WNCC wins Seward Invite, four players selected to all-tournament team

LIBERAL, Kan. — Chalk up another tournament title for the No. 1 team in the nation as the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team swept through the Ozfest Invitational without dropping a game in capturing the tournament championship.

The Cougars, 43-2, won the title in dominating fashion, dropping No. 11 Frank Phillips College 25-22, 25-18, 25-20 behind double-doubles from Kaleinani Kabalis and Gregner Quinones.
Three Cougars earned first team all-tournament honors and one earned second team all-tournament honors.

Kabalis, Nayka Benitez and Fatima Balza earned first team honors, while Sabina Piegza was named to the second team, while Sabina Piegza earned second team honors. Benitez was the libero of the tournament.

“It feels really good especially after the last match where I saw a different level of the players with energy and at-titude and enthusiasm. They were playing, leaving everything on the court in the last match. They fought for every single point. I have not seen that part of them yet and I am really glad to see it and come up with a win.

What really impressed Melo with the way her team played, especially in the championship match, was the team effort that was shown, especially since they rallied around after losing starting setter Sabina Piegza to an ankle injury. I never saw this part of the team play before. They really picked it up after Sabina went down and rolled her an-kle. Every one of the girls fought 10 percent more.”

Naomi Flinders came in and picked the team up, finishing with 23 set assists.

“She came in and was put in a spot,” Melo said. “It was a hard position for her, but she came in and did a good job.”

The Cougars started the bracket portion of the tournament in impressive fashion, beating Barton County Community College 25-7, 25-10, 25-21 to move into the semifinals. WNCC then took care of Hutchinson Community College in three games 25-22, 25-13, 25-23.

The competition, even though the Cougars didn’t drop a game, was competitive. Melo said they didn’t matches like this to get ready for Tuesday’s sub-region showdown with No. 14 Northeastern Junior College at Cougar Palace.

“It was good for us to see some better teams," Melo said. "Every time we stepped on the court, we got better.”

In the championship tilt, Kabalis recorded 10 kills, 14 digs and one solo block; while Quinones had 10 digs, 12 blocks and an ace serve. Also for the Cougars, Fatima Balza had 14 kills and seven points, Paulina Piegza had eight kills; and Nayka Beni-tez had 11 digs and two aces.

The Cougars also received stellar performances in the opening two matches.
Against Hutchinson, Balza and Paulina Piegza tallied 17 and 14 kills respectively. Balza also had six assist blocks. Also for the Cougars, Sabina Piegza had 39 set assists and four assist blocks; Quinones had four aces, 12 points and seven digs; Benitez had seven points, three aces and 15 digs; and Kabalis had eight digs.

Against Barton County, Benitez, the libero of the tournament, finished with a double-double, collecting 12 digs, 15 points and five aces. Also for WNCC, Balsa had 18 kills and seven points; Sabina Piegza had 32 set assists and five kills; Kabalis, Paulina Piegza and Naomi Flinders each had five kills. Kabalis also added five digs.

Other members of the all-tournament team include Midland’s Ariadne Alcantara, Frank Phillips’ Kayleigh Gid-dens, and Hutchinson’s Molly Betgkamp and Melissa Gmur on the first team.
Other second team members included Redland’s Shayna Severance and Alessandra de Silva, Frank Phillips’ Ales-sa Roberts, Arizona Western’s Fernanda Costa, Seward County’s LaKendra Sanders and Jelena Simic.

WNCC men's soccer ties Hastings College Junior Varsity

HASTINGS -- The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team put together an impressive performance on the field Saturday afternoon as the junior college team tied Hastings College Junior Varsity, a four-year institution, 1-1.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic was very pleased with how his team played against a talented team like Hastings.

“We possessed the ball really well and we played a good game,” he said. “We played organized. The team we played is one of the better teams we have played. They have a lot of team speed.”

Hastings scored first, scoring in the 31st minute of the first half to take a 1-0 lead on a miscommunication by the Cougars defense. WNCC came back in the second half, scoring in the 27th minute. Lazarro Torres delivered a pass to freshman Matt Hoffman for the score to knot the contest.

Each team had two shots on goal, placing one in the back of the net. WNCC goal keeper Cesar Bazana had one save.

WNCC, 6-6-1, will next be in action Tuesday as they travel to Hesston Community College for a men’s and women’s doubleheader in the Cougar’s regular season finale.

Both Cougar soccer teams will open the Region IX playoffs on Friday in Rock Springs, Wyo.

Volleyball team playing for tournament title against Frank Phillips after winning two matches

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team will be playing for another tournament title as they won their opening two matches in bracket play at the Ozfest Invitational at Liberal, Kan., Saturday.

The Cougars, 41-2, breezed to in their opening round bracket contest in impressive fashion, beating Barton County Community College 25-7, 25-10, 25-21 to move into the semifinals.

WNCC then took care of Hutchinson Community College in three games 25-22, 25-13, 25-23. The Cougars will face No. 11 Frank Phillips at 6 p.m. tonight. Frank Phillips needed four games to win their opener against Arizona Western 25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 25-13, and the topped Seward County Community College in five games 30-32, 25-6, 21-25, 25-13, 15-2.

Other scores in the tournament saw Hutchinson defead Redlands Community College 25-13, 25-20,, 18-25, 25-18. Seward County also defeated Midland College 25-21, 25-20, 24-26, 25-18.

WNCC volleyball wins three matches at the Osfest Tournament, runs record to 40-2

LIBERAL, Kan. — The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team remained unbeaten after the first day of the Ozfest Invitational in Liberal, Kan., on Friday.

The Cougars opened the tournament with a 25-13, 25-15, 25-13 win over Midland College. They then disposed of Arizona Western College 25-17, 25-18, 25-16, and followed that up with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-15 win over Hutchinson Community College.

“I am really happy [with us not dropping a game],” WNCC coach Giovana Melo said. “I just have high expectations for the girls and I think that we have to play to our potential no matter what.”

In the tournament opener against Midland (25-6), Nayka Benitez finished with a double-double recording 14 points, 16 digs and eight aces.

Paloma Alvarez also had a good match, collecting 12 points, four aces and six kills.
Also for the Cougars, Fatima Balza had 16 kills, three assist blocks and five digs; Paulina Piegza had 10 kills; Kaleinani Kabalis had 11 digs; and Sabina Piegza had 28 set assists.

“We started off ok against Midland. The second match wasn’t as good, but we came back and played really well,” Melo said. “I thought at the end of the tournament we came back and played harder and played as well as we did at the beginning of the day.”

Against Arizona Western, Sabina Piegza had a double-double with 10 points, 32 set assists and three aces. Also, Kabalis finished with nine digs and six kills; Paulina Piegza had 12 kills and three assist blocks; Benitez had eight points and three aces; Gregner Quinones had three aces, and eight points; Balza had seven points and nine kills; and Alvarez had five digs.

In the Cougar’s final pool play match against Hutchinson, WNCC placed three players with double-digit kills. Kabalis led the way with 13 kills, followed by Balza and Paulina Piegza with 12 kills each.

Balza also added six points, while Kabalis had two aces and six digs; and Paulina Piegza had one solo block.

Also for the Cougars, Sabina Piegza had 30 set assists, six points and two aces; Benitez had five digs; and Quinones had five digs, 10 points and three aces.
The three wins moved the Cougars record to 40-2 on the season.

