I thought we struggled because we didn’t stop the ball because they did a good job penetrating on us and we didn’t do a good job of rotating to stop the ball,” Harnish said. “We really didn’t rebound the ball that well; we were out-rebounded in the first half.

                “But the transition was good with a lot of steals and we generated most of our points off transition. But we struggled a little bit offensively to get into the offensive sets. Overall, though, it was a good game for us. It was a first game for the freshmen. It is a good situation where they get to put the uniforms on, people are here to watch, and we can get the first-game jitters out and get ready to play down in Colby.”

                WNCC controlled the tempo from the get-go, but the Nebraska All-stars battled for the entire game. The Cougars held a 40-37 rebound advantage over the All-stars that consisted of a number of former Cougar players and high school basketball stars who graduated within the past two years.

                WNCC jumped out to an 16-3 lead as Samorodova had eight early points while Rider scored five straight points. The All-stars made a slight comeback, scoring four straight points to cut the lead to 16-7 on three points from former Gering High and WNCC Cougar Yoda Woods, but the Cougars would go on a 9-0 and later an 8-0 run. Both runs were highlighted by freshmen players as Brower connected on seven points, including a 3-pointer. Kate Kerkhoff also had four points.

                The Cougars led 48-14 at halftime on two field goals each by Alyssa Yates, Ozbayrak and Maurissa Ortega.

                The Cougars shot 48 percent from the field, including making 18 of 22 free throws. WNCC also connected on 7 of 19 treys. The Cougars defense also limited the All-stars to just 16 percent shooting. The all-stars, however, were sizzling from the free throw line, connecting on 12 of 18 charity shots.

                WNCC also shared the ball well, dishing out 31 assists. Ryder, the sophomore transfer from the University of Alaska Anchorage, had seven assists followed by Ortega with six assists. Ryder also had four steals while Ortega had six steals.

                The Nebraska All-stars were led by Ashley (Burns) Guzman and Woods with eight points each.

                WNCC, 1-0, will next be in action next weekend when they travel to Colby, Kan., for a 3-day tournament.

                Harnish said this was a good tune-up for his young team heading into the rest of the season.

                “This is the first game for 11 kids and I am sure they were nervous,” he said. “This was a good chance for them to get the butterflies out and hopefully they will play better when we go down to Colby.”

NE All-stars         14 15 – 29

WNCC (1-0)        48 41 – 89

NEBRASKA ALL-STARS

Rebecca (Hughes) Martinez 4, Tera (Schmid) Segelke 2, Ashley (Burns) Guzman 8, Kelsey Kudrna 1, Shantel Muniz 2, Samantha Sanders 3, April Olson 1, Yoda Woods 8.

WNCC

Mikayla Brower 13, Lauren Rivera 9. Kelsey Doddridge 3, Gritt Ryder 10, Shalisa Moffitt 3, Katie Kerkhoff 6, Maurissa Ortega 7, Idil Ozbayrak 9, Michelle Brassard 3, Alyssa Yates 6, Ashley Stevens 2, Jessica Aratani 4, Jess Samovodova 13.

Trey Moore scores 25 as Ciougar men top Gillette College on Nov. 2

                [11/2/2012] GILLETTE, Wyo. -- Trey Moore popped in seven 3-pointers and the Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team started the season off with a bang by dropping Gillette College 98-78 Friday night at Gillette, Wyo.

                Moore, the freshman from Papillion-La Vista, Neb., had a huge contest, finishing with 25 points, six assists, and was 7 of 9 from the 3-point area.

                Also netting double figures was Willie Mangum had 21 points, while Cody Johnson had 14 points and seven rebounds.

                WNCC coach Russ Beck said this all 12 Cougars that saw action scored.

                "This was a great team win," he said. "The bench production was awesome. We need to improve our defense and limit our turnovers. We are taking everything we do one game at a time."

                The Cougars also received nine points from Quante Cooley, five points from Tahir Little, eight points from Chad Calcaterra, five points from Zach Clemens, three points from Rich Williams, five points from Youssoupha Kane, and two points each from Isaiah Castellaw and Doudou Gueye.

                WNCC will be back in action Saturday when they face Sheridan. Beck said Sheridan is a salty ball club.

                "Sheridan is talented and coach [Steve] Smiley does a great job," he said. "We need a better defensive game tomorrow [Saturday] if we want to get the win."

