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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WNCC volleyball win two in first day of Pizza Hut Classic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WNCC men drop NJC 9-0, Cougar women fall to Hutchinson

It was different storylines for the Western Nebraska Community College men's and women's soccer teams on Friday at the Landers Soccer Complex.

               The Cougar women were out shot 23-8 in falling to Hutchinson Community College 9-0. The Cougar men, on the other hand, played one of its best contests of the season in registering a 4-0 win over Northeastern Junior College in a Region IX contest.

               "Overall, I think this was the best team performance of the year," WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said about the men picking up their first Region IX win of the season. "It might not of been the best game of soccer, but it was the best team effort that we have had all season. We got breaks today and we got some good opportunities. We kind of created our own opportunities in front of the goal and did a good job of finishing."

               The Cougars got on the scoreboard first as Luis Tapia took a pass from Jacob Santos and planted it firmly into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. That was the only score of the contest, even though the Cougars out shot the Plainsmen 11-1 in the first half.

               The second half saw WNCC open up the contest with three goals. Kyle Gonzales opened up the half with a goal just 6:40 into the contest after taking a pass from Manolo Garcia-Oronoz. WNCC scored against with 15:37 to play as Baboucarr Sarr scored off another assist from Santos.

               The final score came with about 40 minutes to play as Adhemar Lino scored off an assist from Darwin Carranza for the final margin.

               "Overall today we played pretty well," Rasnic said. "Obviously there is areas we will continue to work on. But at least we took a step in the right direction."

               The Cougar women had a tough time cracking the defense of a strong Hutchinson defense. The Cougar women were outshot 10-3 in the first half and 23-8 overall. The women, however, were still in the contest at intermission, trailing just 3-0.

               The Blue Dragons' first half goals came from Madison Joyce just 55 seconds into the contest. The second goal, came just seven minutes into the contest as Pearl Slattery took a header off a corner kick. The last goal came with 15 left in the half as Sydney Armstrong scored her third goal of the season.

               Hutchison  added six more goals in the second half. The first came nine minutes into the second half as Mel Hetherington scored her 13th goal of the season off Robinson's second assist of the game.

               Two minutes later, the Blue Dragons scored again as Slattery scored on a header for a 5-0 lead. Madison Joyce and Robinson each had an unassisted goal for a 7-0 lead.

               The final two Hutchinson goals came from Polly New just 16 minutes into the contest and the final goal came 22 minutes into the half on a Shelbi Otte goal off an assist from Slattery.

               The Cougar women had their chances to score not one, but two or three goals, but misfired on several opportunities. Just 13 minutes gone in the second half, Kristi Blicharz misfired high on a shot. WNCC's Bridget Stanton had a good shot with 16 minutes to play but missed.

               Rasnic said that the women's team has been playing some of the top teams in the nation recently and they have been finding scoring opportunities to a minimal.

               "They have been playing some of the top teams in the nation in their last two games and that can be a point of frustration for players when we are in a process of rebuilding with a lot of freshmen," Rasnic said. "We, quite frankly, have been outmatched in the last two contests. The response is we have to get into games that we are competitive in and those we must win. I think we are in the right direction."

               Both WNCC teams will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to face Northwest (Wyo.) College in Powell, Wyo. The two squads won't be back home until Aug. 28 when they host Laramie County Community College.

WNCC volleyball defeats Casper College in three

The No. 1 ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team had no trouble in getting past Casper College Tuesday night in Casper as the Cougars moved to 10-0 on the season with a 25-18, 25-14, 25-11 win.
               WNCC coach Giovana Melo was pleased with how they played for having a week off from competition.
               "We played pretty well," she said. "We started a little slow and made a lot of errors in the beginning, but we just got in the groove and did a lot better as the game went a long."
               Melo said that Casper has a good team, but her team just fought hard for every point.
               "I am not surprised by the scores because I know we have been working pretty hard and if we continue to do the things that we have been working on, we can be a pretty good team," she said. "We were playing a pretty good Casper team. it was a good battle and we had a lot of long rallies. The scores don't show how competitive it was. Casper put up a good fight with us even though the scores do not show that."
               The Cougars used a balanced lineup in getting the win as Debora Araujo finished with nine kills and nine digs, while Lais Soares had eight kills and seven blocks.
               Also for the Cougars, Jodi Huddleston finished with seven kills and four blocks; Danika Youngblood had seven kills, four blocks and 13 digs; Fernanda Goncalves had 30 set assists and seven digs; Megan Johnson had five blocks, and Alex Rivera had eight digs.
               WNCC, 10-0, will have a couple days to get ready for the Pizza Hut Classic in Sterling, Colo., on Friday and Saturday. The Cougars will face Hutchinson Community College at 2 p.m. and Trinidad State on 6 p.m. on Friday followed by Otero Junior College and Dodge City Community College on Saturday.
               WNCC will then come home on Monday to face Iowa Western Community College on Monday as they present a special honor to Nebraska's Governor Dave Heineman, who is slated to attend the match.