WNCC will next take on Barton County Community College in the first round of the bracket tournament at 8 a.m. If they win, they will lay at 10 a.m. The championship game is slated for 6 p.m.

“I don’t know much about Barton,” Melo said. “I really didn’t have a chance to watch them. But I think it will take us playing well and playing to our potential every time we step on to the court to come away with a tournament title. We will see what happens.”

WNCC softball hosting Hitting and Softball Academies beginning in November

The Western Nebraska Community College softball team will sponsor hitting and pitching academies starting in November and running through February.

The Hitting Academies will be held Nov. 2, 9, 15 and Dec. 7 at the WNCC hitting facility located at 1209 2nd Ave. The Pitching Academies will be held Jan. 11, 18, 25, and Feb. 8 at Cougar Palace.

Each academy will have two sessions, for beginners and for advanced players, and costs $30 per session. The beginners will meet from 6-7 p.m., while the advanced players will go from 7-8-p.m. The Academies are open girls in kindergarten through 12th grades.

Participants are asked to bring a glove, bat, helmet, indoor shoes and a water bottle to the sessions.

For more information on the Hitting and Pitching Academies, contact Cougar softball coach Maria Winn-Ratliff at 308-635-6189 or at winnm@wncc.net. Brochures can be downloaded at sports.wncc.edu.

WNCC registers sweep over Eastern Wyoming for 36th win of the year

TORRINGTON, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College and Eastern Wyoming College volleyball teams hooked up in their annual border war volleyball match and unlike the last time the two teams locked up, this time the contest was a little bit closer.

Still, the No. 1 ranked Cougars had just a little bit more fire-power and height to register a 25-13, 25-12, 25-17 win over the Lancers Tuesday evening at the Verl Petsch Activities Center in Torrington, Wyo.

“They [EWC] played good defense and they were touching everything and they got into a couple rallies because we got out of our game,” WNCC coach Giovana Melo said. “Still, I think it was a good game for us.”

EWC coach Verl Petsch said, even though they came up on the short end on the scoreboard, he saw plenty of positives his team can take from the match.

“I told the kids I thought we were really successful tonight. We didn’t win on the scoreboard, but we definitely executed very well in terms of team and skill things that we wanted to do,” he said. “. I am very pleased with the way we played against the defending national champions and No. 1 team in the nation. If we continue to play that well we can finish the season on a bright spot.”

In deed the Cougars didn’t totally run away with the match even though on the scoreboard it might look like that.

WNCC committed 10 service errors on the night compared to zero for the Lancers. In fact, Petsch was pleased with the number of service receive errors his team had – seven – compared to many more the first time the two squads played on Sept. 9.

“I am very excited with how we played. I thought we elevated our game, especially compared to last weekend,” he said. “We executed and our there was some great rallies by both ball clubs. I counted one time that we had five attempts the ball and the Cougars had six and we were able to win the thing. Those were great rallies. I thought we did a really nice job.”

Melo added that the long rallies her team was involved in was something they needed as they are headed into a tough weekend against nationally-ranked teams in Liberal, Kan.

“It is really good for us to get in long rallies because it is something we need,” she said. “One thing we need to work on is to be patient and when we have a good set we need to take the hit. Otherwise, we need to be patient with it and when it is time to put it away, we will put it away.”

WNCC started the first set on fire as Nayka Benitez served up five straight points. The Lancers sliced the deficit to 8-5 on a Samantha Duggen kill and was within four points, 10-6, after a missed serve.

The Cougars finally got untracked as Kaleinani Kabalis served up five points, including two aces, for a 19-8 lead. WNCC then cruised to the first set win 25-13.

The Lancers started the second set on a roll as Lora Hill served up two points for a quick 2-0 lead. It didn’t last long as Brooke Blomenkamp hammered home a kill and then Gregner Quinones had five points for a 6-2 lead.

EWC fought back on a Vanessa Timm kill, cutting the lead to 7-4. Fatima Balza stopped the momentum with a kill and then proceeded to serve five points for a 14-4 lead. After two service points by Erin Monheiser to cut the lead to 14-6, Kabalis registered two kills and then three points to help the Cougars to a 20-8 lead. Balza finished off the set getting a block for the final point.

The third set was a knock-out fight between the border towns. The Lancers jumped out to a 5-3 lead on a Kelsey Stout kill and a Monheiser service point. WNCC came back to tie the game on two Balza service points, before Duggen stopped the run with a kill.

WNCC jumped back out to an 8-6 lead before a side out and a Cassidy Carlisle service point tied things at eight. Things changed after that as Cami Weimer hammered home a kill followed by five service points by Kabalis for a 14-8 WNCC lead.

EWC came back to get within three, 14-11, on two Hill service points, and then later at 17-14 on a Tricia Dorshorst point. Then, with WNCC up 18-15, the tide started to shift the Cougars way as Weimer registered a clutch kill of another long rally. Balza then served four points, including two aces, to push the lead to 23-15 before kills by Weimer and Naomi Flinders ended the match.

Stout paced the Lances with five kills and five blocks, while Timm recorded four blocks as well. Josey Peterson finished with 10 digs, while Dorshorst had five points, Carlisle five points, and Hill seven assists.

Balza and Kabalis each paced the Cougars with a double-doubles. Kabalis finished with 15 points, 16 digs, three aces and seven kills, Balza got 10 kills, 12 points, two aces, five blocks and three digs. Also for the Cougars, Sabina Piegza had two blocks, four points, 38 set assists and two digs; Weimer had five kills; Palamo Alvarez had 12 kills and six digs; Paulina Piegza had seven kills and three blocks; Flinders had three kills; Quinones had six kills and nine digs; and Benitez had 11digs, six points and two aces.

WNCC, 36-2, will next be in action Thursday when they travel to McCook Community College, followed by the Seward County Invite on Friday and Saturday.

“We have been waiting for a tournament like this,” Melo said about the upcoming weekend. “We have been practicing and playing hard in games against other teams in our region. Now we are going to face nationally-ranked teams. This is what we have been waiting for and the girls are anxious to get there to play some good volleyball.”

WNCC men's basketball Meet and Greet

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team has officially started practice for the upcoming season and on Thursday, Oct. 9 the team will host a Meet and Greet Night from 6 - 7:15 p.m. at Cougar Palace.

WNCC coach Brian Joyce said the evening will consist of the community being able to take pictures, get autographs and socialize with this year's men's basketball team from 6 - 6:30 p.m. and then the squad will run through a short practice from 6:30 -7:15 p.m. so everyone can get a glimpse of the upcoming season.

Joyce said this year has so much talent and athleticism that he is excited for the coming year.

“I think the fans will enjoy watching this group and hopefully see the progress of the program,” he said. “We have had a lot of people and businesses support our program and take ownership in what we are trying to accomplish. This ownership, combined with our hard work, will help us accomplish our lofty goal of bringing a championship back to bluffs.”

The junior college basketball teams could officially start practice on Oct. 1 and Joyce said the enthusiasm of the players was exciting to see.

“The energy and intensity was great,” Joyce said. “The first practice is always fun and interesting because you finally get to see all of the players you recruited in a more realistic setting.”

