CASPER, Wyo. – The 11th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team are one win away from a trip to the NJCAA national tournament after the Cougars toppled McCook 24-26, 25-18, 25-18, 25-20 Thursday evening in the semifinals of the Region IX tournament in Casper, Wyoming.
WNCC will play Northeastern Junior College for the regional title and the first berth into the national tournament Friday at 4 p.m. NJC swept past Otero Junior College 25-16, 25-12, 25-17 to gain their spot in the tournament finals.
The loser of the title game still can claim a national tournament spot by winning the consolation bracket. That second championship will be played Saturday at 4 p.m.
In other scores Thursday in consolation bracket play, Central Wyoming College eliminated Eastern Wyoming College in four sets 27-25, 25-15, 25-27, 25-14, while Laramie County Community College came back to eliminate Casper College in five sets 13-25, 26-24, 25-23, 22-25, 17-15.
Friday's action will pit McCook over Central Wyoming at noon followed by Otero taking on Laramie County at 2 p.m. The championship match between WNCC and NJC will be played at 4 p.m. with the winner qualifying to the national tournament April 15-17 in West Plains, Missouri.
Karen Cordero, who finished with a triple-double of 21 kills, 10 digs, and 11 points, said it means a lot to be playing for a regional title on Friday.
"Tomorrow's [Friday] game means a lot to us," Cordero said. "We have the mentality to win and again to play as a team with a lot of energy. It will be a good game but we have prepared a lot for this."
It will be a battle against a NJC team that is ranked 12th in the nation. WNCC already beat NJC once this season and the second match they were supposed to play March 23 as the Cougars final home game was canceled because NJC had COVID issues. Still, Cordero said they have to worry about how they play come Friday afternoon.
"The most important thing is to play as a team with each one of use doing their job and with a lot of energy and having the mentality of winning," Cordero said.
WNCC knew the McCook match was not going to be easy and the first set was a battle with McCook winning 26-24. WNCC, however, won the next three. Cordero said they did play well in the match, especially in the final three sets.
"We played very well. We all wanted to win and we played as a team with each one of us doing their job," she said. "Our energy was very good. Although we lost the first set, the second and other sets we fought for every point."
WNCC trailed in the first set 9-4 but came back and took a 19-18 lead after two Anabelle Gllen points. The Cougars led 22-21 before McCook retook the lead at 23-22. The first set was tied at 23 and 24 before the Indians won 26-24.
The second set was close at the beginning with WNCC holding a 9-7 lead. Gillen, once again, put some separation between them and the Indians as she served four points to give WNCC a 14-8 lead. WNCC went ahead 20-11 on two Alex Hernandez points and led 22-13 after a Cordero point. WNCC won the second 25-18 on a Olivia Schaub kill.
WNCC led 4-2 in the third set when Cordero served up six points to push the lead to 10-2. McCook came back to cut the lead to 14-12, but Hernandez had three service points for a 18-12 lead. WNCC went up 22-15 on a Macey Boggs ace serve and won the set 25-18 on a Schaub kill.
The fourth set saw McCook jump to a 3-1 lead. After a missed serve, Cordero had three points to put the Cougars up 5-2. McCook kept battling as they came back to grab a 15-14 lead and led 20-19 late. WNCC got the ball back on a sideout and Hernandez served out the match with five points for the 25-20 win.
WNCC had a pair of players in double-figure points and six players with double-figure digs. Hernandez finished with 17 points and two aces, while Cordero had 11 points and three aces. Gillen finished with eight points with three aces. Mariah Fukamoto tallied five points while Andrea Tsvetanova and Boggs each had three points.
Tsvetanova led the way with 16 digs followed by Gillen with 15 digs. Fukamoto tallied 12, while Hernandez and Anuhea Kaohi each had 11 digs. Cordero had 10.
Schaub tallied 13 kills to trail Cordero's 21 kills. Kaohi finished with nine kills followed by Hernandez with six and Angel Nahinu with three kills.
WNCC also had three solo blocks with Nahinu finished with two solos and three assist blocks. Hernandez also had a solo block.
Tsvetanova dished out 49 set assists in the win.