WNCC volleyball team wins two at regional tournament

                [11/2/2012] MCCOOK -- The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team is one win away from capturing its 14th straight Region IX title after sweeping threw two matches at the Region IX South Volleyball Tournament in McCook Friday afternoon.

                The Cougars opened the tournament with a dominating performance against Trinidad State Junior College 25-9, 25-19, 25-12 behind a 13-kill performance from Priscila Mendes. WNCC continued playing well in the winner's bracket final, sweeping past Northeastern Junior College 25-9, 25-16, 25-15.

                Sophomore Tasha Meyer said they played well and were focused entering the competition.

                "I honestly think we did very well," the defensive specialist said. "We came out ready to play together and didn't let up when things got difficult. Serving is always a key factor in our game and today we just took it step by step."

                What was big in both wins was how they started, capturing the first set 25-9 against both opponents. Meyer said have one thing in mind, a trip to the national tournament.

                "We were pretty focused [to start the matches]," Meyer said. "We know what we are playing for and where we want to be in the next two weeks. We've been practicing everyday preparing ourselves for tough competition."

                Both matches saw plenty of players step up in different fashion. In the opener against Trinidad State, Luiza Martins finished with a triple-double of 13 points, 10 digs, and 39 assists. On the offensive side, the Cougars finished with 40 total kills against Trinidad and 47 kills against NJC. Against the Trojans, Mendes pounded home 13 followed by seven from Danika Youngblood and six from Allora Tanner. Against NJC, Youngblood had 15 kills, Kat Agson nine and Mendes and Yoro Tovar with seven each.

                Meyer said everyone played as a team.

                "It's definitely a big deal that everyone stepped up their game," she said. "Volleyball is a six man sport and when we play as one team, we dominate. Today's games showed that we have the talent to go far. I think that today showed what potential we have as a team. Like Coach G always tells us, that when we play together we are a stronger team. Preparation for our number one goal doesn't stop here. We're going to continue to work hard and compete so we can end up at the top."

                Against NJC, Martins had 40 set assists, eight points, eight digs, and three kills; Youngblood had 15 kills, nine points, two aces, and seven digs; Agson had nine kills and two solo blocks and two assist blocks; Mendes had seven kills and 10 digs; Tovar had seven kills, nine points, and five digs; Megan Johnson had three kills; Taylor VanderWerff had two kills; Alex Rivera had 13 points and 13 digs; and Meyer had four points and five digs.

                Against Trinidad, after Martins triple-double, Agson had four kills and three digs; Youngblood had seven kills, seven points, and five digs; Mendes had 11 digs to go with her 13 kills; Tovar had three kills and four points; Megan Johnson had two kills, two points and two digs; Alex Rivera had 20 digs and six points; Meyer had nine points and seven digs; and Tanner had six kills and six digs.

                WNCC, 35-2, will now play for the Region IX South title and a berth in the national tournament Nov. 15-17 in West Plains, Mo., Saturday at 12 noon against the winner of the Saturday morning contest between NJC and Otero.

                Meyer said they will be ready.

                "For tomorrow's [Saturday] match, I think all we need to do is come hungry again and we cannot underestimate any of the teams," she said. "As long as we play together and stay strong i think we can do it."

                Meyer said the key in the championship is to stay "Forever Strong," which is the team's motto this season.

                "I know that we can do this and if we all want it bad enough, we will have it in our hands," she said. "We need to play with heart and pride; we aren't only playing for ourselves but for everyone who has been supporting us and stuck by our side this entire season. KIA KAHA (which is Forever Strong in Hawaii)."

Tournament Schedule

Thursday Matches

McCook over Otero -- 17-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-11

Trinidad over Lamar -- 25-18, 25-27, 25-19, 19-25, 15-12

Friday's Matches

NJC over McCook -- 25-15, 26-24, 25-12

WNCC over Trinidad -- 25-9, 25-19, 25-12

Otero over Trinidad -- 16-25, 18-25, 25-11. 25-21, 15-12

Lamar over McCook -- 23-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-16, 15-7

WNCC over NJC -- 25-9, 25-16, 25-15

Otero over Lamar -- 25-19, 25-16, 25-18

Saturday's Schedule

10 a.m. -- NJC vs. Otero

12 noon -- WNCC vs. winner 10 a.m. match

2 p.m. -- if necessary match