Cougar notes: WNCC volleyball team split matches on Saturday

                SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After winning twice on Friday, the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team split matches on Saturday at the Crystal INNvational in Salt Lake City, Utah.

                The Cougars opened Saturday with a 4-set win over College of Southern Idaho 23-25, 25-20, 25-12, 25-18, and then fell to No. 14 Salt Lake Community College 18-25, 20-25, 26-24, 21-25 to finish the Invite with a 3-1 record. Salt Lake went 4-0 in its own invite.

                The opening match with CSI, a team the Cougars defeated in straight sets last weekend at Central Wyoming College, saw CSI win the first set 25-23. WNCC led 22-21 on a Macey Boggs ace serve, but the Eagles went up 24-22 and won 25-23.

                The second set saw WNCC lead 10-8 only to watch CSI go in front 14-10. WNCC came back to go up 17-16 and then led 21-18. WNCC went up 24-19 on two Julia Moccellin points and won the set 25-20.

                The Cougars started set three quickly as Erica Fava served four points for a 5-0 lead. CSI came back to go in front 7-6. WNCC came back to lead 10-7 on two Moccellin points and then led 14-8 after Boggs had three points. Fava added four points for a 19-9 lead and WNCC won 25-12.

                Once again, WNCC started strong in the fourth set as Fava had two points for a 3-1 lead. CSI came back to go up 9-5 and later 11-7. The Eagles led 12-10 before four Fava points put the Cougars up 15-12. WNCC led 17-13 on a Mariah Fukumoto point.

                CSI cut the lead to 19-17, but a Fava kill and a service ace from Moccellin helped WNCC win the match at 25-18.

                Fava had a double-double with 20 kills and 13 points. She also had eight digs and three aces.

                Fukumoto had 12 digs with eight points while Boggs had 36 set assists with eight points and five aces.

                Also for the Cougars, Ale Meoni had 10 kills with three points; Jenna Curtiz had eight kills, four digs, and three aces; Moccellin had four digs, three points, and seven set assists; Hyleigh Fornstrom had five kills; Laura Milori had four points; and Angel Nahinu had four kills.

                The final match was against the host college Salt Lake and the Cougars battled the No. 14 Bruins.

                Salt Lake went up 5-3 in the opening set before WNCC went in front 6-5 and 9-8. Salt Lake, however, went on a big service run late to lead 23-15 and won 25-18.

                The second set saw Salt Lake lead 8-3 and later 16-12. WNCC cut the lead to one point on several locations, the final time at 21-20 on a Boggs ace, but the Bruins got the final four points for the 25-21 win.

                The third set was a tight one in which the Cougars had to win to keep playing. WNCC led 5-2 on three Fava points and two Curtis kills. Salt Lake went back in front 13-10 and led 16-12. Back came WNCC as they cut the lead to 21-20 on a Moccellin point.

                Salt Lake went back in front 22-20, but two Boggs points gave the Cougars the lead at 23-22. The set went back and forth until WNCC won the third 26-24 to force  fourth set.

                WNCC went up 5-2 in the fourth on three Fukumoto points. Salt Lake came back to go up 11-8 and led 21-16. WNCC came back to cut the lead to 22-20 on a Fava ace and later was down 23-21 but Salt Lake capture the final two points for the win.

                WNCC had two players with double-doubles. Boggs had 20 digs with 39 set assists, while Fava had 17 kills with 18 digs. Boggs also had eight service points while Fava had six points and two aces.

                Fukumoto had a near double-double with 21 digs and nine points.

                Also for the Cougars, Meoni had 10 kills with three points; Curtis had 12 kills, six digs, and four points; and Moccellin had five points.

                WNCC, 7-6 on the season, will next be in action next weekend when they head to the Pizza Hut Classic in Sterling, Colorado. WNCC will face Iowa Western Community College and Utah State Eastern on Friday followed by Snow College and Colorado Northwestern on Saturday.

                The Cougars were supposed to host Eastern Wyoming College on Tuesday, but WNCC head coach Binny Canales said that game has been postponed because EWC is unable to play because of COVID issues with the volleyball team. That game will be rescheduled at a later date.

Second half leads WNCC women to 4-2 win

                The Western Nebraska Community College women’s soccer team used a strong second half including two goals from Andrea Jimenez in recording a 4-2 win over Central Wyoming College Saturday morning.

                It was the second straight contest where the Cougars used a second half comeback to get the win. Friday, the Cougars scored with under two minutes to play to tie the contest against Northwest College. Saturday, WNCC scored four times in the second half to record the win.

                Jimenez said they found the right chemistry in the second half to get the win.

                “The second half I think we found the chemistry that we normally always do in games,” the freshman from Denver, said. “We always start to play stronger in the second half. We were there to support each other no matter what and every girl had their passion out there to be very proud of.”

