WNCC volleyball team win first-round match against Wallace State

                WEST PLAINS, MO. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball opened the NJCAA national tournament in West Plains, Mo., with a big blocking win against Wallace State-Hanceville 25-19, 25-19, 25-11 to move into the quarterfinals later tonight against North Idaho College.

                The Cougars tallied 22 assisted blocks and had three players finish with double-digit kills in the sweeping win. It was the third time in four years that WNCC has opened up against Wallace State.

                The Cougars didn’t open up the contest until midway through the second set. WNCC took the first set 25-19 and were actually down 6-2 and later 13-7 in the second set. That was when the momentum shifted with a bang. Luiza Martins went on a six-point service run that was aided by three big kills from Kat Agson and some timely blocking for a 14-13 lead.

                The Lions tied the match at 15-15 and that was when the Cougar block party went into high gear as they shut down the Wallace State hitters for the second set. Late in the second set, Danika Youngblood, Megan Johnson and Priscila Mendes each had huge kills.

                The third set was all WNCC as the Cougars jumped out to a 7 -1 lead on a Agson and Yoro Tovar block. The Cougars pushed the lead to 17-3 lead as Tasha Meyer served eight points behind fine-tuned blocking and hitting.

                The Cougars continued playing strong as Allora Tanner got a kill and then teamed up with Tovar for a block for a 22-9 lead. Tanner then served the final point to push the Cougars into the Elite Eight.

                Youngblood had a double-double of 10 kills and 13 digs in the match. Two other Cougars managed double-figure kills, led by Agson’s 12 kills and Tovar’s 11. Tovar also had six assisted blocks and a solo block. Martins finished with 13 points, five assisted blocks, seven digs, and 31 set assists.

                Also for the Cougars, Agson had four assisted blocks; Meyer had 13 points, an ace, and eight digs; Alex Rivera had 10 digs; Megan Johnson had two kills and four assisted blocks; and Priscila Mendes had three kills, a solo block, and seven digs.

                The Cougars will face North Idaho College at 5:30 CST Thursday for a berth in the Final Four. North Idaho defeated Hutchinson Community College

First Round Results

Iowa Western CC over Temple College – 25-18, 25-18, 25-18

College of Central Florida over Western Texas College – 25-12, 25-21, 25-14

North Idaho College over Hutchinson C.C. – 25-20, 25-15, 25-16

Western Nebraska CC over Wallace State-Hanceville – 25-19, 25-19, 25-11

College of Southern Idaho over Faulkner Stat3 – 21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-19

Hillsborough C.C. over Missouri State-West Plains – 25-15, 18-25, 29-31, 25-17, 15-8.

3 p.m.  Tyler Junior College vs. Redsland C.C.

3 p.m.  San Jacinto and Casper College

Second Round Games

5:30 p.m. – Iowa Western vs. College of Central Florida

5:30 p.m. – Western Nebraska vs. North Idaho

7:30 p.m. – Winners of 3 p.m. games.

WNCC volleyball team ready for national tournament

                Western Nebraska Community College and Wallace State-Hanceville are beginning to become a common first-round foe when they meet in the NJCAA national tournament opener Thursday at 10 a.m. in Wests Plains, Mo.

                This will be the third time in the last four years that the Cougars and Lions have faced off in the opening round. The two teams played each other in 2009 and 2010 with WNCC sweeping both matches 25-20, 25-14, 25-20 in 2009 and 20-16, 25-19, 25-14 in 2010.

                Sophomore Danika Youngblood said coach Giovana Melo hasn’t told the team too much about Wallace State. Youngblood, however, likes to go in not knowing much about an opponent.

                “We just have to go out and compete,” she said. “I actually like playing teams that we haven’t seen before because we don’t know what to expect and they don’t know what to expect. We just have play our game.”

                Youngblood said their hour practice on Wednesday went well and they are ready. She said of course there will be some butterflies, but the first game is to work those nerves out.