The Cougar men return just three players from last year’s team that went 16-15. Those returning include Lloyd Hickinson, Chris Hamblin, and Daniel Smith. Also returning for the Cougars, but red-shirted last year, is Scott Bamforth, 6-2 from Albuquerque, N.M.

The Cougars will also have the services of two more sophomores that are transfers. They are 6-4 Brandon Mitchell of Minneapolis, Minn., and 6-7 Demetrius Rouse of Detroit.

The rest of the team are freshmen on the team. They include five more players from Minnesota in Tarell Clark, 6-4 from Burnsville, Sedrick McBounds, 6-7 from Minneapolis, Virgil Baker, 6-2 from Minneapolis, Larry Brown, 6-6 from St. Paul, and John Bright, 6-2 from Minneapolis. The other come from a variety of states including Josh Helton, 5-9 from El Paso, Texas; Francisco Cruz, 6-4 from Denver; Saul Torres, 6-2 from Chihuahua, Mexico; Geoffrey Firmin, 6-2 from Brussels, Belgium, Brandon Givens, 6-6 from Ruffin, S.C., Ritchie Mundends, 6-7 from Brussels, Belgium, and Ali Djim, 6-8 from Hampton, Va.

Joyce said there will be plenty of competition for playing time and his job might be more difficult trying to get minutes for everyone.

“I like our talent level,” he said. “We have a group that is really skilled at all positions which should create matchup problems. Our depth is much better than last year so this should give us an advantage. We have a team that will be very competitive night in and night out.

“The most impressive thing about this group is how competitive they are with each other,” he said. “This is reflective of having the right guys returning to set a good example. In addition, this is enhanced by recruiting players from winning programs. Winning players bring winning habits to your program. Last year it was difficult because we did not have as much time to focus on the programs our players were recruited from. It makes it much easier as a coach if you are not having to try to coach effort and convince players about the sacrifice it takes to be a champion. When the effort is put forth then we can focus on the execution. We must have both of those to be the most successful.”

The Cougar men open the season at home Nov. 7-8 with the WNCC Classic

Three players score two goals each as Cougar women shut out Dodge City 9-0

Shaylee Williams, LeeAnna Paxton and Jaime Gastelle each netted two goals each as the Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team registered a convincing 9-0 win over Dodge City Community College Sunday at the Landers Soccer Complex.

WNCC’s nine goals were the most the team has scored this season as the eight sophomores went out winners in the team’s final home match of the season, and they did it in dominating fashion.

“I think we did an excellent job and worked very well together in this game,” Williams, the freshman from Plains City, Utah, said. “Coming off of Saturday’s match [with Western Wyoming], a lot of us were beat up, but we did good after they way we played Saturday and won in overtime.”

It didn’t take the Cougars long to take a lead, either. Just a minute and a half into the contest, Williams and Ashley Quintana teamed feeding a pass to Paxton for the first goal of the day.

After that, the Cougars misfired on several shots, just missing either high or wide. But, with just under 26 minutes to play in the half, Gastelle took a pass from Terri Huntington and found the back of the net. That goal was the start of a scoring explosion for the Cougars.

“At first it was looking pretty ugly with shots and no one was catching net,” Williams said. “But once we got a feel, we were doing really well.”

Gering’s Keah Brost continued the Cougars scoring spurt with a goal at the 19:35 mark. Brost took a pass from Maria Garcia on the right side just outside the box area and floated a perfect shot in the upper left corner for a 3-0 lead.

Williams then added a pair of goals before halftime. With 2:37 to play, Williams took a pass from Quintana and Gastelle and found the net for a 4-0 lead. Then, with just 16.9 second play, Williams scored again with the identical-type of shot that Brost scored on earlier for a 5-0 halftime lead.

WNCC added four more goals in the second half as they were shooting into a 10-15 mph wind. Andrea Ardito scored the first goal as she took a pass from Paxton in the middle and placed it in the back of the goal.

Mara Crouch, who usually plays defense, got into the scoring 15 minutes later. Crouch took a pass from Ardito and scored to make it 7-0. Two minutes later, Paxton scored her second goal as she shot from the left side, bouncing the ball off the crossbar into the net for the 8-0 lead.

Gastelle finished off the scoring as the freshman from Ft. Collins, Colo., took a pass from Huntington and fired a shot from about the 40-foot mark for the ninth goal with 5:23 to play.

Williams said this team has plenty of capable scorers and Sunday, they proved it. WNCC even played without their leading goal and assist player Ana Jacobo, who was out with an ankle injury suffered in Saturday 3-2 double overtime win against Western Wyoming.

“We do have a lot of very awesome players on the team this year,” she said. “I am excited that I got to come and have the experience to play with all of them.”

WNCC out shot the Conquistadors 16-1, and had 13 corner kicks to Dodge City’s zero. Andrea Burger recorded the save for the Cougars in net..

The Cougar women, 8-6-1 on the season, have one regular season match remaining as they travel to Hesston Community College on Oct. 14 before taking part in the regional tournament Oct. 17-19 in Rock Springs, Wyo. Williams said they do have the capability to earn that regional title, something the women’s team hasn’t accomplished since 2003, the first year of the program.

“If we can play to our full extent, this team can do a very good job at regionals,” she said. “Today’s [Sunday] match was a very fun game for the girls. We needed it.”

Albers scores two goals, including overtime penalty kick, to defeat Dodge City 2-1

Austin Albers penalty kick in overtime was the lift the Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team needed Sunday afternoon against Dodge City Community College at the Landers Soccer Complex.

Albers not only scored the overtime winner, but he also netted the tying goal in the second half to help the Cougar men defeat Dodge City 2-1 in overtime.

Albers said this team needed the win.

“This is a very big win for us. It is another win going into the regional tournament, so it is nice to get a win especially coming from behind like we did,” the freshman from Spearfish, S.D., said. “This gives us a lot of confidence going into the tournament.”

What the Cougar men gained from the victory was the confidence that they can come back. After both teams went scoreless in the first half, it didn’t take the Conquistadors long to score in the second half. Obed Castillo found the net just 15 seconds into the half.

WNCC kept fighting, missing five prime scoring chances to knot the score. Finally, with 12 minutes left in the match, Albers took a pass from Lazarro Torres while going to the right, and placed the ball in the upper left of the goal.

The Cougars had kept shooting trying to win the game in regulation. Brandon Ludens missed on three prime shots and Albers came up short.

In the overtime period, Albers missed a shot from just outside the penalty box area with 8:22 to play. But, with 5:44 left on the clock, Albers was taken down inside the penalty box resulting in the penalty kick and the one-on-one shot with Dodge City’s goalkeeper Dalton Burkhard.

Albers, after taking a minute to check out the ball and concentrate on the shot, placed the ball in the upper right of the net just out of the reach of Burkhard’s grasp for the winner.

“I was trying not to think about it too much,” Albers said about the game winner. “I missed a shot before so I thought it was redemption for the shot at the keeper.”

WNCC had nine shots on goal compared to just one for Dodge City. The Cougars also finished with 12 corner kicks compared to the Conquistadors’ five.

The win was the Cougars second straight after falling to Laramie County Community College 5-0 on Tuesday. On Saturday, WNCC picked up a crucial 1-0 win over Western Wyoming Community College in thrilling fashion, followed by another heart-stopper on Sunday against Dodge City.

