WNCC set to host Casper Thursday night in last home match of the season

The fourth-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team will be looking to finish the home portion of their schedule with an unblemished mark Thursday night when they face No. 12 ranked Casper College at Cougar Palace.

The contest will not be an easy task against the 24-7 Thunderbirds, who swept past Laramie County Community College 25-15, 25-23, 25-17 on Tuesday night.

Casper also nearly turned the tide on the Cougars earlier in the season. The Thunderbirds won the first two sets 25-18, 26-24, before the Cougars came storming back in claiming the next three 25-21, 25-11, 15-13.

“We need to play the way that we are capable of playing,” sophomore Whitney Roth, a Gering High graduate, said. “The team needs to get rolling quickly and push points and not let Casper into the game. Us to win the first set will be critical. We need to raise the level of play and we need to dictate the way the game is played and hopefully we can come out with the win.”

WNCC, 34-2, have won 25 straight matches since last falling in the Salt Lake tournament back on Sept. 5. The Cougars will not need a lot to get motivated in this big contest against Casper, especially since it will be the last time the six sophomores will be playing a home contest at WNCC. Those six, Kaleinani Kabalis, Cami Weimer, Sabina and Paulina Piegza, Whitney Roth and Brooke Blomenkamp, have posted a 93-6 record over the last two seasons.

Roth said it will be a special night, not only for the six sophomores, but everyone since this is the last time this year they will be at home.

“It will be a fun yet emotional night,” Roth said. “Cougar Palace has been a great place to play over the last two years and hopefully us six sophomores can end our career at Cougar Palace with a win and just give the crowd a good game.”

First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Cougar Palace.

WNCC volleyball sweeps Trinidad State

Western Nebraska Community College’s Kuulei Kabalis and Sierra Schmidt combined for 34 set assists and the Cougars found just enough to get by a scrappy Trinidad State Junior College squad in straights sets Saturday at Cougar Palace in sub-region action.

The Cougars, playing the second straight match without sophomore Sabina Piegza at the setter position, took care of the Trojans 25-15, 25-14, 25-11 to improve to 34-2 overall and 8-0 in sub-region play.

The last time WNCC and Trinidad faced each other, WNCC had a rather easy time with the Trojans on the road. Kabalis said taking them for granted wasn’t the reason for playing inconsistent, they just didn’t give their best performance.

“I just think what we faced with Sabi getting hurt and that we need to adjust to the changes we are making right now. It is just a little bit difficult,” Kabalis said. “I think we played well [Saturday], but we need more energy and we also need to celebrate more on winning a point.”

The Cougars will definitely need to pick it up another notch as their next two contests will be against ranked teams, Thursday against No. 14 Casper College at home and then Oct. 28 on the road against No. 20 Northeastern Junior College. WNCC will be playing those matches without Piegza, who is out for two weeks after tweaking a knee Thursday night against Otero Junior College.

“We have to overcome what happened because everyone gets hurt,” Kabalis said. “This is a challenge, an obstacle that we will face. We just need to realize that no matter what happens we are a team and we can win no matter what.”

The two setters, who were thrown in the limelight Friday night in running the 6-2 offense, did alright. Kabalis finished the contest with 15 set assists, while Schmidt had 20 set assists and 11 points. The last time the Cougars ran a 6-2 offense was back in 2005 when Bethany Dillman and Stephanie Perez were the setters, said former Cougar coach and now Alaska Anchorage head coach Chris Green.

“We ran a 6-2 offense only one year with Bethany Dillman and Stephanie Perez,” Green said. “We ran it most of the year as Stephanie stayed in the front row and hit. Bethany was subbed out for when she came in the front row.”

Even when WNCC was struggling at times, had plenty of talent and depth to squelch any Trinidad upset attempt.

Trinidad State gave the Cougars something to worry about early on in the opening two sets, slicing the lead to 12-11 on a Shervonn Johnson service point. The Cougars rebounded as Schmidt had two service points before Kaleinani Kabalis had four points to push the lead to 22-13.

The second set started out the same way. Trinidad took a 4-1 lead early and had the set tied at 12. Kaleinani Kabalis and Schmidt changed the outlook of the contest quickly. Kaleinani Kabalis pounded home a kill and then Schmidt served six straight points to give the Cougars a 19-12 lead.

A few rotations later, Kaleinani Kabalis served for five points behind three huge kills from Ariel Austin to get the win.

WNCC quickly took control of the third set as Tania Torres and Kathryn Stock started things with kills followed by Emily Hoehn goingn on a six-point scoring run behind the front row play of Stock, Brook Blomenkamp and Whitney Roth.

Trinidad came back, slicing he lead to 8-5 on three points from Katherine Harris, but kills from Austin and Roth and then a 11-point service run from Roth all but ended the Trojans chances of a comeback.

WNCC had a variety of players step up Saturday. Austin paced the team with nine kills and three blocks. Also for the Cougars, Kaleinani Kabalis had six kills and seven points; Stock had six kills, four points and seven digs; Paulina Piegza had four kills; Torres had seven kills and two blocks; Blomenkamp had four kills; Cami Weimer had four kills and eight digs; and Roth had four kills and 11 points.

The Cougars will have just three more regular season contests left. Next week, the Cougars will host Casper College at 7 p.m.

“We have to come ready to play,” Kuulei Kabalis said. “I think we will be ready after practice. We just need to work hard during the upcoming week.”

WNCC men's soccer team falls to North Idaho 1-0

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team wrapped up the regular season in facing North Idaho College in Cheyenne, Wyo., Saturday afternoon.

The Cougar men, playing with just 11 players, played tough but fell short 1-0 to the Idaho squad.

“They did a nice job and played with a lot of heart,” WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said. We played with just 11 players and no substitutes as several were serving suspensions due to yellow card accumulations.”

North Idaho scored the only goal in the 29^th minutes to take an 1-0 lead at halftime. Neither team scored in the second half as the Cougars managed just three shots on goal compared to North Idaho’s 10 shots on goal.