                “It went pretty good,” she said. “I don’t think all the nervousness got out because I know as a freshman last year I had a lot of nerves going into the first game. But to just to practice for that hour, we got to see the environment that we will be in. It is different when we face our opponents.”

                Both teams bring similar teams to the court. WNCC enters with a 31-match winning streak and a 37-2 record. The Cougars have lost just two matches this year, both coming in the first two weeks of the season to North Idaho College and Iowa Western Community College. Since then, the Cougars have been pretty much untouchable, only dropping a handful of games.

                In fact, the Cougars have the potential to face North Idaho and Iowa Western in the quarterfinals and the semifinals if all three teams continue to win. But the tournament will not be a walk in the park. Youngblood said they are ready to play the best to become champions.

                “It is always good to play the best teams and it will be challenging,” she said. “I think for sure we are up to the challenge.

                Wallace State enters with a 33-7 and is 9-3 in their last 12 matches, falling to Community College of Coastal Georgia, Johnson County Community College, and New Mexico Military.

                The two squads feature hard-hitting lineups. The Cougars hitting rotation is powerful led by Youngblood, Kat Agson, Yoro Tovar, Priscila Mendes, Megan Johnson, Taylor VanderWerff, Lauren Knox and Allora Tanner.

                The Lions are led by 6-foot-1 middle hitter Erica Baker, who is averaging 3.6 kills per game. The Lions’ Kianna Delaney, a 5-10 freshman outside hitter, and Bekah Myers, 6-0 sophomore rightside hitter. Both are averaging 2.6 and 2.2 kills per set.

                The two teams’ setters are also leaders on the court. WNCC’s Luiza Martins is among the top in the country averaging 10.8 sets a game. Wallace State’s Nicole Penny, a 5-7 freshman, is averaging 8.54 sets a game. Both setters also have over 1,000 set assists for the season.

                Both squads bring equal teams to the table, but Youngblood said her team remembers how they finished at last year’s national tournament, falling to Western Wyoming Community College in the semi-finals before topping San Jacinto for third place. That finish is own their minds.

                “Just being in the gym yesterday, I just felt that feeling I felt last year and I don’t want to feel that feeling again. It is more for us sophomores for being here because we know what it takes and we know what we need to do to win it.”

                Overall, though, they are ready.

                “We are really excited to be here and we have confidence in our team and a lot of confidence in each other. We are just going to go in and have fun, put it all out there. We know what we have to do. It is just an exciting experience to be here.”

First Round Pairings

9 a.m. – No. 3 Iowa Western vs. No. 14 Temple College; No. 6 College of Central Florida vs. No. 11 Western Texas College

11 a.m. – No. 7 North Idaho College vs. No. 10 Hutchinson Community College; No. 2 Western Nebraska C.C. vs. No. 15 Wallace State-Hanceville

1 p.m. – No. 1 College of Southern Idaho vs. No. 16 Faulkner State Community College; No. 8 Hillsborough Community College vs. No. 9 Missouri State-West Plains.

3 p.m. – No. 5 Tyler Junior College vs. No. 12 Redlands Community College; No. 4 San Jacinto College vs. No. 13 Casper College

5:30 p.m. – Winner of Match 1 and 2; Winner of Match 3 and 4

7:30 p.m. – Winner of Match 5 and 6; Winner of March 7 and 8

Martins setting the pace for the Cougars

                Western Nebraska Community College’s Luiza Martins is one that loves to study, whether it is in the classroom or on the volleyball court.

                Martins, the freshman setter from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has definitely done that at WNCC in helping the Cougar volleyball team to the national tournament Nov. 15-17 in West Plains, Mo. Her studious nature has paid dividends this season after being selected as Region IX Setter of the Year and Freshman of the Year after the Cougars captured their 14^th straight Region IX title on Nov. 3.

                She, however, takes all the honors in stride.

                “I think the honors I received are for all of us,” Martins said. “It is just not for me, it is the work that we are doing together. Those awards show that we are working hard. I feel good in getting that because it is my first year here and it is amazing.”