Albers said the new offense they instilled is starting to pay dividends.

“Right now we are still working on some kinks after we just put in a new system,” he said. “We are trying to come out hard and work through the system so we can get it down for the regional tournament. It seems it is working really well for us. We are getting some results.”

The Cougars, 6-6, will have two regular season matches left before regionals Oct. 17-19 in Rock Springs, Wyo. WNCC will travel to Hastings College on Thursday and then travel to Hesston Community College on Oct. 14.

Kabalis' 18 first-set points helps Cougars win 25-1, sweep Trinidad to improve to 35-2

Western Nebraska Community College's Kaleinani Kabalis has never seen a serving performance like she displayed Saturday afternoon against Trinidad State Junior College.

The 5-foot-9 outside hitter from Hilo, Hawaii, served 18 straight points including 10 aces in helping the Cougars blitz the Trojans 25-1 in the opening set. WNCC went on to claim the next two sets 25-11-25-12 for their 35^th win of the season.

"This was probably the best serving performance that we had in a long time," WNCC coach Giovana Melo said. "Serving is something we have been working on. We are a good serving team and I know that, we just had to focus and be consistent. We were consistent today and served really well."

What really impressed Melo was the way her team won. She said she never seen a team only allow one point in a set in rally scoring.

"That first-game performance was really impressive," she said. "I have never seen that happen before in rally scoring."

Kabalis finished the match with 21 points and 10 aces. The team, however finished with 27 aces. Gregner Quinones had 15 points and four aces, while Brooke Blomenkamp had nine points and five aces and Gabrielle Aviles had seven points and three aces.

"She served really well and every single person served really well," Melo said of the team's performance, which only netted just two missed serves on 64 of 66 serving. The two missed serves came in the third set.

The story of the match, though, was the first game serving for the Cougars. Fatiba Balza record the first points for WNCC with a kill. Quinones then served five straight points to push the lead to 6-0. Trinidad recorded a side out for a point.

Sabina Piegza then dumped a set down to the ground for a 7-1 lead. That put Kabalis at the serving line and the Hawaiian's jump serve was on fire as she had at one time six straight aces with many that painted the back line. The closest Kabalis got to losing her serve came with the score 22-1 and both teams rallied back and forth a couple times before Balza hammered home a kill. Kabalis then served out the game.

Kabalis said that she was shocked that she had 18 straight points. She added that she had more aces serves in high school, but nothing compares to the performance she had in the first game.

The second set was just as dominating from the service line for the Cougars. Nayka Benitez started the second set where Kabalis left off in the first game with an ace serve. Benitez, though, had her service rally stopped after just one point.

One rotation later, Blomenkamp served up five points for a 7-1 lead behind two Cami Weimer kills. Trinidad fought back on two service points by Loren Gonzalez and then two kills by Katherine Harris to slice the lead to 12-6.

That was as close as the Trojans got as Gabriele Aviles served six straight points, including three aces for a 21-7 lead on the way to a 25-11 win.

The third game was nip and tack there for a while. After Quinones served five straight points to give WNCC an 8-2 lead, the Trojans fought back slicing the lead to 10-8 on a Felicia Rael point. Kabalis then changed the complexion of the game in a heartbeat with a kill. Kabalis then stepped back to the service line and served three straight points before registering the team's first missed serve of the match.

It didn't matter, because moment later, Benitez recorded two ace serves for a 17-9 lead. Blomenkamp also added two aces to push the lead to 21-11. And, Quinones put a fitting end to the match as the freshman from Puerto Rick recorded to ace serves to end the match.

With the way the team was serving there wasn't too many other highlights. Balza finished with 13 kills and three blocks, while Kabalis had four kills and four digs. Also for WNCC, Naomi Flinders, Cami Weimer and Sabina Piegza each had three kills. Piegza also added three blocks and 19 set assists, while Benitez had four points, four aces and 13 digs.

The Cougars finished made a perfect week since climbing to No. 1 in the country, going 4-0 in sub-region matches. But, it gets tougher next week as the Cougars have a Highway 26 showdown at Eastern Wyoming College on Tuesday and then they take a three-day trip making a stop in McCook on Thursday before competing in the Seward County Invite, where the Cougars suffered one of their losses last season.

"I am really pleased with how every single one of them performed this week," she said. "They all did really well. I am really happy with them."

WNCC soccer teams defeat Western Wyoming in Region IX action

The Western Nebraska Community College soccer teams picked up Region IX wins over Western Wyoming Community College Saturday afternoon in Rock Springs, Wyo.

The Cougar men played a complete contest, registering an 1-0 win over the Mustangs. The Cougar women, on the other hand, needed double overtime before earning a thrilling 3-2 win as freshman Shaylee Williams netted the winning goal.

“The women’s was a good game,” WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said. “We got up by two goals and then the Rock Springs altitude set in. But Western Wyoming is a good team and I have said that all along. They have the potential to be a very good team.”

On Saturday, the Cougar women were the better team. Brooke Dudley scored the first goal off an assist by Ana Jacobo four minutes into the contest.

WNCC went up 2-0 as Jacobo collected her second assist of the match as the freshman from Aurora, Colo., found Ashley Quintana with the goal. Keah Brost also was involved with an assist on the goal.

Western Wyoming sliced the lead in half in the 43^rd minute as both teams entered halftime.

The Mustangs tied the came at 2-2 in the 50^th minute. Neither team could score the rest of the half and the first 10-minute overtime. Then, with 1:27 gone in the second overtime period, Williams crossed in front of the net and took a pass from Quintana for the game winner.

WNCC outshot the Mustangs 7-5. WNCC goalkeepers Terri Huntington had one save in net, while Andrea Burger had two saves.

The men’s contest was also another heart-stopper. This time, the Cougar men didn’t give up an early goal like they have the past couple of matches. Instead, the Cougar men scored first, as Lazzaro Torres recorded an unassisted goal in the 36^th minute. That was all the scoring there was as the Cougar defense held strong throughout.

WNCC goalkeeper Cesar Bazana had four saves in net, and the Cougars outshot the Mustangs 6-4.

“The men made a decision to play together,” Rasnic said. “I think from now on you will see a team that comes out and plays together.”

Both teams, in fact, needed the wins after coming off of losses to Laramie County Community College on Tuesday.

“These were badly needed after dropping the two games on Tuesday,” Rasnic said. “We really needed to win these for confidence.”

The Cougars will be back on the field to try to make it two in a row today when they host Dodge City Community College at the Landers Soccer Complex. Women’s action tips off at noon, while the men’s match goes at 2 p.m.

After Sunday, the women will have one more match left before regionals when they travel to Hesston Community College. The men will have to more contests as they face Hastings College and Hesston.

WNCC sweeps Otero in Dig Pink night for Breast Cancer Awareness

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team made Dig Pink a success with an overwhelming sweep of Otero Junior College Friday evening at Cougar Palace.

The Cougars received an 11-kill performance from sophomore Fatima Balza and a 10-dig outing by Nakya Benitez as WNCC won 25-13, 25-13, 25-12 for their 34^th win of the season.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo was definitely pleased with the team’s performance on the evening in front of a very pink audience in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness.

“They were playing as a team together and having fun. I was very pleased with the way they played today,” Melo said. “The crowd was great [with a lot of pink]. I thought the crowd got into it and it was awesome seeing all the pink. We are very supportive of that.”

