HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team will need to rebound on Friday after falling out of the winner's bracket of the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, with a four-set defeat at the hands of New Mexico Military Institute.
The Cougars, 32-7, captured the first set 25-18 before faltering in the next three to the Broncos 25-20, 25-20, 25-16.
The loss drops the Cougars into the consolation bracket with a chance to finish ninth in the national tournament. WNCC begins that quest at 11 a.m. (MST) against Monroe (N.Y.) College. Monroe fell to Hill College in straight sets 26-24, 25-17, 25-11.
WNCC's quest for a place starts anew with the Monroe contest. A win against the Mustangs Friday morning would put them into a 3:30 (MST) match against the winner of the Wallace State and Panola College match that will be played Friday morning. Wallace State fell to No. 1 Miami Dade 25-14, 25-18, 25-11, while Panola lost to Polk State 25-17, 25-12, 25-14.
"We just need to refocus and take this loss to use it to our advantage," freshman Sarena Bartley, who led the team with nine kills, said. "We are not done yet this weekend. We are going to keep going hard."
WNCC isn't finished yet as they can still pick up three wins to finish with a 35-win campaign and a ninth place finish. This is a loss that they can learn from and come out even stronger on Friday.
"We can take [the loss] all with us," Bartley said "It was a hard loss. We were really confident about this game. We came out strong in the first set and then we just got too comfortable. Honestly, if we just play our game like we have been playing, we can keep going."
Bartley said New Mexico Military was a good blocking team and that is something they can learn from.
"They are a good blocking team," Bartley said. "We are not used to that back in our region, conference. Honestly, that really helped us to show the high hands and we can use that for tomorrow."
WNCC started the first set well, leading 12-8 on two Lauren Shaul points. The Cougars opened up a 19-13 lead on three Kadara Marshall points and won the first set 25-18 on a Marshall kill.
WNCC held a 6-3 lead in the second set after three Kirstee Trees points. WNCC held leads of 15-13 and 18-16 late before the Broncos bucked into the lead with two big service runs. The first for a 20-18 lead and then three points by Karen Rivera-Herrera for a 24-19 lead. NMMI evened the match at a game apiece, winning 25-20.
The third and fourth sets saw WNCC only put together a couple more than two point service runs. NMMI had two key service runs in the third to build a lead of 15-9. The Broncos led 21-12 and later 23-14 before WNCC tried to make a comeback.
Genesis Benitez had two points to cut the lead to 24-17 and then Brooke Kaawa had two more points to bring the Cougars to within 24-20. New Mexico Military got the final point for the 25-20 win.
Once again, the fourth set was close at the beginning with WNCC leading on a Bartley kill. And, once, again, two big service runs by the Broncos changed the complexion of the set. First, New Mexico went up 10-7 and then Karime Raygoza had four points for a 15-9 lead.
The Cougars continued fighting as they cut the lead to 15-12 on a Marshall kill. The Broncos' Kim Trauboth had three points for a 20-12 lead. WNCC came within five late on a Kaile Tuisamatatele kill and Shaul point, but the comeback wasn't to be.
Blocking was the key. New Mexico had four solo blocks and 19 assist blocks, while WNCC had 16 assist blocks. Marshall led the Cougars with seven assist blocks.
Hitting was also a key. WNCC hit just .112 for the match with 41 kills while NMMI hit .205. New Mexico had three players hit for double figures, led by Rivera-Herrera with 14, followed by McKayla Lambreth with 12 and Hannah Davis with 11.
WNCC was led by Bartley and Marshall each with nine kills. Kaawa had seven, followed by Joise Maldonado with six, Tuisamatatele with five, and Aneta Faksova with four.
Both teams put up the defensive efforts with a number of saves from outside the court. WNCC finished with 66 digs while NMMI had 71. Benitez had 19 digs while Kaawa ahd 13, and Shaul 11.
Syenna Masaki had 36 set assists for the Cougars, while Kaawa had two aces with nine points. Benitez, Trees, and Shaul each had five points while Marshall had four.
Other first round contests saw Iowa Western top Hutchinson 25-16, 25-23, 25-21; Tyler defeat St. Petersburg 25-21, 25-18, 25-21; College of Southern Idaho beating Eastern Arizona 25-17, 25-17, 25-21; Mineral Area topping Laramie County 25-18, 28-26, 20-25, 25-16; Miami-Dade rolling past Wallace State 25-14, 25-18, 25-11; and Panola topping Polk State 25-17, 25-12, 25-14.
Quarterfinal action saw Tyler stop Iowa Western 20-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-19; Southern Idaho topple Mineral Area 25-23, 25-18, 25-21; New Mexico Military topped Hill 25-19, 25-19, 25-18, and Miami Dade got by Polk in four close sets 25-18, 17-25, 26-24. 28-26.