MCCOOK – The Western Nebraska Community College finished the McCook tournament with a 3-1 record after claiming two wins on Saturday.

The Cougars opened the day with a sweep over Colby Community College 25-22, 26-24, 25-15 behind a 19-kill attack from Karen Cordero.

WNCC wrapped up the tournament with a hard-fought, four-set win over Garden City Community College 25-22, 26-24, 22-25, 25-20 behind 20 kills from Anuhea Kaohi and 19 from Cordero.

WNCC, 9-2, will be back in action next Friday and Saturday when they compete in the EWC tournament where they will play four matches. The Cougars will face North Platte Community College and Utah State-Eastern on Friday at noon and 2 p.m. and then on Saturday they will take on Casper College at 8 a.m. and Laramie County Community College at noon.

The first match against Colby was a battle for the first two sets. Colby controlled the momentum early in set one, leading 9-4. WNCC came back to take a 15-13 lead on three Andrea Tsvetanova points. It was short-lived as Colby had a 5-point service run to lead 20-16 and later led 21-17.

Things changed after that with Alex Hernandez serving five points for a 23-21 WNCC lead. Cordero finished off the first set for the Cougars with a kill and the 25-22 win.

The second set saw Colby jump out to an 8-3 lead and led 9-5 at one time. WNCC fought back to take it’s first lead of the set at 15-14 on two Olivia Schaub service points. The lead went back and forth after that with no one getting a service run together until Colby served two straight for a 24-23 lead. WNCC came right back and tied the set and then Cordero had a service ace for a 25-24 lead. Cordero got the winning point on a serve as Hernandez hammered home a kill to win the second set 26-24.

The third set was a complete WNCC domination. WNCC jumped to a 4-0 lead behind four Tsvetanova points and led 7-1 at one time. Colby did slice the lead to 12-8, but the Cougars came right back as Kaohi had five service points behind four Cordero kills for an 18-8 lead. WNCC cruised to the 25-15 win.

Cordero had a double-double in the match with 19 points, 11 digs, five points, two aces, and two solo blocks. Kaohi also had a double-double with 15 digs and 11 points. She also had nine kills. Hernandez also had a double-double with 10 digs and 12 points along with six kills.

Tsvetanova had a triple-double, collecting 11 digs, 11 points, 36 set assists, and two aces.

Also for the Cougars, Schaub had three kills, two digs, and three points; Anabelle Gillen had 13 digs; Angel Nahinu with two kills and two digs.

The win against Garden City was a battle. Garden City fell to Eastern Wyoming College on Friday afternoon in the tournament and they gave WNCC everything they could. The first set saw both teams tie the score five times, the last time at 11-11. That was when Tsvetanova went on a 5-point service run to put WNCC up 17-11.

Garden City cut the deficit to three points on several occasions and the closest the Trojans got was 24-22, but WNCC got the last point to earn the 25-20 win.

The second set saw Colby start with a 3-1 lead before WNCC went in front 5-4 after two Mariah Fukamoto points. Garden City came back to lead 12-11 only to watch the Cougars go up 17-14 on a Cordero kill. Both teams were knotted at 18 when Gillen served three points for a 22-18 WNCC lead.

Garden City came back to cut the deficit to 23-22 and then tied the set at 24-24. Kaohi came back with two straight kills to give WNCC the 26-24 win.

The third set saw 11 ties between the two teams. WNCC held a 13-12 lead on a Hernandez kill. Garden City came back to lead 17-13 and pushed the lead to 22-15. WNCC made a run late as a Macey Boggs points cut the deficit to five, 23-17. Then, a Cordero kill followed by three Cordero service points sliced the deficit to two at 23-21. WNCC couldn’t get any closer as Garden City forced a fourth set 25-22.

WNCC opened the fourth set with a 7-3 lead behind four Hernandez points. That lead was short-lived as Garden City came back to lead 7-4 and later 13-11 and 14-13. Hernandez changed the momentum with a kill and then Cordero had four service points for an 18-14 WNCC lead.

WNCC went up 20-15 on a Fukamoto point. Garden City cut the deficit to three at 23-20, but a missed serve and then a Hernandez kill gave WNCC the 25-20 win.

Cordero finished the Garden City match with a triple-double, registering 19 kills, 10 digs, 10 points, and two aces. Kaohi led the offense with 20 kills along with 16 digs. Hernandez also had a double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs with seven points.

Also for the Cougars, Schaub had three kills, two digs, and two blocks; Gillen had 14 digs, eight points, two aces, and two assists; Tsvetanova tallied 36 set assists with eight digs, seven points, and two blocks; Nahinu had two kills; Boggs had seven digs, 13 set assists, two points, a solo block, and a assisted block; Fukamoto had five points, and Elli Winkler had two digs and a point.