The Cougar women definitely showed why they are the No. 1 team in the nation with a complete match, with everybody contributing in some fashion. Melo is pleased with the depth that this year’s team possesses.

“Anyone of our players can come in and do well,” she said. “Everybody on the court is playing well so this is really a great team that I can put anybody in there and they are able to step up.”

Friday night, everybody did step up. Balza not only had 11 kills, but she finished with eight points, three aces and eight blocks. Benitez finished with 10 digs, six points and five aces, followed by Gregner Quinonez with nine points and two aces.

Also for WNCC, Naomi Flinders had six points and three digs; Brooke Blomenkamp had four digs and seven points; Paulina Piegza had four points and four kills; Paloma Alvarez had nine kills, nine points and two aces; Sabina Piegza had four points, 24 set assists and three kills; Whitney Roth had two kills and two blocks; Cami Weimer had four kills; and Kaleinani Kabalis had three kills.

WNCC dominance started early as the Cougars raced to a 11-2 lead behind four service points from Flinders and five from Balza, including three aces. WNCC kept the margin around eight to 10 points as Paulina Piegza finished off the Rattlers with four service points.

The Cougars started set two just as dominating with Alvarez serving the Cougars to a 6-1 lead. After Otero cut the deficit to 11-6 on a Amanda Haarberg point, Benitez served up four points, including three straight aces for a 17-7 lead.

WNCC continued to roll as Weimer connected on three kills in the game, including the game winner to give the Cougars the 25-13 win.

Quinones got the Cougars started in the third set with a 3-0 lead. Otero, however, came storming back as Mariah Howell served up two points to slice the lead to 5-4. Benitez, however, started to put some distance between the Cougars and Rattlers with three points, including two aces.

Quinones came back with three more points to push WNCC to an 18-8 lead and the Cougars coasted to the 25-12 lead as Kabalis unloaded on two monster kills for the win.

WNCC will look for win No. 35 and their fourth win in sub-region play today when they host Trinidad State Junior College at 1 p.m. at Cougar Palace. Trinidad battled Northeastern Junior College early on in their Friday contest before the Plainswomen prevailed 25-18, 25-21, 25-11. Today’s match will be Girl Scout day as the college recognizes all the Girl Scouts in the valley.

"Dig Pink" night at Cougar volleyball game with Otero on Friday

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball match on Friday will have a pink cast to it when the No. 1 Cougars face Otero Junior College at 7 p.m. Spectators are urged to wear pink in honor of breast cancer awareness.

The evening is being billed as “Dig Pink” in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month. There will be plenty of events during the evening, including raffles that will go to the Dig Pink foundation for breast cancer awareness.

Also, $1 of each admission ticket will go to the Dig Pink organization. There will also be educational flyers about breast cancer as well as give-aways. Both teams will also be wearing pink socks donated by Scottsbluff Screenprinting.

Amy Winters, who was an assistant coach with the volleyball team last year, is a cancer survivor and organized the evening filled with information and fun.

Many individuals and business helped contribute to the Dig Pink evening. Business who donated items for the raffle: Scottsbluff Screenprinting, Embarq, Runza, Star Herald, Platte Valley Companies, Prime Cut, Hinn's Home Furnishings, Taco Bell, Team Chevrolet, Target, Mike's Husker Stuff, Blossom Shop, Fullen School of Hair Design, Diva Stop, Cappuccino & Company, Compliments, Christian Photography, Music & More, Eric Vath Clothier, The Tenderbox, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Debbie Paschke Kristin Maag, pampered chef consultant, J3 Enterprises, Volunteers & Friends of Regional West Medical Center, Lilly Oncology, Public Alliance for Community Energy, Festival of Hope.

Other organizations, businesses and individuals that helped to make this evening a success include: Genentech, Lilly Oncology, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Oncology, Deb Carpentar Nolting, Becci Nuland, Kelsey Kriewald, Vicki Bjorling, Ali Jay, WNCC Nursing Students, WNCC Student Government, Jennifer Araujo, Grace Hendrickson, Andy Hunzecker, Rita Stinner & The Collegiate Chorale, Hometown Family Radio, KNEB, KDUH-TV, KSID, KCOW, KCMI, WNCC, Otero Junior College, Giovana Melo & the Lady Cougars, and Melissa Anderson & the Lady Rattlers.

WNCC takes down Lamar in three sets for 33rd win of season

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team started slow, but quickly heated up as they registered their 33^rd win of the season, topping Lamar Community College 25-19, 25-9, 25-10 in a sub-region contest Thursday at Cougar Palace.

The Cougars, who claimed the top spot in the nation on Wednesday, were paced by a variety of players. But it was the play of freshman Paulina Piegza who stepped up from not only at the net, but also from the service line. The 6-foot-1 middle blocker from Poland registered 11 points, seven blocks and six kills in the win.

“We played better today than Tuesday [against McCook],” she said. “We played more as a team.”

The Cougars weren’t exactly sparkling with their serves in the first set, missing eight serves to help Lamar stay in the contest. The second and third set, the team did much better, only missing three serves in each set.

Piegza said missing serves is all in their head right now.

“It is because when someone misses serves, the other people think about missing a serve,” she said. “It is all mental right now.”

Even with the missed serves in the opening set, the Cougars athleticism took over against an 8-22 Lamar ball club. The Runnin’ Lopes were within four points at 15-11 on a Emily Schaefer ace serve at one time, but after that, the Cougars started to heat up as Fatima Balza served three points behind two blocks and a kill by Piegza.

The Cougars pushed the lead to 25-15 before Lamar tried to make a service run behind Jennifer Long’s serving, but it wasn’t enough as the Cougars registered the win.

The second set started out much better for the Cougars as Brook Blomenkamp served up three points followed by three more points by Naomi Flinders for a 7-1 lead. A few rotations later, Blomenkamp served up four more points behind three straight kills by Flinders for a 20-6 lead. WNCC went on to win 25-9 on a Sabina Piegza kill.

Lamar started the third set by taking a 3-2 lead, but it was short-lived as Paulina Piegza went on an eight-point service run for a 14-4 lead. Paloma Alvarez and Blomenkamp each added two more points later before Sabina Piegza dumped the ball the net for the match winner.

Alvarez also sparkled in the match, finishing with 10 kills and five points. Also for the Cougars, Balza continued her all-American season with 12 points, eight kills, and nine digs. Flinders also came up big with six points, five kills, five digs and seven blocks; Sabina Piegza had five points, 23 set assists, six kills, four blocks, seven digs; Blomenkamp had nine digs, 10 points and three aces; and Whitney Roth had one kill and four blocks.

WNCC, 33-2, will continue its streak of home matches with another sub-region match today against Otero Junior College at 7 p.m.. Tonight’s match is Breast Cancer Awareness with spectators are urged to wear pink, with $1 going to the Dig Pink Breast Cancer Awareness promotion. The WNCC and Otero teams will also be wearing pink socks donated by Scottsbluff Screen-printing in recognition of the event.

WNCC volleyball ranked No. 1 in the nation in latest NJCAA polls

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team will have something more to play for after the latest National Junior College Athletic Association polls were released Wednesday.

The Cougars, 32-2 and defending national champions, are back on top of the nation after spending the last three weeks at No. 2.