                Martins believes a success season is how the entire team performs and she will take that attitude into the national tournament. Martins said this team has all the capabilities of bringing home a national title if they stay focused and play as a team.

                “We need to work hard  this week [the week before], but we are ready,” she said. “We are fighting to win and we are like we want the national championship. We need to play like a team and stay together. We need to stay together to win the championship. If we don’t play together, it will be hard for us.”

                WNCC opens play at nationals on Thursday at 10 a.m. against No. 15 seed Wallace State-Hanceville out of Alabama. Wallace State enters with a 33-7 record while the Cougars sport a lofty 37-2 record and winners of their last 31 matches.

                It still amazes Martins just how far this team has come around as each player as pushed each other to do their best. And that includes being pushed by Gering setter Morgan Broussard.

                “Playing with Morgan is amazing,” she said. “She just pushes me and I push her.”

                Martins is ranked in the top five in the nation in setting assists with a 10.8 average. Broussard, who also plays when the Cougars go to their 6-2 offense, is averaging 5.4 sets a game. What makes Martins’ and Broussard’s job as a setter thrilling is the number of hitters they can set the ball to. That, according to Martins, is one of the reasons the team has excelled.

                “It is hard to decide who to set to,” she said. “Sometimes coach fights with me saying this is not the hitter. But, I trust all the hitters and that has helped me a lot. On my first team back in Brazil, there were some hitters I didn’t trust and here is different because I trust them all to put the ball away.”

                Martins, herself was not always a setter. She started out as a hitter when she was younger and didn’t start playing volleyball until she was 12 years old. It wasn’t until she moved onto a bigger club team that she realized that she was too small to be a hitter and switched over to setter.

                “It is funny because I never thought I would be playing volleyball,” she said. “I got started because my PE teacher at my school during a volleyball class thought I was a good player so he invited me to play with his club. Then in 2008, I was invited to go to a big club. I was an outside hitter and I was small compared to the other girls. In 2009 I started to set and then in 2010 I went to the Brazilian national team and that was an amazing experience. I didn’t stay there because I was the last cut, but I was there for 2 1/2 months and it was amazing and learned a lot of things. From that experience, I learned that I need to keep working hard and never give up for what I love.”

                Well, she almost gave up playing volleyball if it wasn’t for the opportunity to come to the states to play for Giovana Melo’s storied program at WNCC.

                “If I was in Brazil, I would have stopped playing volleyball,” she said. “I like the way coach Melo teaches us and I like the program, so I decided to come to WNCC and get the experience and continue playing volleyball. I am glad Giovana found me. I had a coach who had a friend here in the United States and he told Giovana about me. He texted and emailed me and then me and Giovana started to talk.”

                Martins and Melo have plenty in common, but the one thing that Martins has over Melo is speaking English. When Melo came to WNCC in 2001, she knew little English. Martins, on the other hand, was forced to learn English when she was 12 years old by her parents.

                “I can still learn more English, but when I was 12 years old, my mom put me in an English school so that I could learn English,” she said. “English is an important language for my parents. They forced me to learn English. I travel a lot and when I was 15 years old, I went to Australia to learn English and stayed there for a month. I think that has helped me a lot.

                “At first, however, I didn’t like English. On the first impression, I thought it was so hard and that I can’t learn that. But after I started to know it, I liked it and told myself that I can do it.”

                Well, she mastered English and being a top-of-the-line volleyball setter. She is also mastering her studies and said that she sees volleyball harder than studying.

                “Volleyball is harder for me,” she said. “I like to study so for me it is not too hard. So, this first semester, I think volleyball is harder because I am learning a lot of new things that I need to work on and need to change.”

                Her goals are to move on to a four-year university and hopefully to continue playing volleyball. While she doesn’t want to be a doctor, she wants to work in a laboratory.

                “I want to go to a good university and have a full scholarship and to graduate,” she said. “After that, I don’t know if I will go back to Brazil or stay here. I just want to be good in what I choose.”