                Jimenez said that they usually play well after head coach Todd Rasnic gives them a halftime talk to wake them up.

                “I think every time coach screams at us and tells us to put it together, we come and realize we need to step it up out there,” Jimenez said. “We can’t continue moving forward with the conference in just playing the second half.”

                Jimenez said they need to find a way to play strong from the get-go instead of waiting.

                “I think we need to start with our front foot and be confident and believe in each one of us,” Jimenez said. “At the end of the day, it is the team that wins all together and not just one person.”

                Central Wyoming scored the only goal in the first half and it took a while. With 5:50 to play, Darby Delgado took a free kick and sailed it into the back of the net. That is where the team’s went into the locker room at.

                When the Cougars emerged from the locker room it was a totally different team. Izzy Wright had a shot just five minutes into the second half that didn’t go in. Ten seconds later, Jimenez took a shot that just missed but Vanessa Vasquez was there for the put-back goal to tie things.

                Central Wyoming kept battling and went back in front with 22:17 to play when Mackenzie Merrill found the crease between defenders to put the ball into the net and a 2-1 lead.

                A couple minutes later, Jimenez dribbled into the box and was fouled. Jimenez was awarded a penalty kick with 19:08 left and she calmly put the PK into the net to tie the match.

                WNCC went in front for good with 16:37 to play as Ashley Ruiz fed Jimenez with a pass and Jimenez hammered the ball into the net for the 3-2 lead.

                WNCC added an insurance goal with 7:49 left when Vasquez was fouled in the box. Raquel Ferreira took the penalty kick and easily scored for the 4-2 lead.

                WNCC finished the game with 14 shots with 11 on net. Central Wyoming had eight shots with five on net.

                WNCC finished with three corner kicks to just one for the Rustlers.

                Luisa Cordiero had three saves in net for the Cougars.

                WNCC, 2-1-2, will return to action next week with three conference matches. WNCC will host Laramie County Community College, the defending Region IX champions and a regular participant at the national tournament, on Wednesday at 2 p.m. followed by road games Friday and Saturday at Otero Junior College and Trinidad State College.

                Jimenez said it will be important for them to play a full 90 minutes next week.

                “Against LCCC, we need to start hard and play every minute of the game,” she said. “We can’t start playing in the second half with LCCC because they are one of the strongest in our conference. I think we really need to be confident and remember why we started playing in the first place.”

WNCC men’s soccer team records another shutout

               The Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team continues to shine on defense in recording another shutout, the team’s third in four games, in posting a 5-0 win over Central Wyoming College on Saturday at Landers Soccer Complex.

                WNCC earned the win with great defense and an offensive attack that blistered the net with shots all day.

                Yael Armenta, who scored two goals in the second half, said it was nice to get another shutout.

                “It [playing good defense] proves that we are a really good team,” Armenta said. “[We need that] to keep winning.”

                Saturday’s contest, however, was one of two halves. The Cougars didn’t play their best in the first half as they only scored one goal. The second half was a totally different story.

                “We really started bad,” Armenta said. “But we caught up in the second half and made a comeback there.”

                WNCC’s only goal in the first half, and really the only goal they needed, came with 24:03 left in the first half when Paul Cerros scored off an assist from Washington Alves for the 1-0 lead. That is the way the match stood entering halftime.

                The second half was totally different for the Cougar men as they wasted little time in flexing their scoring potential. WNCC made it 2-0 when Rodrigo Cercal took a shot and the goalkeeper saved it but off the rebound, Saugat Rai found the ball and planted the ball firmly into the back of the net just five minutes into the half.

                WNCC kept the offense going as they made it 3-0 with 31:25 to play when Cercal took a couple of shots and missed but stayed in the box and found the ball for a third time, this time sending the ball to the back of the net.

                The shutout almost went away when Central Wyoming took a shot that was headed into the back of the net with 23 minutes left, but WNCC goalkeeper Imanal Munoz made a safe to preserve the shutout.

                WNCC made it 4-0 with 14:27 when Armenta took a pass from Alves and put the ball into the net. It was a play that Alves crossed the ball to a racing Armenta as he was headed to the net and Alves hit Armenta in stride for the goal, avoiding the offsides call.

                Armenta scored his second goal of the match with 3:27 to play as Rai delivered a pass to Armenta for the final goal of the match.

                WNCC controlled the contest on offense with 29 shots, 20 of which were on frame. Central Wyoming had four shots. The Cougars also had six corner kicks to just one for the Rustlers.

                Munoz had three saves in net.

                WNCC, 4-0, will be back in action when they host Laramie County Community College on Wednesday. LCCC won the regional title last year and competed in the national tournament.