“I am really happy to be No. 1 because we have been working really hard,” sophomore all-American candidate Fatima Balza said. “This year is different from last year so that is why I am very happy with my team for being No. 1 because it is just not the sophomores doing the job, the new kids that came in this year are doing a good job.”

WNCC, which was idol last week, climbed to the top after the previous No. 1 team Iowa Western Community College fell to top 10-ranked San Jacinto College last week. The Reivers went 3-1 last week recording victories over Frank Phillips, Seminole State and Pratt Community College.

The College of Southern Idaho is right behind the Cougars with a 23-3 record. The Cougars defeated Southern Idaho earlier this season. WNCC’s only two losses of the season came to the hands of Iowa Western at the Columbus Invite Sept. 6.

Rounding out the top 10 include University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith (24-3), Blinn College (16-2), Salt Lake Community College (21-7), San Jacinto College (17-2), Miami Dade College (10-2), Jefferson College 19-7), and Missouri State University-West Plains (20-10).

Northeastern Junior College, who is in WNCC region, moves up in the rankings to No. 15. Other Region IX teams earning honorable mention votes were Northwest Wyoming.

Balza said while it feels good to be ranked No. 1, they want to be No. 1 at the end of the season. To do that, they need to continue to get better because they have a tough stretch of matches coming up after this week’s homestand. WNCC will have Northeastern Junior College on Oct. 14, as well as competing in tournaments at Seward County Community College and Jefferson College in Missouri, facing teams such as Miami Dade, Missouri West Plains, Iowa Western, Seward County, Hillsborough, Jefferson College and Hutchinson.

“We will have to keep practicing hard to stay up there and give 100 percent in practice and the game,” she said. “It is not easy. We have to keep getting better because we have to defend the national title. The goal is to win the national title.”

The Cougars, after a 10-day lay-off, returned to the courts on Tuesday and swept McCook Community College for the team’s 80^th straight win at home as the No. 2 team. Now, when the Cougars take to the court Thursday through Saturday for home contests against sub-region foes Lamar, Otero and Trinidad State, they will be doing so as the new top team in the nation.

“We will have to keep practicing hard to stay up there and give 100 percent in practice and the game,” she said. “It is not easy. We have to keep getting better because we have to defend the national title. The goal is to win the national title.”

WNCC has been ranked No. 1 in the nation at least once the past three seasons. The Cougars also have some impressive winning streaks going. Not only have the Cougars won 80 straight home matches, the team has also won 147 straight Region IX matches, last falling to a regional poll back in 2003, once to Casper and twice to Northeastern Colorado.

Balza knows that being No. 1 in the nation also makes other teams wanting to pull the upset more. But, with this team, they are up to the challenge.

“We are working together really well,” Balza said. “But to stay up there we need to keep practicing and getting better. We also need to give 100 percent all the time.”

WNCC soccer teams fall to Laramie County on Tuesday

Photos of the WNCC and LCCC soccer matches can be found at wncccougars.albumpost.com

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team realizes that close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades and the not soccer field after falling in a hard-fought contest with No. 8 Laramie County Community College Tuesday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex.

The Cougar women game up a goal within the first two minutes and that was the difference in the 3-2 defeat to the Golden Eagles.

The Cougar men also gave up an early goal to Laramie County Community College Tuesday afternoon, but WNCC never was close in falling 5-0 to the Golden Eagles.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said that his ladies team ran out of gas against a faster LCCC team.

“I think we played a bad game tonight. We had too much time off between contests and I saw that fitness dropped a bit and we weren’t able to leave our starters on as long as we would liked,” Rasnic said. “It is unfortunate to have the layoff, but we needed it because of the CU tournament that we played in, we played four games and got pretty beat up.

“They got that early goal, which caught us off guard and after that we shut them down a bit. We still have some work to do. We are trying some different looks. I think we learned a lot tonight [about LCCC] and we will go back to our training to formulate a line up that will be necessary to win in the Region IX playoffs.”

LCCC scored 1 minute, 57 second into the match on a goal by Michaela Boyd. That was the only goal of the half as the Golden Eagles took a 1-0 lead into intermission.

Rasnic said that early goal was a difference.

“The truth is we played a quality match for about 25 minutes and that is the bottom line. We have to play 90 minutes at full speed and full pace and control the match and we didn’t do it,” he said. “When you don’t do it against a top team, you lose. That is the way it is. Our ladies know that and they know they have some work to do and these games will not just drop in their lap and they need to get out here and work like the champions I know they are. I think you will see them bounce back from this and put some good soccer on the field in the next few games.”

In deed the Cougar women did bounce back in the second half. After Boyd scored with 39 minutes to play in the match to put LCCC up 2-0, Ashley Quintana quickly changed the complexion of the match, netting a goal at the 36:22 mark. In fact, Quintana’s goal came off a ricochet off LCCC goal keeper Emily Michna for the goal.

The Golden Eagles went up 3-1 with 22 minutes to play on a goal by Samantha Larson that just sailed over Cougar goal keeper Terri Huntington’s out-stretched arms.

WNCC sliced the lead to one on a beautiful goal by Jaimie Gastelle. Gastelle took a pass from Laura Abbott and placed the ball perfectly in the top center of the net for the score.

The Cougars had three other prime scoring opportunities to tie the score, including two with under five minutes to play, but their shots were just off line.

Huntington recorded eight saves in net, while LCCC’s Michna had five saves. WNCC had nine shots compared to LCCC’s 12.

The men’s contest turned out not to be even a contest as the Golden Eagles scored early and often to vault to a 3-0 lead at halftime. The Golden Eagles scored their first goal just a minute into the match as Romeo Kabanda scored off an assist from Alex Post. Kabanda quickly made it 2-0 at the 38 minute mark when he scored off an assist from Shane Brown.

Later, LCCC’s Adrian Beckham scored off another Brown assist for the 3-0 lead.

LCCC added two more goals in the second half. Tyler Arbuckle had an unassisted goal at the 23:32 minute mark of the second half. LCCC added another goal with 8:20 left to play.

WNCC did have some scoring opportunities, including four shots in the first half, but only could get three shots in the second half. LCCC didn’t have that many shots either. They, in fact, were just 5o percent for the game, making five of 10 shots.

Cesar Bazana recorded eight saves in net for WNCC.

The Cougars will be back in action Saturday when they travel to Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, Wyo. The two teams will then be back at Landers Soccer Complex for their home finale on Sunday against Dodge City Community College with the women’s match starting at noon and the men’s match at 2 p.m.

WNCC volleyball takes down McCook in three sets

Photos of the McCook contest can be found at wncccougars.albumpost.com

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team showed little rust after a 10-day lay-off between matches.

And what makes WNCC’s win Tuesday night at Cougar Palace even more impressive is the fact swept McCook Community College in three sets with just seven Cougars suited up because of various reasons. The Cougars registered a 25-12, 25-16, 25-12 win over the Indians for their 80^th straight home victory to run their record to 32-2 on the season.

“Considering the circumstances, I think we did a good job,” first year coach Giovana Melo said. “The players picked it up and some of them played in a role they haven’t played in before.”

The one Cougar that stood out Tuesday night was Paloma Alvarez, who rattled home 14 kills on the night to lead both teams. Alvarez also had three aces, five points, three blocks and five digs.