Alliance’s Raul Sanchez recorded nine saves in net for the Cougars. It was his second contest in goal for the Cougars.

WNCC will next be in action Friday at the Region IX playoffs in Cheyenne when they play Western Wyoming Community College at 2:30 p.m. Western Wyoming topped WNCC 4-3 in overtime on Friday at the Landers Soccer Complex.

Rasnic said they should be alright next week as they will have their full allotment of players ready for the playoffs.

“We have to get our full squad back and play at a high rate of speed,” he said. “We also need to keep attacking on the offensive side of the game. We aldo have to continue to put the ball in the back of the net.”

WNCC men's basketball team top 13th ranked Southern Idaho in Casper Jamboree

In their first scrimmage of the year the WNCC Men's basketball team squared off against the 13th-ranked (Street & Smith's Magazine) College of Southern Idaho Friday evening in Casper, Wyo.

The Cougars are taking part in the Casper Jamboree and came out of their first contest with a 54-46 victory over the highly touted CSI Golden Eagles.

"I thought our guys really came out and executed the way we like to play," Russ Beck said. "Obviously I have a lot of respect and admiration for Coach Gosar and his CSI program having coached there this past season, I think they are primed to have an excellent year."

Sophomore point guard Scott Bamforth led the Cougars with 22 points connecting on 5 of 6 shots from the 3-point line and hitting critical free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Bamforth got great support from Francisco Cruz who added 14 points, 4 assists and 4 steals while sophomore forward Geddes Robinson tallied 11 points and 3 boards.

"Down the stretch we were able to get some big time stops defensively," Beck said. "I am a firm believer in defense and not gambling, we were solid and we made our opponents pay when they gambled."

The Cougars will play in two more games Saturday (today) against Northwest College at 10:45 a.m. and Sheridan College at 1 p.m.

WNCC drops Lamar in four sets for 33rd win of the season

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team were without starting setter Sabina Piegza,, but freshmen Kuulei Kabalis and Sierra Schmidt filled in admirably in leading the Cougars to a four-set win over Lamar Community College Friday at Cougar Palace.

Kabalis finished with a double-double with 14 set assists and 16 digs, while Schmidt, a Gering graduate, had 22 set assists and seven points in the 25-9, 25-7, 22-25, 25-13 win. It was the Cougar’s 33rd win of the season and pushed their sub-region record to 7-0.

It was also the first time the Cougars have dropped a game since Sept. 24 against Western Wyoming Community College. Schmidt said it might be a good thing that they dropped a game for the future matches.

“I thought we played really well the first two sets. The third set we went down hill, but we picked it up again in the fourth set,” she said. “I think losing that game showed us that it doesn’t matter who is on the other side of the net, we just need to play our game the whole time.”

Once again, the victory showed the depth the Cougars’ possess, and this time it was at setter, where the Cougars ran a 6-2 offense for the first time in a number of years.

“I think it is great that we can run a 5-1 and a 6-2 and tonight really showed that we can do that kind of stuff and be successful with it.

The setting was just one aspect of the Cougars game that stood out Friday. The others was hitting and serving. Kaleinani Kabalis finished the night with 28 points, including eight straight in the first set, 13 straight in the second set, and seven in the fourth set.

It was also Kaleinani’s serving in the fourth set that sparked the Cougars. Lamar and WNCC were tied at 5-5 until Brooke Blomenkamp hammered home a kill. Kaleinani then brought them back with six straight points to open the lead to 12-5.

Lamar never mounted a threat again as a Blomenkamp and Whitney Roth block, followed by two Roth service points pushed the lead to 15-6. The Cougars pushed the lead to double digits on two Tania Torres kills.

The first two sets, the Cougars were completely dominating as Kuulei opened the game with three points. Lamar kept the contest close at 11-6 before Kaleinani hammered hammered home two kills and then served eight straight for a 22-7 lead.

Kaleinani was just as sizzling from the service line in the second set, taking a 9-3 Cougar lead and pushing it to 22-3 after going on a 13-point streak. Blomenkamp finished off the set with a kill.

The third set was a back and forth affair with Lamar leading by four on two different occasions at 18-14 and 20-16. WNCC fought back cutting the deficit to 20-19 on two Cami Weimer service points. Blomenkamp later hammered home a kill to make the score 23-21, but the Lopes forced a fourth set.

Kathryn Stock had had a double-double with 12 digs, 13 points and 10 kills. Also for WNCC, Kaleinani had nine kills; Emily Hoehn had nine digs and five points; Blomenkamp had nine kills and three blocks; Roth had five kills, five blocks and four points; and Weimer had five kills, three points and three digs.

WNCC (33-2) will next be in action today when they host Trinidad State Junior College at 1 p.m..

WNCC women top Western Wyoming, men fall to Mustangs in overtime

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team tuned up nicely for the next week’s Region IX playoffs with a 2-1 win over Western Wyoming Community College Friday afternoon at the Landers Soccer Complex in Scottsbluff.

The Cougar men saw Western Wyoming fight back from two deficits to escape with a 4-3 overtime win. The Cougar men will be back in action today when they face North Idaho College in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Shauna Michaelis, sophomore from West Jordan, Utah, said this win was important considering the Mustangs defeated the Cougars last month 1-0.

“This win is very important, so that we can get another rook as to how their tem plays and what we can do to beat them when we play our first regional tournament [next Friday in Cheyenne},” she said. “We didn’t play our best, but we did as much as we needed to win the game. We had
too many personal mistakes but we learned from them and kept playing until the last minute to secure the win.”

The Cougar women held a 2-0 lead at halftime. Michaelis scored the first goal off an corner kick as she found the lose ball in the box and put it in the back of the net with 15 minutes left in the half.

WNCC wasted little time in netting it’s second goal as Ana Jacobo sent a pass to Gering’s Keah Brost in the middle who pounded it into the goal.

The second half was dominated by defense for the Cougars as they held the Mustangs scoreless until their was seven minutes left in the contest as Wendy Davis scored off an assist by Taryn Roosa. The Cougars defense stiffened in the rest of the game to get the win.