                This weekend, she wants to be good at setting and leading her team to a third national title in six years. Martins can’t wait to get on the courts at the West Plains Civic Center.

                “I never have played at nationals before,” she said. “I just feel so good to think about the nationals because I think we have a team to win nationals.”

Agson packs a punch from the rightside for the Cougars

Kat Agson didn’t know what to expect when she transferred to Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff to play volleyball.

Of course she was nervous after making the move from Division I Bethune-Cookman University in Florida. However, she also knew she quickly needed to step in and show leadership as a sophomore.

The 5-foot-8 outside hitter from Houston definitely has shown plenty of leadership and maturity throughout the season to put the Cougars in good position to make another run at a national championship at this week’s NJCAA national tournament in West Plains, Mo. WNCC opens up play at nationals on Thursday at 10 a.m. against Wallace State-Hanceville, Ala.

Agson can’t wait to compete at the national tournament. In fact, it will mark the first time she’s participated in a tournament of that caliber. She hopes to take everything in stride.

“This means a lot to me because I never have experienced playing on a team that is this competitive and talented,” Agson said. “It is a lot of pressure to perform at this level. There was definitely a lot of pressure coming in after playing at a Division I school and then transferring to a junior college. Coming in here the expectations were really high. Everyone is really talented and has the ability of doing multiple things. I was a little anxious of what we were going to do this season.”

WNCC coach Giovana Melo said that Agson has made plenty of strides since the beginning of the season.

“Kat has been a great addition to our program this year,” Melo said. “She has come a long ways since the beginning of the season. She was used to a completely different system. It took her a while to get it going, but she worked very hard to get where she is.”

Agson has fit in nicely with the Cougars’ powerful group of hitters. WNCC’s hitting rotation has put opposing defenders on their heels as kills regularly come from anywhere across the net. It’s been a common sight this season to see four or five hitters with 7-10 kills per match.

Agson said that hitting depth has been a big plus.

“That is definitely an asset for our team because we can go to multiple players in the front row,” she said. “Everybody has the ability to put the ball away.”

Entering the national tournament, WNCC owns a total of 1,802 kills for an average of 14 per set. Six different Cougar hitters have near 150 kills or more. Danika Youngblood leads the way with 414 followed by Priscila Mendes with 260, Yoro Tovar with 244, Agson with 218, Megan Johnson with 147 and Allora Tanner with 145. Even Taylor VanderWerff and Lauren Knox have provided sparks off the bench this season with 92 and 85 kills, respectively.

Melo said this is one of the most versatile hitting teams she’s coached.

“We don’t really have a standout, and that’s what I love so much about this team,” Melo said. “Every single person contributes to the success of the team. They make each other better every day.”

WNCC’s last loss came on Sept. 1 when they lost to North Idaho College at the Salt Lake Classic. Since then, the Cougars have been nearly perfect dropping a total of just six sets. At one point during the season, WNCC won 45 consecutive sets.

Agson put together one of her best performances of the season by helping the Cougars to another Region IX Tournament championship on Nov. 3 in McCook. She put down 13 kills in the title match against Northeastern Junior College and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Agson played her prep volleyball career at Westside High School in Houston. At Westside she played both middle hitter and outside hitter, earning all-district Most Valuable Player. She also played varsity softball her senior year. Agson, who was a captain on her high school team, has a standing reach of 7 feet, 1 inch and an approach jump of 9-4 ½ inches.

One of her biggest achievements away from sports has been being involved with Girl Scouts. She has earned both Bronze and Silver Awards and she is currently working towards her Gold Award.

Two years ago as a freshman for Bethune Cookman, Agson played in 83 of 122 games and earned All-tournament honors in an early-season tourney. She had 112 kills that year.

This season at WNCC, Agson’s best match came against Northeastern Junior College on Oct. 19 when she totaled 17 kills and had eight digs. In the Cougars’ last seven matches, Agson is averaging 10 kills per match.