“I think she stepped it up tonight,” Melo said of her sophomore outside hitter. “I think she saw that we were missing a couple of players and she said, ‘let me take care of it.’ I was proud of her.”

WNCC did, however, also get strong serving games from Sabina Piezga and Fatima Balza, who both had 14 points and four aces each. Balza also had six kills, two blocks and eight digs; while Piegza had 25 set assists, three kills, four blocks, and two digs.

Also chipping in for the Cougars were Brooke Bloomenkamp with three points and five digs; Naomi Flinders with six points, five kills, two blocks and six digs; Paulina Piegza with two aces, seven points, eight kills, five blocks and five digs; and Whitney Roth with one block.

The McCook was paced by Whitney Hochstettler with four kills and two blocks, while Chelsey Quigley had two blocks, three kills and two aces. Sidney graduate Tara Long finished with seven assists, five points and one ace. Myra Brown also picked up five points.

Even playing short-ended, the Cougars were on top of their game early, running out to a 6-1 lead after Flinders had three service points. WNCC pushed the lead to 10-2 as Balza served up three points and then the Cougars closed out the first set 25-12 as Sabina Piegza ahd four points, including two aces.

The second set was a little tighter as Long served three points to knot the score at 3-3. Later, Brown had four straight points to tie the set once again at 9-9. After a WNCC timeout, the Cougars went to work as Sabina Piegza served up seven points, including two aces and two kills each from Flinders and Alvarez to lead 17-9.

McCook fought back cutting the lead to 17-13, but Alvarez changed the momentum with five points to help the Cougars to the 25-16 win.

The Indians started the third game on fire, leading the No. 2-ranked team in the nation 4-3 and 5-4. That lead was short-lived as Balza served up six points and then Sabina Piegza added four points to put WNCC up 18-8 on their way to a 25-12 win.

Melo said that the lay off might have helped the Cougars refocus after the first half of the season.

“It is hard to stop playing for 10 days and not playing [matches] at all,” she said. “I think it was good for our team to stay away from the ball a little bit. The lay off was good for us, but now, we need to focus back in because we have two big tournaments after this week’s home stand.”

The Cougars will have three more matches this week, beginning with Family Night on Thursday against Lamar Community College at 7 p.m. WNCC will then have Breast Cancer Awareness night on Friday against Otero Junior College at 7 p.m., followed by an afternoon tilt against Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday at 1 p.m.

WNCC softball goes 1-3-1 at Triple Crown tournament over the weekend

More Saturday photos of the tournament located at wncccougars.albumpost.com

The Western Nebraska Community College softball team went 1-3-1 at the Triple Crown Invitational, facing NCAA Division II colleges, in Ft. Collins, Colo., Saturday and Sunday.

The Cougars went 0-2-1 on Saturday, tying Chadron State College 9-9, while falling to the Montana State-Billings 10-2 and Colorado School of Mines 6-1. On Sunday, WNCC lost a heart-breaking contest to Metro State 6-5 before blanking Regis University 5-2.

WNCC sophomore Kelsey Garner said this was good competition against four-year schools.

“I think this weekend we competed well with the four year schools,” the sophomore said. “But the only thing we were lacking was being able to play tough from start to finish.”

That, playing tough throughout, was the case in the five games.

Against Chadron State, the Eagles struck first scoring four times in the first inning as Katie Bolin smacked a double. WNCC rebounded taking a 6-4 lead after four innings with three runs in the second and fourth innings.

In the second inning, Kelsey Garner had a one-out double followed by four straight singles by Jaclyn Bourdon, Mandy Pounds, Adena Hagen and Tonya Atencio to slice the deficit to 4-3.

WNCC took the lead in the fourth with three runs on four hits. Pounds got things started with a 2-out single, followed by singles by Hagen and Atencio. Kelly Pearson followed with a run-scoring triple for the 6-4 lead.

Chadron State tied the game in the fifth as Andrea Wyman led off with a single and scored later on a hit by Allison Hendrickson.

WNCC came back to take a 9-6 lead in the sixth inning. Pounds lead off with a single. Then, after Pearson walked, Sofia Gomez blasted a 3-run home run to put WNCC up 9-5.

WNCC couldn’t hold the lead in the seventh as Chadron State scored four times. Wyman led off the inning with a single. Hendrickson followed with a one-out single and then Casey Williams walked to load the bases. Kristy Long then delivered the big blow, getting a grand slam to tie the game.

Chadron State had four players record two hits. Long paced the team with a 2-for-4 game with six RBIs and a home run. Wyman, Bolin and Hendrickson each went 2-for-3.

The Cougars pounded out 14 hits in the contest with five players finishing with more than two hits. Pounds led the way with a 3-for-4 game along with three runs scored. Hagen, Pearson, Atencio and Garner each had two hits.

In the earlier games on Saturday, WNCC managed just six hits in the 10-2 loss. Brittany Chacon paced the Cougars with a 2-for-2 performance. In the Mines loss, WNCC had just six hits as Alex Voci finished with a 2-for-3 game.

Sunday was a better day for the Cougars even though they split a pair of games. The Cougars opened play falling to Metro State 6-5, giving up two unearned runs in the sixth inning for the defeat. WNCC did strike first in the contest, scoring three times in the fourth inning on singles by Pearson, Pounds, and Karleen Crone.

WNCC added two more runs in the fifth inning to take a 6-0 lead as Atencio and Pearson led off with singles. Then, with two outs, the Cougars got run-scoring singles from Crone and Hannah Strauss for the lead.

Metro State fought back, scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the sixth, including a grand slam, for the win.

WNCC had nine hits in the contest, led by Crone’s 2-for-2 performance, which included a run scored and a RBI. Also collecting multiple hits was Pearson going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

The Cougars capped the Triple Crown tournament with a thrilling 4-2 win against Regis. Regis took an early 2-0 lead only to watch the Cougars come storming back with a single run in the first and two more in the second for a 3-2 lead.

WNCC took the lead in the second as Lauryn Smith was plucked with a pitch. Hagen then blasted a 2-out triple to score Smith with the tying run. Atencio followed with a single to put WNCC up 3-2.

The Cougars added two insurance runs in the seventh. Hagen singled to lead off the inning and then scored on a Casey Simpson single for the win.

Hagen paced WNCC with a 2-for-3 performance including three runs scored, a triple and a RBI.

WNCC will next be in action Saturday and Sunday when they travel to Seward County Community College and Garden City Community College in Kansas, followed by an Oct. 12 meeting against Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colo.

WNCC 101 000 – 2 6 2
MSU-Billings 042 301 – 10 16 2
LP – Stephanie Townsend.

WNCC 001 000 0 – 1 6 1
Mines 203 010 – 6 8 0
LP – Kelsey Garner.

WNCC 030 303 0 – 9 14 2
Chadron St. 400 010 4 – 9 9 2
2B – WNCC (Garner), CSC (Katie Bolin); 3B – WNCC (Kelly Pearson); HR – WNCC (Sofia Gomez), CSC (Kristy Long).

WNCC 000 320 0 – 5 9 4
Metro St. 000 042 x – 6 7 0
LP – Garner; 2B – Hagen.

WNCC 120 000 2 – 5 7 1
Regis 200 000 0 – 2 8 1
WP – Townsend; S – Casey Simpson.

