Middle hitters on volleyball teams sometimes go unnoticed. Middle hitters don't rack up tons of kills and most don't even serve.
Western Nebraska Community College middle hitters freshman Kaile Tuisamatatele and sophomore Kadara Marshall are the exception. The two have been a vital cog in the Cougars road to their 19th straight regional title and trip to the NJCAA national tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.
WNCC, 32-6, will open tournament play on Thursday when they face New Mexico Military Institute at 2 p.m. New Mexico is the No. 13 seed in the tourney at 28-11 while the Cougars earned the No. 4 seed.
Tuisamatatatele and Marshall are both excited for nationals.
"It means a lot to us to be going to nationals because we have been working hard all year," she said. "We have putting in everythin we have so it is a great opportunity to show what we have."
Marshall said this team has gone through a lot of adversity from losing a key starter to a late-season losing streak. Through it all, that adversity made them stronger as a team.
"It means a lot because it shows that our hard work has paid off during the season," she said. "I think this season we had more adversity than we had last season. It shows that we didn't waver in the hard times."
They didn't waver either at regionals. After falling twice to Northeastern Junior College in the regular season resulting in getting the No. 2 seed for the regional tournament, and falling to San Jacinto and Iowa Western Community the week before regionals, the Cougars came back stronger than ever.
Tuisamatatele, who stands at 5-foot-11 for a middle hitter, said it was motivation among the players that turned things around.
"Obviously it was more of self motivation." She said. "When we lost, we seen what we needed to do better. We got in the gym and did what we needed to do. We just self-motivated ourselves."
The Cougars' drive to not be that team that broke the nearly-two-decade championship winning streak paid off. Marshall, who is just 5-9 for a middle, said there was no doubt that they were going to win regionals.
"Even though we lost to NJC during the regular season, the first time was a big, five-set match and we totally could have won that one," she said. "Then, the second one, even though it was a 3-0 loss, we didn't play like we know how we could have. There was no doubt that once we upped our play, we could win."
At regionals, the Cougars played some of their best volleyball, sweeping NJC in the winner's bracket final and then coming back to sting NJC in five sets in the championships. NJC had a 2-0 lead and the Cougars came back with a killer instinct, nailing a total 73 kills for the win.
If the Cougars can continue that play, this team can go far. At least the players are hoping to keep building off that 19th straight Region IX title.
"We have been waiting all year for everybody to be on at the same time and to see that happen at the time it happened was just awesome," Tuisamatatele said. "Tto see what my team has been working for all year was great."
The players know it won't be easy at nationals, but the sophomores were a part of last year's tournament run that saw the team go 1-3 and finish eighth. That is something they don't to happen again.
WNCC opens with a match against New Mexico Military Institute, a team the Cougar players have been studying.
"We know a lot about them," Marshall said. "We watched film and we have stats on the girls. We know their rotations like serve receive and that. We are going to continue to study that until we play them. I think the information we have on them is pretty adequate and we can use it to our advantage."
But the Cougars have to also play well on their side of the net. The Cougars offensive strengths lies with its outside rightside hitters Brooke Kaawa, Sarena Bartley, and Joise Maldonado. The three all are averaging above 2.6 kills a set. Kaawa has totaled 395 kills for a 3.09 average. Bartley has accumulated 341 while Maldonado had 228.
The two middles are right behind. Tuisamatatele is averaging 1.78 kills a set. She has 228 kills so far this season, while Marshall as 126 kills for 1.26 a set. These two Cougar middles are under six-foot in putting up this kind of damage.
New Mexico Military are just as equal. The Broncs have two averaging over 2 kills a set. Hannah Davis leads at 2.5 a set. Davis has knocked home 325 kills, followed by McKayla Landreth with 291 kills or 2.14 a set. Karen Rivera-Herrera had 238 kills (1.76 per set) followed by Kim Trauboth at 1.68 per set.
While both teams are equal, it is the team that plays their game. The two middle hitters said hitting is vital and for the two under-sized middles, they are doing big things because of the support they have from their team and the passion for the sport.
"It definitely is the support we have from our team and the passion we have for this sport," Marshall said. "Anybody can play any position, but being an under-sized middle is something we have dealt with our whole lives. In Hawaii it isn't hard, but when we go to the mainland, 6-2 is the average for a middle and we are over here at 5-9. But we are used to it. We are used to being undersized. The confidence we have built up in ourselves playing other middles with the confidence in our team really helps us excel."
The national tournament begins at 8 a.m. Thursday with Laramie County Community College and Mineral Area meeting at 8 a.m. There will be contests after that with the second round of the winners bracket playing Thursday night. The semifinals are slated for Friday evening with the championship set for Saturday night.
First Round Pairings
Thursday, Nov. 16
8 a.m. -- Laramie County vs. Mineral Area; Eastern Arizona vs. Southern Idaho.
10 a.m. -- St. Petersburg vs. Tyler; Hutchinson vs. Iowa Western.
Noon – Wallace State vs. Miami-Dade, Polk State vs. Panola.
2 p.m. – Hill vs. Monroe, WNCC vs. New Mexico Military