While WNCC has already put together another memorable season, Agson said adding a national championship would be the icing on the cake.

“I think we are prepared with our abilities. We just have to go in mentally strong,” she said. “What we’ll really need to do is set the tone and come out strong. We definitely have to play our game and have a strong serve and pass. We just need to do what we do and not worry about what other teams do. We need to focus on our assets and what we can do.”

Agson is hoping that her play this season and at nationals will land her back at the Division I level.

“I am hoping to go play at a Division I school, but I haven’t talked to anyone yet,” she said. “Hopefully, after nationals I will get some offers. It is just a waiting game basically.”

Five WNCC soccer players make all-region honors

    Five Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer players earned all-region honors this season.
    Jack Cutler, a freshman of Bristal England, was the only Cougar to earn first team honors as a defender for the 4-13 Cougars.
    Cougars garnering second team all-region honors included Jacob Santos and Kyle Gonzales. Santos, a sophomore from Hovma, La.,  earned all-region honors as a midfielder, while Gonzales, a sophomore from Windsor, Colo., made it as a forward.
    Joey Rasnic and Thomas Wright earned honorable mention honors. Rasnic, a sophomore from Gering, earned all-region as a goalkeeper, while Wright, a freshman from Portiaose, Ireland, made it as a defender.
    Rasnic is seventh in the nation in saves as a goalkeeper with 132 saves.
    All-region Most Valuable Player went to Laramie County’s Gleydson Neri, while Freshman of the year went to Mitch Jensen of Western Wyoming.
    The Region IX Coach of the Year went to Western Wyoming’s Jeff Adkinson. Adkinson led his team to the Region IX title over Northwest College.
    Northwest would then beat Western Wyoming in the district playoffs, where both Region IX teams qualified for nationals, which starts Monday in Georgia.

WNCC women go to 4-0 on season with win over Ft. Carson

               COLBY, Kan. -- Jess Samorodova recorded a double-double and the Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team went to 4-0 with a 75-40 win over Fort Carson Army Base Saturday in the final day of the Ambassador Classic in Colby, Kan.

               Samorodova, the 6-foot-3 post player from Russia, poured in 21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to finish the Ambassador Classic with a 3-0 mark.

               WNCC coach Dave Harnish said it was a good weekend for his young team.

               "We have a very good weekend and a very good start to the season to go 4-0," Harnish, who is in his 25th year as the head coach at WNCC, said. "We played hard and competed all weekend. We have done everything well this weekend [in all the games] except shoot and we shot better today."

               The Cougars controlled the contest running out to a 38-20 halftime lead and cruised after that. The Cougars shot around 40 percent for the game and connected on just 5 of 6 free throws.

               What impressed Harnish in the win against Ft. Carson was how well his team played defensively along with hitting the boards hard. Samorodova and Bridgeport's Ashley Stevens honkered down on the boards with a combined 18 rebounds.

               The Cougars put down four 3-pointers Saturday against Ft. Carson, which was much better than the one trey they made Friday against Colorado Northwestern. Shalise Moffit and Idil Ozbayrak each connected on two treys each.

               The Cougars finished with three players in double figures. After Samorodova's 21 points, Moffit and Katie Kerkhoff each had 10 points on the day. Ozbayrak and Stevens also poured in eight points each, while Gritt Ryder had six points and six steals.

               The Cougars, 4-0, will be back in action Tuesday when they host Colorado Christian junior varsity at 6 p.m. WNCC will then compete in the Central Wyoming Classic where they will face Central Wyoming College and Miles Community College over the weekend.

WNCC (4-0)         38 37 -- 75

Ft. Carson            20 20 -- 40

WNCC

Michelle Brassard 2, Shalisa Moffit 10, Lauren Rivera 4, Idil Ozbayrak 8, Jess Samorodova 21, Gritt Ryder 6, Mikayla Brower 2, Maurissa Ortega 2, Jenna Lindquist 2, Ashley Stevens 8, Katie Kerkhoff 10.