Michaelis said the defense has been playing well as of late, including holding the national rated Laramie County Community College women to a scoreless tie in their last time on the field 10 days ago.

“For the most part we have done some amazing things as a defense,” she said. “We still have some mistakes that need fixing, but we have kept strong through most of our matches and plan on keeping everything out of our net at regionals.”

The Mustangs out shot the Cougars 8-7, but WNCC’s goal keeper Jessica Taylor made seven saves in net. The big difference in the match was the Cougars were called for 12 offside penalties to none for Western Wyoming.

While the women’s contest was basically a defensive showcase, the men’s contest was offensive as both teams kept pressure on each other’s goalkeepers.

Western Wyoming wasted little time in scoring, just three minutes into the contest on a Kyle Selijaas shot. WNCC quickly tied the game on a Jose Macias goal, but it was ruled no good because of an offside call.

The Cougars did tie the game before half as Gering’s Chris Guadarama nailed a shot into the net off assists from Kareem Hernandez and Marcel Sales with 16 minutes left in the half.

Hernandez gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead in the second half scoring just minutes into the half. WNCC enjoyed the lead for a spell until Western Wyoming’s Mika Goodman scored with 20 minutes left to play.

The Cougars regained the lead with 10 minutes to play as Matt Hoffman scored from the left side off of passes from Macias and Hernandez giving WNCC a 3-2 lead.

WNCC couldn’t hold the lead as Western Wyoming tied the game at 3-3 off a penalty kick by Selijaas with 1:11 to play to force overtime.

The overtime period saw both teams play tough defense. Salijaas, however, recorded the hat trick by scoring his second goal with 2:12 left in the first overtime to give the Mustangs the win.

Tony Rocha, a sophomore from Juarez, Mexico, said his team can use this loss as motivation next week when the Cougars face Western Wyoming in the first round of regionals on Friday.

“This game woks as motivation even though we lost because we know we could have beat Western Wyoming easily today; it was just unlucky for us,” he said. “We just didn’t finish our opportunities to score. We will come out stronger at regionals.”We

WNCC volleyball sweeps past Otero Junior College

Sierra Schmidt had 14 points and Ariel Austin pounded home nine kills as the 4^th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team cruised to its 32^nd win of the season with a thundering 25-6, 25-11, 25-14 win over Otero Junior College in sub-region play Thursday at Cougar Palace.

“I thought we had a lot of fun out there and, again, we came out and played as a team,” Austin, the 5-foot-11 rightside hitter from Woodland Park, Colorado, said. “Our goal is always to get 10 percent better and I thought we did get that 10 percent better. We all got our serves over and got some good kills.”

The Cougars definitely were on their A game Thursday night as a number of Cougars stepped up to the plate, and they wasted little time in taking control.

WNCC quickly took a 7-2 lead behind two kills each from Austin and Whitney Roth and then pushed the lead to double-digits, 14-4, on five Schmidt service points. The Cougars pushed the lead to 19-5 as Kathryn Stock had four points, including two aces before Paulina Piegza finished off the Rattlers with four service points.

The second set was a tad closer. WNCC jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Cami Weimer’s serving, but that was soon erased as Otero tied the set at six on three Lindsay Thayer points. Otero kept playing strong, taking a 9-8 lead on a Sara Coe point.

WNCC rebounded by taking a 14-9 lead on five Kuulei Kabalis points on two Austin Kills. The Cougars continued playing strong as Schmidt served seven straight points, including two aces for a 22-10 lead. Stock finished off the Rattlers with two service points.

Austin said it was a batter of time that the Cougars would get untracked in the second set after trailing early.

“We had a couple of mistakes in that second set,” she said. “But we just snapped back and clicked together and got the lead back.”

The Cougars made quick work in the third set as Roth served five straight points for a 5-0 lead. WNCC continue playing strong, pushing the lead to double digits on a Roth kill and service point. From there, WNCC cruised to the third set win at 25-14.

The big key for the Cougars was their serving as the team combined on 10 kills and four different players finished with seven or more service points. Schmidt paced the team with 14 points and three aces, while Stock had 10 points and two aces. Roth and Kuulei Kabalis each had seven points.

“Serving was huge for us tonight,” Austin said. “It is one of the most important things that you have to get it over to have a play.”

The Cougars also received a balanced offensive attack. The team combined on .365 hitting for the contest as Austin paced the squad with nine kills with a hitting percentage of .347. Stock and Kaleinani Kabalis finished with eight kills each, while Roth had six kills.

Also for the Cougars, Paulina Piegza had two kills and five points; Kaleinani Kabalis added 11 digs and six points; Stock had four digs; Sabina Piegza had five kills, 29 set assists and two points; Weimer had three points and seven digs; Kuulei Kabalis had 10 digs; and Tania Torres had two kills.

The Cougars, 32-2, will continue its home stand Friday when they host Lamar Community College at 7 p.m. The Lamar contest is Family night where families that attend wearing blue and gold will be admitted for $1 each.

WNCC will then face Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday at 1 p.m. That contest is Girl Scout Day.

No. 4 WNCC sweeps No. 20 NJC in Think Pink Night

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team came ready to play and toppled the Northeastern Junior College Plainswomen in three straight sets in recording their 31^st win of the season Tuesday night in a near capacity Cougar Palace.

The NJCAA 4^th-ranked Cougars rolled to the impressive 25-12, 25-20, 25-21 win over the No. 20 Plainswomen as Kaleinani Kabalis recorded a double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs.

The Cougars also received stellar play out of plenty of other players as Gering’s Brooke Blomenkamp came up big in the second set with four of her seven kills.

Blomenkamp said this is a big win for her team.

“This is a great win for us. NJC has always been a great team and it is always fun to play them,” she said. “I think we played really well tonight. We were at the top of our game and we were well-prepared for this team. We played awesome.”

