The 16th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team wrapped up the home portion of the regular season with a hard-fought battle with Northeastern Junior College Saturday afternoon. In the end, though, the Cougar team fell in four sets to the Plainswomen 22-25, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-23.

It was a back-and-forth affair in the first set as Jenna Curtis opened the first set with three service points for a 4-0 lead. After that there were ties at eight, 11, 12, 13 and 14, with the longest battle for a point being WNCC’s 13th point.

The Cougars came out with energy to go on a 6-0 run to lead 19-14 on five Ale Meoni service points and prevented the Plainswomen from coming back.

The next three sets however, went the opposite direction for WNCC. 

“The first set we came out with a lot of intensity, everything was clicking, we were playing hard, going on a lot of service runs,” Macey Boggs told the Star-Herald. “Then as we entered that second set, we got a little too settled in. The runs weren’t as long and NJC had a long stretch on us that we didn’t respond to as quickly as we should have. As soon as we came back and fought back from that deficit, but it wasn’t enough to finish the game, which happened in the third and fourth.”

There were a total of six ties in the second frame as for most of the set, neither team could get a run of more than three points. After the 17-17 tie, NJC took control and didn't relinquish the lead from there, going on a 3-0 run to put some distance between them and WNCC. The Plainswomen would win the second set 25-20.

The third set saw the Cougars down 14-20 when a spark lit them up, going on a 5-0 run to put the lead within one and keep themselves in striking distance. Curtis got a kill to start a 3-0 run to put the team up 22-21 before NJC got the next four of five points. The comeback the Cougars made wasn’t enough as the Plainswomen would win the set 25-23.

During the second and third sets, WNCC would play hard and come back from behind, but it wasn’t enough.

Miscommunication was the name of the game at the start of the fourth frame. WNCC had multiple balls drop in between them as no one knew who was going for it and NJC led 11-4. The big deficit turned around as WNCC came storming back tying the match at 19-19 after five service points from Hyleigh Fornstrom, including two aces.

The fourth set was knotted at 20-20, but NJC came back to go up 23-20. WNCC came righ back and tied the fourth at 23-23 on two Erica Fava points, but the Plainswomen would win the set and match 25-23.

            WNCC saw three players record over double figure kills in the match. Fava led the way with 15 kills followed by Meoni with 14 and Curtis with 13. Meoni and Fava had double-doubles with Meoni recording 12 digs, eight points, and two aces, while Fava had 17 digs, four points, and two set assists.

                Boggs also had a double-double, finishing with 48 set assists, 12 digs, eight points, two kills, and a solo block.

Fornstrom put down a three-of-a-kind with eight kills, eight digs, and eight points. Fornstrom also had two solo blocks and four assisted blocks.

Also for the Cougars, AnaKaren Chavez had 11 digs and seven points; Jayla Brehmer had a service point; Angel Nahinu had three kills; Holleigh Jaime had eight digs; and Mariah Fukumoto had five digs.

            WNCC, 21-13, will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to face McCook Community College in the final regular season contest before they host the Region IX tournament Nov. 3-6 at Cougar Palace.

WNCC men shutout Trinidad 3-0, move into the semifinals

            Rodrigo Cercal scored twice and the Western Nebraska Community College men’s soccer team moved into the semifinals of the Region IX tournament with an impressive 3-0 win over Trinidad State College in the first round at Landers Soccer Complex Saturday afternoon.

                The Cougars, 8-5-2, will now face top-seed Laramie County Community College on Friday in the semifinals in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The finals are slated for Saturday in Cheyenne with the winner qualifying for the national tournament.

                Cercal, who was named the NJCAA Division I Soccer Player of the Week earlier this week for his six goals last weekend, said the team played well to get the win.

                “Today we played with the right mentality, the right confidence, and we played hard,” Cercal of Brazil said. “We got the win and now we have to go a play against LCCC.”

                WNCC has been playing well the last two weeks where they have outscored their opponents 11-2 in the last three soccer matches. Cercal said the key for this team playing well right now is heart.

                “Our mentality, our spirit, and we have friendships between us and that is why we have won three games in a row,” he said. “Tomorrow, we have to stay focused on LCCC.”

                For this men’s team, they have been playing strong lately and they will be heading to the final four teams with a chance for a Region IX title. The last time the Cougar men have won a regional title was in the program’s first year of playing in 2003. Cercal said this team will be ready for the semifinals.

               For Cercal, he has been the offensive weapon for the Cougars as he has scored eight of the team’s 11 goals during the win streak. As much as Cercal has done most of the scoring, the win Saturday was a good team win as the defense recorded a shutout in the win and kept the Trojans offense at bay.

                “Our defense is one of the keys to our wins and they played really hard, strong, and solid” he said. “They gave us confidence to attack because they were good to cover us.”

                The defense was huge for the Cougars as Trinidad State outshot WNCC 13-9. WNCC, however, made the most of their attempts putting three in the net. WNCC had seven shots on net of their nine total. Trinidad had seven shots on net in the loss.

                The Cougars offense started early as withing in the first three minutes of the match, WNCC had two key scoring opportunities but couldn’t get the ball into the net. With five minutes gone in the match, Trinidad had a shot to score, but it went high.

                Three minutes later, Cercal put the Cougars on the board when he took a pass from Shoto Masuko and maneuvered for the first goal of the match for the 1-0 lead with 36:48 to play in the first half.

                Cercal almost had a second goal as he took another pass and was going for a breakaway and was fouled to avoid the one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

                After that Trinidad State had four shots at net, but a couple went wide and two were saved by WNCC goalkeeper Imanal Munoz. WNCC led at intermission 1-0.

                It didn’t take long for the Cougars to strike in the second half as Renan Souza delivered a cross to Paul Cerros, who scored for the team’s second goal.

                WNCC made it 3-0 with 17:17 left in the game when Rodrigo scored after taking a pass from Dante Rafaela for the 3-0 lead.

                The Cougars defense kept playing tough and was within two minutes of a shutout. That was when Trinidad’s Romario Harding was awarded a penalty kick. But, the PK went wide and the Cougars went on to get the win.

                Munoz recorded seven saves in net for the Cougars. The Cougars also had four cornerkicks compared to just three for Trinidad.

                In other scores in the men’s first round, LCCC defeated Central Wyoming 6-0, Otero knocked off Northeastern 3-2, and Casper beat Northwest 3-2.