WNCC soccer, volleyball host home matches on Tuesday

It will be a busy week for the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball and soccer teams with plenty of home contests.

Action begins Tuesday as each team will have home contests. The WNCC men’s and women’s soccer teams start the week taking on defending Region IX champions Laramie County Community College at the Landers Soccer Complex.

The Cougar men tangle with the Golden Eagles at 2 p.m., while the Cougar women face the No. 8 team in the nation at 4 p.m.

WNCC coach Todd Rasnic knows his team needs to play a complete match start to finish.

“Both teams have to play at the top of their games,” he said. “The women came out stronger in that first game (a 2-2 tie against LCCC), and they can’t slack off at all. They have to play their game the entire match. We have to be disciplined and we have to be playing at a high rate of speed and win individual challenges with the ball. Talent-wise, they are on track to be a top team this year. If we do that, we have a good chance to come out on top.

“On the men’s side, we just can’t play a first half like we did three or four matches this year. The men need to play a complete game of soccer, and right know they are playing like a one-half team. In order to win, they will need to play for the entire 90 minutes. We did make some changing of our system and moved some players around to use our talent in a correct way.”

The last time the two Region IX schools faced each other, the men lost an overtime thriller 2-1. The women’s team, after trailing 2-0, scored two late second half goals to earn the tie against a ranked team. Rasnic said hoping positive things happen Tuesday for his squad.

“Both games should be good contests,” he said. “I think we have a good chance of coming out on top in both of those contests.”

After the soccer matches on Tuesday, the No. 2-ranked Cougar volleyball team returns to action at 7 p.m. against McCook Community College. WNCC, 31-2 and have not seen action since Sept. 20 when they won the Wyo-Braska Shootout, will begin the first of four home matches on Tuesday.

“It is hard not playing for that long, but it was good to get the team some rest, and now we can get back on track again,” first-year coach Giovana Melo said. “We haven’t played at home matches where people could come see us because the Wyo-Braska was pretty much during the day. Now, people can come watch us and have them get excited with our team.”

Tuesday’s McCook match will also be “Fear the Cougar” wristband night as the first 250 spectators will receive a wristband.

Tuesday’s matches, the Cougars will host Lamar Community College Thursday at 7 p.m., Otero Junior College Friday at 7 p.m. and Trinidad State Junior College at 1 p.m.

Thursday’s contest against will be “Family Night, featuring free children’s ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket, as well as 50 cent hot dogs.

Friday’s match will be “Breast Cancer Awareness Night,” individuals are urged to wear pink to show support for those fighting breast cancer and for cancer survivors. Also, $1 of your ticket price will go to the Dig Pink Foundation to help fight breast cancer. There will be raffles and cancer information during the night.

Saturday’s volleyball match with Trinidad State will honor all the Girl Scout troops. That contest will begin at 1 p.m.

The week’s home contests will end with the men’s and women’s soccer home finale’s slated for Sunday at the Landers Soccer Complex against Dodge City Community College. The women will kick off at noon, while the men will begin at 2 p.m.

WNCC softball wins B Bracket at North Platte Tourney, Garner tosses no-hitter on Saturday

NORTH PLATTE – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team continues to get experience during the fall season after capturing the B Bracket Championship as sophomore pitchers Kelsey Garner and Christy Degano combined on 22 strikeouts on Sunday to spark the Cougars in the two wins.

WNCC earned the B Bracket title with a 8-2 win over York College and then topped Lamar Community College 4-1 in the title contest. The Cougars were 1-2 on Saturday, defeating York College 2-0 behind Garner’s no-hit performance, while falling to Doane College 4-3 and Colby Community College 7-3.

“After our home tournament, it seemed as through everything was clicking. Our bats were hot and our defense and pitching was consistent and it seemed there were a lot of positive things happening,” Garner said. “After this weekend in North Platte, we got to see some better competition in junior colleges and four-year schools and it showed us some things we need to work on. In the end, this tournament will only prepare us to do well this weekend [in Ft. Collins, Colo.] against even better competition in four-year schools.”

The story of the tournament, though, was Degano, who saw her first action as a Cougar.

“I think we did a good job this weekend,” the transfer from Southwest Baptist University in Missouri said. “The girls worked hard and with that work we were able to still come in first place. It was exciting to play and have my first Cougar win and hope there will be more to come. I’m confident that we will have an awesome fall season and I’m looking forward to what spring has coming our way.”

The way the Cougars rebounded from Saturday’s action to Sunday shows the potential of this year’s team. In the bracket portion of the tournament, Garner struck out 11 and allowed four hits in getting the win against York, while Degano struck out 11 and allowed two first-inning hits in the win against Lamar.

Against York, Adena Hagen paced the Cougars with a 3-for-5 performance including getting a double and two runs scored. Kelly Pearson also finished with a 3-for-4 performance. Also getting multiple hits in the game were Tonya Atencio going 2-for-4 with a double, and Alec Voci, going 2-for-4 with two singles.

Hagen, who is the lead-off hitter for the Cougars and had some clutch hits, said they definitely played better on Sunday.

“Over the weekend, our team really started to come together,” the freshman outfielder from Birch Hills, Saskatchewan, said. “The second day of play we made adjustments and started linking hits together. We had an important game against Lamar and came out and finished with a win.”

In the championship game against Lamar, WNCC allowed the Runnin’ Lopes to score a single run on two hits in the first inning. After that, Degano shut down the Runnin’ Lopes while not allowing a hit, while striking out nine. In fact, the Surrey, British Columbia, pitcher allowed just three base runners the final six innings.

While Degano was sizzling in the circle, the Cougar bats were clicking in getting clutch base hits in scoring their four runs. WNCC started the hitting early in the first inning as Katie Groves smacked a run-scoring double, and Alyssa Hickey had a run-scoring single.

WNCC added two more runs in the sixth inning as Hickey, Pearson and Megan Burditt each had singles in the inning for the win.

On Saturday, the Cougars had some bad luck in going through pool play with a 1-2 record. Against Colby, the Cougars managed just three hits as freshman Casey Simpson took the loss in the circle. The Cougars were paced offensively by Hickey with a 3-for-2 game.

WNCC rebounded against York College as Garner tossed a no hitter, allowing just two base runners on errors. Garner struck out six in facing 23 batters.

Offensively, the Cougars scored their only two runs in the seventh inning as Brenda Hearn led off with a single. Pounds followed with a one-out single to score pinch runner Jaclyn Bourdon. Pounds later scored on Atencio’s second hit of the game.

WNCC finished pool play with a heart-breaking 4-3 loss to Doane College. WNCC scored three times in the second inning on five errors by the Doane players. WNCC couldn’t hold the lead as the Tigers scored twice in the fourth and fifth inning for the win.

Degano took the loss in the circle, striking out nine batters and allowing six hits.

Offensively, the Cougars finished with just three hits, all singles from Pearson, Sofia Gomez and Hagen.

WNCC, 6-2 during the fall season, will be back in action this weekend when they head to the Triple Crown tournament in Ft. Collins, Colo. Saturday’s action will see WNCC facing Montana State-Billings at 10:30 a.m., Colorado School of Mines at 12:30 p.m., and Chadron State at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, the Cougars will face Metro State at 12:30 p.m. and Regis University at 2:30 p.m.