The Cougars came out of the locker room well prepared for the match, taking the first set with ease. Cami Weimer served seven straight points and Kabalis made her presence known from the front line.

NJC fought back cutting the lead to 7-4 on four points from Brunna Kronbauer, but it was short-lived as the Cougars raced to an 18-11 lead behind a kill and three service points from Kathryn Stock. Later, Paulina Piegza served up five points and then Kabalis finished off the set with a monster kill.

Blomenkamp said the way they started they played was definitely the turning point of the evening.

“The key to the win was we had to stick our game and for the most part play it by our rules and make sure we shut them down in the first set to give us a little bit more momentum for the second two,” she said. “We are not a serious team, exactly. We are kind of fun-loving. We all got ready together and then we just had fun before the match. I think that is what helped.”

The second set was a tussle between the two Region IX powerhouses. NJC raced to a 6-4 lead behind the serving of Amy Miller. WNCC, however, never panicked as Blomenkamp came up with some clutch kills, including a monster kill after a long rally to give the Cougars a 16-15 lead. WNCC pushed the lead to 22-17 behind three Emily Hoehn points. Tania Torres finished off the set with a kill.

WNCC took control in the third set, racing out to a 9-3 behind a strong frontline play of Torres, Kabalis and Blomenkamp. NJC came back in slicing the lead to 10-7 on two Alexa Kippes points, but it was short lived as Stock had two kills and two points and WNCC pushed the lead to 17-12.

The Cougars pushed the lead to 21-14 on a Blomenkamp kill. The Plainswomen fought back, slicing the lead to 23-20 on three Kronbauer kills before the Cougars hung on for the win.

Karen Rivetto paced the Plainswomen with 14 kills followed by Kronbauer with 13.

Kabalis led all players with 18 kills. Kabalis also had 12 digs, seven points and two aces.

Also for the Cougars, Stock finished with seven kills, six digs, 10 points and an ace; Blomenkamp had seven kills and two blocks; Paulina Piegza had five kills, four digs, and seven points’ Sabina Piegza had four kills, three blocks, six digs, and 30 set assists; Torres had two kills, four blocks, and two digs; Weimer had six digs and six points; and Kuulei Kabalis had 13 digs.

The Cougars, 31-2, remained unbeaten in sub-region play at 5-0 and will return to action Thursday when they will face Otero Junior College at 7 p.m. at Cougar Palace. The Cougars will also face Lamar Community College at home Friday at 7 p.m. and then Trinidad State at 1 p.m.

WNCC goes 4-0 at Seward County Invite; Kaleinani Kabalis earns MVP honors

Western Nebraska Community College’s Kaleinani Kabalis pounded home 33 kills and picked up the Most Valuable Player award after leading the Cougars to their 30^th win of the season after sweeping two more opponents in the Landmark Real Estate Center Ozfest Invitational in Liberal, Kan., on Saturday.

The No. 4-ranked Cougars took care of Midland College 25-12, 25-20, 25-17, before running through No. 11 Seward County Community College 25-22, 25-21, 25-14. WNCC finished 4-0 at the invitational after sweeping through No. 17 Hutchinson Community College and Arizona Western (who received votes in the national rankings) on Friday. Hutchinson finished second in the tournament.

“I think they worked and fought pretty hard for every single point today,” WNCC coach Giovana Melo said. “We got better as every game got a long. I think we played as a team and that is something that we have been working on. We have been working on playing as a team, being consistent and getting better. We did those things and we were able to win all of them.”

Kabalis finished the four matches in the tournament with 66 kills in leading the team to their 21^st straight victory. Kuulei Kabalis and Sabina Piegza also were named to the all-tournament team.

In the opener against Midland, the Cougars were down 21-20 in the second set and then served three straight to go up 23-21 before winning 25-22.

The Cougars had three players hit the double figure mark in kills. Kaleinani Kabalis finished with 16 kills followed by Paulina Piegza and Brooke Blomenkamp each had 11 kills. Kabalis also had six points and a solo block.

Paulina Piegza had six assists, eight points and one ace. Also for the Cougars, Kathryn Stock had three block; Sabina Piegza with three blocks and 38 set assists; Kuulei Kabalis with 14 digs; Cami Weimer with 10 digs and five points; and Emily Hoehn with seven digs.

WNCC was even more impressive against No. 11 Seward County. After squeaking out a 25-22 win in the first set, the Cougars rolled to a 25-21 win in set two and then easily won the third set 25-14. WNCC raced to a 12-7 lead in the final set before holding commanding 22-12 lead.

The Cougars defense was stellar against the Saints as for players netted the double-figure plateau in digs. Kuulei and Kaleinani Kabalis, Hoehn and Weimer each had 10 digs each, followed by Sabina Piegza with nine digs.

Kaleinani Kabalis hammered home 17 kills in the match while also getting six points. Paulina Piegza and Stock also had good matches as Paulina had eight kills, two solo blocks and five assist blocks. Stock finished with six kills and four assist blocks.

Also for WNCC, Sabina Piegza had 35 set assists.

Melo was pleased with the team’s play over the weekend, which ran the team’s winning streak to 21 matches.

“We played very well and I thought we worked and fought really hard,” she said. “We played well defensively against Steward. Now we have to get home and get focused against Northeastern Junior College next week.”

WNCC will take on the No. 20 Northeastern Junior College on Tuesday at Cougar Palace. Melo said they need to play the same way they did this weekend to be successful against their rivals from Sterling, Colo.

“We have to keep playing the way we have been playing,” she said. “If we do that, it will be a good match. We can do it. If we keep playing well like we did this weekend, we are a good team.”

Tuesday’s home match will also be a volleyball/basketball doubleheader. First, the volleyball team will have Dig Pink night during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. First serve is set for 7 p.m. Dig Pink festivities include information on breast cancer awareness as well as give-a-ways. Also, breast cancer patients will be admitted free and anyone wearing pink will get $1 off their admission.