WNCC soccer teams fall to LCCC

 

               CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College men's and women's soccer team had a rough go in their matches with Laramie County Community College in cold, wet and foggy weather in Cheyenne, Wyo., Wednesday afternoon.

               The Cougar men hung with the Golden Eagles but fell 4-1 in Region IX conference action. The Cougar women played tough for the first half against the No. 9 team in the nation before falling 8-0.

               The men had a couple unfortunate goals, including two penalty kicks, one of each in the first and second half.

               "Quite honestly, we played a good game. We just didn't execute inside our opponents' half of the field and finish some balls," WNCC coach Todd Rasnic said about his men's team performance. "The surface was also wet which doesn't bode well with our style of play. We play a lot of balls up and over the top and with this wet surface, they were getting to the keeper right away."

               The Cougar men got down early as the Golden Eagles scored with a little over 14 minutes left in the half on a goal by Spencer Gray. Three minutes later, LCCC struck again on a shot by Landon Horst for a 2-0 lead. LCCC went up 3-0 at halftime after Dino Soto scored on a penalty kick with 4:05 left.

               WNCC came out fired up in the second half, getting a number of scoring opportunities and finally finding the net with 37 minutes left to play as Jose Netto connected on his ninth goal of the season off an assist from Erwin Sanchez.

               WNCC couldn't cut the deficit any further as Soto connected on another penalty kick with 2:42 left for the final margins.

               The Cougars outshot Laramie County 10-9. Jesus Alvarado started in goal for WNCC and had two saves and three goals against him, while Joey Rasnic played the second half, giving up one goal and making six saves.

               Coach Rasnic said the next time they face LCCC will be Sept. 28 at their place and he is looking for a different team to come out on the field.

               "We certainly have the players to match up man to man and to be in the next contest," he said. "it was a little disheartening. I thought we fought hard. We just have to rebound back. We can blame games on a lot of stuff; two penalty kicks didn't help us. We just need to finish our opportunities and that is the key; we have to start, when we get in good space to score, to finish the shot to score."

               The women competed well against the Golden Eagles for the opening 45 minutes. LCCC struck early to grab a 2-0 lead as Vanessa Alexander scored just six minutes into the contest. The Golden Eagles went up 2-0 with 33 minutes left in the half on a goal by Shino Kunisawa. After that, the Cougar defense shut down the LCCC scoring attack to go into intermission trailing by two goals.

               The second half saw the Golden Eagles scoring four goals in a 14 minute period to open up the contest. Kunisawa netted the hat trick by scoring the first two goals of the half, the first just 30 seconds into the half and the second one with 33 minutes to play. Two minutes later, Monica Lubin scored back-to-back goals to put LCCC up 6-0.

               The Golden Eagles went up 7-0 with 26 minutes left in the match on a goal by Zahimara Fantauzzi before netting their final goal with a minute left by Jezmine Lora-Ruiz.

               WNCC had a few scoring changes to avoid the shutout, but couldn't get anything past the Golden Eagles' goal keepers Aissa Pedraza-Lopez and Marissa Schultz. Bailey Wenz was in net for the Cougars and made 11 saves.

               WNCC will be back in action at home on Friday in a doubleheader. The Cougar women, 2-2, will host Hutchinson Community College at 1 p.m. at the Landers Soccer Complex, while the Cougar men, 3-3-1, will host Northeastern Junior College at 3:30 in a Region IX Conference contest.