CASPER. Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team started strong, but then fell to Northwest College in four games in a Region IX match-up at the NJCAA national tournament Friday afternoon at Casper, Wyoming.
The Cougars captured the first game 25-21 before the Trappers came back to record victory in the next three games 25-18, 25-23, 25-22. The Cougars will now face No. 1 Panola College in the 7th-place game at noon Saturday, while Northwest will battle Salt Lake Community College in the fifth place contest.
"Obviously we didn't have our best game," sophomore Kaylee Spreier said. "We are kind of having a rough tournament I would say but we are going to keep our heads up and try our best tomorrow for seventh place."
That is all one can ask for on the part of the Cougars. The loss drops the Cougars to 35-6 on the season, but they can end the season on a high note with a win on Saturday. That is something that Spreier said they are aiming for
"We are going to take what we can get," she said. "It will be an accomplishment to beat the number one team obviously. It is not what we wanted, but we are going to fight our best to see if we can get it."
WNCC will definitely need to play better than they did Friday. WNCC hit just .142 for the game despite having three players with double-digit kills. Barbara Briceno led the way with 12 kills followed by Lara Picht with 11, and Brooke Kaawa with 10.
Northwest was on fire offensively, hitting .268 for the match. Northwest's Lauga Guita finished the match with 26 kills while finishing with a .340 hitting percentage.
The rough patches the Cougars have experience not only Friday, but also in the quarterfinal loss to Polk State on Thursday as the team puzzled, but Spreier said they are going to try to find that missing piece to put the puzzle back together again
"I don't know what it is I guess we are having a rough time right now," she said. "We aren't really gelling and we are making a lot of errors. We are going to see if we can get all that fixed tomorrow and end on a good note. That is all we can ask for."
The way the Cougars started the match was remarkable. WNCC jumped out to a 5-0 lead behind four Picht points and led 14-10 on point. Northwest came back to grab a 21-19 lead. A missed Trapper serve put the serve in Spreier's hand and the Gering graduate served five points behind a kill and block by Kadara Marshall for the win,
The second set saw Northwest jump out to a 12-7 and later 19-11. WNCC came battling back on four Bricino service points 19-16. WNCC, however, couldn't get another service run as the Trappers evened the match at one game each with the 25-18 win.
The third set saw Northwest jump to a 15-11 lead only to watch the Cougars come back to tie the set at 21-21 on a Picht kill and service points. Both teams were tied at 23-23 on a Briceno kill, but the Trappers got the final two points for the win.
The fourth set saw Northwest grab a 14-11 lead only to watch WNCC take the lead at 19-18 on a Briceno kill and three service points. WNCC led 20-19 on a Picht kill, but Northwest ran of a slurry of points for a 24-20 lead. WNCC tried to come back with two points, but it wasn't enough.
Picht finished with a double-double of 11 kills and 11 digs. She also tallied nine points with two aces.
Briceno slso had a nice contest, tallying 12 kills with eight digs and eight points, while Kaawa had 10 kills with three digs, three set assists, and two points.
Also for the Cougars, Bia Berti had 35 set assists, seven digs, four points, and two kills; Spreier finished with four kills, three digs, and four points; Marshall had a kill and two blocks; and Genesis Benitez had 13 digs and five points.
Only five teams will finish the national tournament with a winning streak and they Cougars hope to be one of them. Spreier is hoping the sophomores can end their Cougar careers on a positive note.
"Us sophomores are really pushing and we want to end our last game as Cougars on a good note with a W," she said. "We are proud of the two years that we have been here and everything we have accomplished. It is just a great opportunity to even be here right now. That is all we can ask for."
The final day of the tournament will have Mineral Area taking on Tyler Junior College at 10 a.m., WNCC facing Panola at noon, Northwest battling Salt Lake at 2:30 p.m., Santa Fe will battle Polk State for third at 4:30 p.m., and the championship game will pit Iowa Western against Miami Dade at 6:30 p.m. Iowa Western came back from a 2-1 deficit to top Polk in five sets, while Miami Dade swept past Santa Fe