After the volleyball match, individuals will get a chance to see new men’s basketball coach Russ Beck’s team as the Cougar men will have a basketball showcase. The evening will give the fans a chance to meet and greet the players. There will also be a scrimmage, a 3-point shooting contest and a slam dunk contest during the evening.

WNCC captures two more wins in Seward County Invite

LIBERAL, Kan. - The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team ran its winning streak to 19 in a row with a pair of sweeps at the at the Ozfest Invitational at Seward County Community College on Friday in Liberal, Kan.

The fourth-ranked Cougars posted a 25-21, 26-24, 25-16 win over Arizona Western before topping Hutchinson Community College 26-24, 25-19, 25-11. The wins improved WNCC to 28-2.

"Both teams we played today were very good," WNCC assistant coach Nicole Gonzalez said. "We were behind 23-18 in the first set against Hutchinson, but we pulled through."

In the win over Hutchison, Kaleinani Kabalis put down 16 kills. Sabina Piegza dished out 31 set assists and served eight points, while Cami Weimer and Kuulei Kabalis led the Cougars defensively with 10 digs each. Kathryn Stock added six kills and Paulina Piegza finished with six points, two aces and seven kills. Also for the Cougars, Emily Hoehn had five points, Kaleinani Kabalis had nine digs and Sabina Piegza finished with nine digs.

Kaleinani Kabalis registered a double-double of 17 kills and 12 digs in WNCC's win over Arizona Western. Paulina Piegza added 11 kills, Stock had nine kills and Brooke Blomenkamp finished with seven kills.

Sabina Piegza handed out 34 assists and served four points, while Stock tallied eight digs and eight points. Kuulei Kabalis finished with nine digs. Also for the Cougars, Paulina Piegza served six points and Hoehn served four points.

WNCC will be back in action Saturday with a pair of matches in the round-robin tournament. The Cougars will take on Midland College at 11 a.m. and Seward County Community College at 3 p.m.

WNCC women tie No. 6 LCCC 0-0, men fall in heartbreaker 1-0

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team’s defense earned a moral victory over the NJCAA 6^th-ranked Laramie County Community College women Wednesday at Cheyenne, Wyo.

The Cougar women shut out the Golden Eagles, who dropped to 11-1-2, and earned a 0-0 double overtime tie in Region IX action.

The Cougar men, on the other hand, couldn’t hold the LCCC men scoreless, suffering a 1-0 defeat to the Golden Eagles. LCCC scored with 32 seconds to play to earn the win.

The women’s contest, however, was a testament of a defense not giving up as the LCCC offense kept pressure on the Cougar women for the 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime period. The Cougar defense never gave up a score, as Jessica Taylor and Jacee Roseberry combined on 14 saves.

“I think our heart kept us going,” Roseberry said. “I am pretty sure the adrenalin was pumping so much that we weren’t going to stop playing strong defense.”

Roseberry was part of that defense on the field that shut down the ranked Golden Eagles. Roseberry also was thrown into duty as goalkeeper in the second overtime period after starting keeper Jessica Taylor had to come out for after an injury. Roseberry made two huge saves in her three minutes in net to thwart any game winning goals by the Golden Eagles. Taylor later returned to net to finish out the contest.

“I almost fainted when [assistant coach Jim Miller] called me to go in,” the Gering graduate said. “I was in there making saves just for the team. I was in there to keep us in it.”

And when Roseberry wasn’t in net, Taylor was thwarting shot after shot from the Golden Eagles, including some clutch diving saves.

It was Taylor’s play in net that kept the players’ spirits up.

“We just said we made it this far, we are not going to let anything go by us now,” Roseberry said. “This is a big win for us. It means we are coming up. Our team is starting to come together.”

The Cougars managed just five shots on goal compared to 14 for the Golden Eagles. LCCC also had 10 corner kicks to the Cougars’ zero.

WNCC had two good scoring opportunities in the second half, the first coming at the 37 minute mark. The other came with about 15 minutes to play when Brooke Dudley just barely missed.

The Cougar’s offense came charging hard in the overtime period. Ana Jacobo had two scoring opportunities but just missed. The first was just 30 seconds into the overtime period, while the other came with three minutes left.

Jordan Lutkin also had a chance at cashing in on the winning goal with 3:45 left in the first overtime.

The second overtime, played in dissipating light, saw Taylor make a huge diving save with 8:12 left to play. That was when Roseberry was called into duty in net. For the next three minutes, Roseberry and the rest of the Cougar defenders thwarted three shots on goals, two of which were saves by Roseberry.

Laramie County had one last chance of hitting the winning goal as the Golden Eagles had a corner kick with a minute to play. Taylor came up big and the Cougars hung another tie on the No. 6 team in the nation.

Roseberry said the match became challenging, especially in the overtime periods, when there was little light on the field as the sun was almost completing down. That, however, didn’t bother them as they played evening games last weekend in the Boulder tournament.

“It was a tough match and we fought hard,” she said. “I am pretty sure this will boost us a ton. This is a big game for us and to come away with a tie, it will boost our confidence and strengthen us as a team.”

While the Cougar women earned a moral victory with a tie, the Cougar men suffered a heartbreaking defeat. Neither team had much offense in the first half. The second half saw plenty of shots, but both goal keepers were earning saves left and right.

The Cougar men had a couple of prime scoring opportunities. Marcel Sales missed on a shot at the 34 minute mark. The Cougar men had another prime scoring shot after Gustavo Rincon delivered a pass that was intercepted by LCCC with 20 minutes to play. Sales had another chance to score at the 13 minute mark, but just misfired.

With overtime looming, LCCC finally found the net with 32 seconds remaining in the game as Santiago Castano scored for the winner.

WNCC had five shots on goal compared to eight for LCCC. David Castillo had nine saves in net. Both teams had three corner kicks each.

The Cougar men and women will now be off until Friday, Oct. 16 when they host Western Wyoming Community College at Landers Soccer Complex in the team’s final home game. The women’s contest starts at 2 p.m. with the men’s contest to follow.

