COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The 8th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team went five sets in both matches at the Reiver Invite Friday and came away with a split on the day.
In the first match of the day, the Cougars won 15-13 in the fifth over Jefferson College to win the season opener. The Cougars topped Jefferson 25-15, 17-25, 28-26, 22-25, 15-13.
WNCC didn't play its best in the second match of the tournament, falling to Butler Community College out of Kansas in five sets. Butler won sets first set 25-23, before WNCC came back to capture the second and third sets 25-23 and 26-24. Butler knotted the match at two sets each with a 26-24 win in the fourth and then won the fifth 15-12.
The Jefferson match saw WNCC lead from start to finish in the first set, leading 19-13 at one point and then scored the final six points, all from Erica Fava on a kill and five service points. The last four points were ace serves.
Jefferson captured the second set 26-17 after leading 6-0 and never looked back. WNCC bounced back to win a back-and-forth third set 28-26. Jefferson led 14-8 at one time and then 17-13 before the Cougars tied the set at 17-17 on three points from Julia Moccellin. Jefferson went back up 23-19 when Juliana Oliveira had points to put the Cougars up 24-23. Both teams swapped points until Ale Meoni had the final point for the win.
Jefferson won the fourth set 25-22 setting up the fifth and final set. WNCC took a 7-4 lead on two Meoni service points. The contest was tied three times, the last one at 10-10. Jenna Curtis had a kill and Macey Boggs had two service points for a 13-10 lead. Meoni then had the final service point for the win.
Meoni led the team with 14 service points while Fava had 10, Oliveira had eight, Curtis with seven, and Boggs with four.
The Butler match was another battle with all the sets close. The first set saw Butler earn a 25-23 win. WNCC came back in the second set and won 25-23, coming back from a 15-9 deficit. The Cougars trailed 21-17 late and then saw Boggs get three service points to tie the set at 21-21. Butler led 23-22 before Meoni had a kill to tie the set and then Anakaren Chavez had two service points for the win.
The third set was another close one as WNCC took a 20-15 lead on two Fava points and led 25-22 on a Fava kill. Butler tied the set at 24-24 before WNCC won the third on a Moccellin points.
The fourth h set was also close as Butler led 16-9 before WNCC came back for a 19-17 lead on four Meoni points and three from Fava. WNCC led 23-19 on three Chavez points only to watch Butler come back to get the 26-24 win to force a fifth set.
The fifth set saw Butler jump out to a 5-1 lead before the Cougars tied the set at 6-6 on a Moccellin point. The set was tied at seven and eight before Butler took a 11-8 lead. WNCC sliced the lead to 13-12, but couldn't get any closer to fall 15-12.
No other individual statistics were available at press time. Story will be updated when statistics are received.
WNCC will play two matches Saturday in the Reiver Classic at 8 a.m. MST against Utah State-Eastern and then 10 a.m. against Indian Hills Community College.