WNCC drops McCook in straight sets

Kathryn Stock hammered home 17 kills and Cami Weimer finished with 14 points to lead the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team to its 26^th win of the season with a sweep of McCook Community College Tuesday at Cougar Palace.

The 4^th-ranked Cougars, 26-2, earned the 25-12, 25-11, 25-8 win in impressive fashion as Weimer said this was one of their better matches as far as an all-around contest.

“I think we played really good. I think we minimized on our errors when we play teams like this,” she said. “We are striving to get better every day and with our next games coming up, this was getting us ready for it.”

Tuesday night, the Cougars minimized those errors in rolling to their 17th straight win and they did it with a balanced attack from all phases of the game.

The serving was the big are that stood out for the Cougars on the night. Weimer paced the team with 14 services points, including three aces. Weimer had 11 straight service points to open the third set.

Kaleinani Kabalis also had a strong serving contest in the first game, finishing with seven points and four aces in that opening contest. Also stepping up from the service line was Sabina Piegza with eight points and two aces, while Whitney Roth had six points and Emily Hoehn had four points.

Serving was just one aspect of the game that stood out as the Cougars committed just seven hitting errors on the night. Stock led the team with 17 kills with a .586 hitting efficiency. Sabina Piegza finished the contest with six kills followed by Brooke Blomenkamp with five and Kaleinani Kabalis with four. Kabalis kills were all in the first set.

What kept the Cougars offensive going, though, was their defense. In the first set, Kabalis had two back-row saves on set point to allow Paulina Piegza a change to hit home the set winner. It is that defense that Weimer says helps lift the team.

“It is nice that we have ups like that because it boosts everyone’s confidence,” she said. “We are able to play our kind of ball when we get those saves.”

Weimer even had a huge save in the second set from the back row that lifted the team to a 20-8 lead. Weimer’s save allowed Stock to pound home a kill and allow Weimer to keep serving. Later in the set, Roth served up two service points for a 23-9 lead.

WNCC then survived a long rally with some clutch defense to allow Stock pound home another kill for a 24-11 lead. Paulina Piegza served the final point for the winner.

The third set was a complete domination by the Cougars as Weimer’s first 11 points, including two aces and two blocks by Roth, helped WNCC to the 11-0 lead. Hoehn followed with four point to up the ante to 23-7 before Stock finished off the match with her 17^th kill.

WNCC’s defense was definitely stellar on the night as the Cougars combined for 41 digs. Kuulei Kabalis led the team with 12 digs followed by Sabina Piegza with nine, Weimer with eight and Stock with five.

Also for the Cougars, Sabina Piegza had 29 set assists and two blocks; and Roth with four blocks.

Weimer said one of the main reasons for the complete team play was because they knew they have some important matches coming up this weekend at the Seward Invite as well as a home contest with Northeastern Junior College next Tuesday.

“We told ourselves that we have to get 10 percent better from how we are practicing and playing the day,” she said. “We just try to improve ourselves and we strive to get better every day.”

WNCC will face, Midlands College, Redlands Community College, No. 11 Seward County Community College, and Arizona Western, who received honorable mention votes.

WNCC men down CU Black 7-1 in action Sunday

BOULDER, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team picked up its offense Sunday against the University of Colorado “Black” team to the tune of a 7-1 victory in Boulder, Colo.

The Cougars, 4-3-1, received a balanced scoring attack as six different players found the back of the net. Freshman Jose Macies scored the first two goals, netting his first at the 10^th minute and the second at the 20^th minute off an assist from Matt Hoffman. The first goal was unassisted.

WNCC put in two more goals before halftime as Nathan Southard scored in the 31^st minute and then Kevin Lopez scored in the 39^th minute for a 4-1 halftime lead. Tony Rocha had the assist on both goals.

The Cougars wasted little time in scoring in the second half as Rocha found the back of the net three minutes into the half off an assist from Rocha.

Miguel Leon scored the Cougar’s sixth goal at the 52^nd minute off an asset from Marcel Sales. Gering graduate Chris Guadarama scored the final goal in the 88^th minute from a pass from Leon for the final 7-1 score.

Assistant coach Jim Miller said the Cougar men dominated in the game from the get-go.

“It wasn’t even close,” Miller said. “Most of their shots were from 25 to 30 feet out and they were hard shots that they were hoping they would go in the net.”

WNCC had nine shots on goal compared to 14 for CU. The difference was that seven of the Cougar’s shots found the back of the net. David Castillo was in net for the Cougars, collecting 13 saves.

The Cougars will next be in action Wednesday when they travel to Cheyenne, Wyo., to face Laramie County Community College in a Region IX contest. The men play at 2 p.m., while the women will battle at 4 p.m.

The last time the two squads met on Sept. 23 at the Landers Soccer Complex, the LCCC men earned a hard-fought 1-0 win.

WNCC women's soccer wins two at CU Tournament

BOULDER, Colo. – Jaime Gastelle recorded a hat trick and Gering graduates Keah Brosh and Ashley Heimbouch each netted two goals as the Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team posted an 11-0 win over Johnson & Wales University Saturday during pool play action of the CU Boulder tournament.

WNCC followed that win with a 1-0 win against St. Louis University in the first round of bracket play. WNCC finished the tournament by falling to the University of Arizona Club 1-0 late Saturday night.

“We got good experience out of this tournament, WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said. “All these teams are good. We finished with a 2-2 record and we will be ready for our next regional contest.”

In the pool play contest against Johnson & Wales, WNCC ran to a 6-0 lead at halftime. Gastelle had a hand in the first four goals, scoring twice and collecting two assists. Gastelle scored he first goaaof the game off an assist from Brooke Dudley. Minutes later, Gastelle also had assists aas she fed Ana Jacobo and Brost for a quick 4-0 lead.

Heimbouch got her first goal next in the first half off an assist from Brost. Jordan Lutkin scored the final goal of the first half off an assist from Jacobo..

Brost was a part of the first two goals in the second half, scoring off an assist from Dudley before getting an assist on Gastelle’s third goal of the game.

Heimbouch came back to record an assist as Shauna Michaelis, who usually plays defense, notched her first goal of the season.

Scottsbluff graduate Laura Abbott scored the team’s 10^th goal of the match followed by Heimbouch finishing off the scoring with her second goal off an assist from Lyanne Hernandez.

WNCC was near perfect shooting scoring 11 times on 14 shots on goal. Johnson & Wales had just one shot on goal, which was saved from Cougar goalkeeper Jessica Taylor.

The Cougars, 5-5, opened up bracket play with an impressive 1-0 win against St. Louis University. WNCC had 10 shots on goal compared to St. Louis’ nine shots on goal.

Rasnic said that six of the shots were excellent chances that their goalie stopped. Rasnic praised how good their goalie was.

The one shot that WNCC got into the net came in the 49^th minutes off a free kick by Jacobo.

WNCC finished the tournament by falling to Arizona in the last minute of play. Arizona scored from about 25 yards out with 27 seconds to play. If they wouldn’t have scored, the contest would have went to penalty kicks.

Rasnic said the goal was just a good shot that found the right spot into the net and there is nothing they could do. WNCC had three shots on goal compared to Arizona’s 10 shots.

The Cougar men will be in action Sunday at 3 p.m. against the University of Colorado “Black” team.

After that, the Cougars will next be in action Wednesday when they travel to Cheyenne to face Laramie County Community College. The men will play at 2 p.m. and the women at 4 p.m.

WNCC softball goes 2-1 at Colorado Northwestern Tournament

RANGELY, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team went 2-1 at the Colorado Northwestern tournament on Saturday.

WNCC opened with a heartbreaking loss to the Utah Twisters 9-7 even though the Cougars out-hit the Twisters 14-12. WNCC rebounded with a strong pitching performance from Taylor Anderson in blanking Colorado Northwestern 2-0 before getting revenge on the Twisters by winning 7-3.

In the opener, Katie Groves paced the offense with a 2-for-3 performance with two runs scored, two RBIS and a 2-run inside-the-park home run. Also for the Cougars, Chara Horsley went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a triple; Megan Burditt went 2-for-4 with two runs scored; and Alyssa Hickey went 3-for-4 with a double.

Stephanie Townsend and Britt Enterline combined for the loss, giving up 12 hits and nine runs.

WNCC came back as Anderson shut out Colorado Northwestern 2-0 in allowing six hits and striking out three.

Ashton Hughes paced the Cougars with a 2-for-3 game with a run scored. Jordan Schoepflin finished with a double, while Groves had a triple.

WNCC came back to post a 8-3 win against the Twisters in the final game of the day as the Cougars scored six times in the first inning. They then received a stellar pitching performance from Schoepflin, who pitched the first five innings before giving way to Enterline.

Groves went 2-4 with a triple followed by Katie Hill going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Also, Anderson went 1-2; Hickey went 2-2 with a RBI; Hickey went 2-for-2 with an RBI; Schoepflin went 2-for-3 with a run scored and RBI; and Burditt went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a double.

WNCC will have three more games in the Rangely tournament on Sunday.

First Game

WNCC 302 010 1 – 7 14

Utah Twisters 030 330 x – 9 12

LP – Townsend, Enterline; 2B – Hickey; 3B – Horsley; HR – Groves.

Second Game

WNCC 001 100 0 – 2 6

CNCC 000 000 0 – 0 6

WP – Anderson; 2B Schoepflin; 3B – Groves.

Third Game

WNCC 600 100 0 – 7 10

Utah Twisters 001 200 0 – 3 7

WP – Schoepflin; 2B – Burditt; 3B – Groves.

WNCC volleyball picks up 25th win of the season over Trinidad

TRINIDAD, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team made easy work of Trinidad State Junior College, rolling over the Trojans 25-16, 25-6, 25-6 in sub-region play Saturday in Trinidad, Colo.

The 4^th-ranked Cougars captured their 25^th win of the season in going to 3-0 in sub-region play. It was the 12^th straight year that the Cougars have won 25 or more matches in a season, beginning in 1997. Also, it is the second straight year that the Cougars held Trinidad under 30 total points. Last year, the Cougars allowed just Trinidad just 23 points, which is a school record.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo said the team played O.K.

“We started off a little bit slow, but we got better as the game went along,” she said. “We played good defense in the second and third games. We stepped on the court a little out of it and we came back and played good defense.

The big reason for the Cougars in the contest was their serving, where they had 10 ace serves, led by Kuulei Kabalis’ five aces. Paulina Piegza and Sabina Piegza each had two aces in the win.

WNCC also received balanced hitting as five players had five or more kills. Tania Torres led the way with eight kills, while Kaleinani Kabalis had seven kills. Kaleinani also had seven points in the win.

Ariel Austin hammered home six kills, while Kathryn Stock and Paulina Piegza each had five kills. Paulina Piegza also had eight points and a solo block.

Also for the Cougars, Sabina Piegza had 22 set assists, six points, and five digs; Kuulei Kabalis had six digs and nine points; and Cami Weimer had six digs.

Trinidad, 3-26, was paced by Jillian Wilkins with five kills.

WNCC will look to go 4-0 in sub-region play on Tuesday against McCook at Cougar Palace. The night will be volleyball trading card/autograph night. The first 100-plus fans will receive a player trading card.

WNCC volleyball team drops Lamar in three sets

LAMAR, Colo. — The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team picked up their 15^th straight victory by sweeping past Lamar Community College in South Sub-Region action Friday in Lamar, Colo.

The No. 4-ranked Cougars defeated the Lopes 25-11, 25-17, 25-17 to go to 24-2 on the season.

WNCC coach Giovana Melo was definitely pleased with the team’s performance against Lamar from Thursday night’s win against Otero.

“I think we were consistent through the whole game. We were more patient and they hustled a lot,” she said. “As a whole group, I think they did a lot better tonight.”

The Cougars were led by Kaleinani Kabalis’ 17 kills. The 5-foot-9 outside hitter also had seven digs and a solo block.

Also for the Cougars, Paulina Piegza had 11 kills; Kathryn Stock had four kills, 12 digs, 23 points and two aces; Sabina Piegza had nine digs, five points, 33 set assists, and a solo block; and Kuulei Kabalis had seven digs and five points.

WNCC will finish off the southern Colorado sub-region road trip with a 1 p.m. contest at Trinidad State Junior College today.

Melo said they have to stay solid to pick up another sub-region win.

“I think we have to stay consistent,” she said. “No matter who we are playing, we have to be consistent because sometimes they get funky and make way too many errors.”WNCC

WNCC women;s soccer

BOULDER, Colo. — The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team fell to the University of Arizona Club team 1-0 in pool play action of the CU-Boulder tournament Friday.

Arizona won the tournament a year ago as well as the NIRSA national title, and WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said they had every opportunity to pick up the win.

“We had a lot of scoring changes including three 1v1 changes and didn’t score,” Rasnic said. “This game doesn’t .matter because if we win [today] we still advance into the championship bracket.”

Arizona scored the only goal of the contest in the 18 minute of the first half and that was all the Cougars gave up against the four-year club team.

Rasnic said that they were fine in this contest except they have to find ways to score.

The Cougar women will have one more pool play contest today when they face Johnson & Wales University at 8 a.m. After that, the teams will be seeded for bracket play.

WNCC volleyball captures 23rd win by sweeping Otero Junior College

La Junta, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team picked up their 23^rd victory of the season after dropping Otero Junior College in straight sets Thursday in La Junta, Colo.

The No. 4-ranked Cougars captured the victory with scores of 25-14, 25-21, 25-12. It was the Cougars’ sub-region opener.

Assistant Coach Nicole Gonzales said it was a contest where the team had their ups and downs.

“We were up and down even though it was over in three sets,” she said. “We had some good moments and some not so good moments. We were inconsistent on our hitting.”

Sabina Piegza paced the Cougars with a double-double with 10 points, 23 set assists, six kills and nine digs.

Kaleinani Kabalis finished the contest with 12 kills and six digs, while her sister Kuulei had 11 digs. Also for the Cougars, Kathryn Stock had five kills, nine points and an ace, while Paulina Piegza had four kills, six points and an ace; and Tania Torres had two solo blocks.

WNCC, 23-2, will continue the weekend’s sub-region road trip in Colorado by facing Lamar Community College on Friday, before taking on Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday. The Cougars will return home Tuesday to face McCook Community College in another sub-region contest.

WNCC basketball teams open practices on Oct. 1

Western Nebraska Community College basketball coaches Dave Harnish and Russ Beck have to be excited with the energy generated from their respectful teams after going through the first day of official practices on Thursday.

“The first day they really got out and showed good energy,” first-year coach men’s coach Russ Beck said. “As a staff, we have been pretty excited about Oct. 1 and I think our guys were, too. The last week we kept telling them we were going to turn it up several notches and the intensity level would be that much harder. I was pleased of how they came out today.”

The energy level was certainly high octane during the men’s opening practice. Beck said he wanted to see the energy level his team had, and he was impressed.

“We wanted to make sure that we are talking, that we are in the places that we should be, and making sure we are transitioning from one drill to another,” he said. “We want the intensity to be up and we want to put a lot of pressure on them so I am going to put a lot of pressure on our guys in practice so that will transfer to their playing minutes.”

The women’s first-day of practice was also filled with a lot of excitement as Harnish fields one of his tallest and talented teams in the history of Cougar basketball.

“It will always be a struggle with this team early on because of all the freshmen, but we have the pieces where we can be successful this year,” Harnish said. “There is no question that this team is a lot more talented, more athletic and has more height then we had in the past. The pieces are there, it is just a matter of trying to get the 13 freshmen understanding how the college game will be played.”

The Cougar women definitely have a tall team this year with seven players standing 6-feet or taller and two others that tip the scales at 5-10. The Cougars tallest player is 6-foot-7 Thais Pinto of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. They also have a couple of 6-2 freshmen in Soulijah Evans of San Diego, Calif., and Kellli Culver of Arvada, Colo.

The women also have four local players, including Amber Kistler of Bayard, who started for the Cougars last season. The other three are freshmen with Shelby Campbell of Hemingford, Madison Keller of Scottsbluff, and Tayler Puttergill of Mullen.

Kistler and Stormye Everett are the only returning players this season and Harnish said they have a huge responsibility to the team.

“You have to have sophomores take the leadership role because they understand what it takes to play at this level,” he said. “It is important for Amber and Stormye set precedence in terms of what it takes to get where we need to go. They both need to stand out and do a good job for us.”

The men also have a talented squad with six sophomores, including three that transferred in with Beck. The transfers include 6-3 Jasen Williams, who was previously at Rice University, 6-7 Kwame Alexander, who was at Irvine Valley College, and 6-5 Geddes Robinson, who was previously at Jacksonville State.

The returners include Francisco Cruz and Scott Bamforth, the two leading scorers from a year ago, along with Saul Torres, Ritchie Mundende, Mateus Chaves, and Geoffrey Firmin. Mundende, Chaves and Firmin all red-shirted a year ago.

“I could see Paco, Scott, Geddes and Kwame, for being sophomores, were very eager to get out there and get their sophomore year started,” he said. “I told them that if they work hard day by day in practice, we can build something special.

“I think we have the potential to do some good things and it is all going to pertain on their ability to pull together and to have good team chemistry defensively. I think offensively they handle a lot of trust in each other right now. They know who the guys are that can shoot the ball and the guys that score the ball in the block. I think it will all come down to defensive team chemistry. Individually, there is a lot of potential out there as well as team potential as well.”

The Cougar men’s first home contest will be Tuesday, Nov. 3 when they face the College of Eastern Utah. The men’s first scrimmages will be Oct. 16-17 at the Casper Jamboree, where they will scrimmage Beck’s former school the College of Southern Idaho. The women’s first contest will be Nov. 7 at Colby Community College.