WNCC tops NJC in five sets for berth at nationals

               CASPER, Wyo. – Karen Cordero finished with 25 kills and the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team will be returning back to the national tournament after topping Northeastern Junior College in five sets in heart-beating fashion 12-25, 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 15-7 at the Region IX tournament in Casper, Wyoming, Friday evening.

                The win was special for the Cougar players as they had a rough first set, but responded after that.

                “We had a rough first set, but we bounced back in the second and third,” sophomore Olivia Schaub said. “We played the best in the fifth set which was the most important set to win. Overall, we came together as a team to get a huge win.”

                NJC still has a change to qualify as they are playing in the consolation bracket. NJC will face the winner of the Central Wyoming and Laramie County Community College game at 4 p.m. with that winner also qualifying for nationals.

                WNCC head coach Binny Canales said it was a big win for the program.

                “It is a great feeling [to get back to nationals],” he said. “These kids fought. I think we were picked third behind Otero and NJC and they were ranked higher than us in the national polls. We came back and kept plugging away, practicing, coming in early, working on weekends doing everything that is necessary.”

                Schaub said this was a special win for the team after coming so close a year ago.

                “It means the entire world to us to win regionals,” she said. “We have worked so hard and put in lots of hours in the gym to get where we are. We are excited to bring the title back home!”

                Canales said the first set was a nightmare, but the team responded and played well after that.

                “The first set was a nightmare,” he said. “They fought back and grew up a lot between set one and set two. They just kept fighting. We knew we weren’t as bad as the score in the first set so we had to settle down and start playing.”

                Schaub said the key to the win was their passing.

                “The key for the win was our passing,” she said. “Without a pass you can’t set or hit. Our back row did an awesome job stepping up at the end of the game.”

                The first set was not good as NJC won 25-12.

                The second set was a battle. The two South Sub-region teams were tied at 17-17 when Cordero hammered a kill and Andrea Tsvetanova had three points for a 21-17 lead. NJC came back to tie the set at 23-23, but Anuhea Kaohi had a kills and Macey Boggs served the final point to give WNCC the 25-23 win.

                The third set saw NJC lead 7-3 and 12-7. WNCC tied the set at 14-14 on a Cordero kill and four Tsvetanova points. WNCC led 19-17 and later 23-19 on two Anabelle Gillen points. WNCC won the third 25-20 as Cordero got a kills and Tsvetanova had a point for the 2-1 lead.

                Just like the previous two sets, the fourth set was a battle as well. NJC led 10-5 only to see Alex Hernandez get a kill and Gillen get four points to tie the set at 10-10. WNCC led 13-11 but saw NJC come back to grab a 21-18 lead. Tsvetanova came back with three points to put WNCC up 23-22, but NJC won the fourth 25-23 to force a fifth set.

                The fifth set saw WNCC lead from start to finish. Cordero got the first point on a kill and then Tsvetanova had a point. Mariah Fukamoto pushed the lead to 10-4 with four points. WNCC closed out the win as Cordero got a kill and Tsvetanova had three points for the 15-7 win.

                WNCC had three players with double figure kills. Cordero and Hernandez had a double-double. Cordero had 25 kills and 10 digs with four points while Hernandez had 12 kills, 10 digs, and three solo blocks.

                Schaub added 10 kills while Kaohi had eight kills and Angel Nahinu had four.

                Tsvetanova had a triple-double. She tallied 50 set assists with 19 points and 15 digs.

                Fukamoto had 27 digs with seven points while Bogs had three points. Gillen had 10 digs and seven points with two aces.

                The national tournament will be played April 15-17 in West Plains, Missouri. It was only the second time in school history that the Cougars won regionals when the North and South teams competed in one tournament. The other time came in 1988.

WNCC soccer teams win over Southeast

               BEATRICE – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams opened the season with wins over Southeast Community College Friday afternoon.

                The Cougar women got three goals from Destiny Mueller as the Cougars captured a 6-1 to open the season.

                The Cougar men earned a 4-1 win over the Storm.

                The Cougar women trailed at halftime but came out in the second half to score six goals.

                Mueller had three goals while Ana Caroline-Lopez had two goals and Andrea Jiminez tallied one goal. Ashley Ruiz and Raquel Ferreira each had an assist in the win.

                The second half saw a scoring explosion for the Cougar women. Mueller scored the first goal on an unassisted goal to tie the game. Jiminez put WNCC up 2-1 off an assist from Ferreira. Mueller made it 4-1 with two straight goals with an assist from Jackie Valenciano.

                The Cougars added more insurance goals as Lopez scored two unassisted goals to make it 6-1.

                Ana Von Ruden had three saves in net.

                The Cougar men had a little tougher time on the pitch. WNCC led 2-1 at halftime and then added two insurance runs in the second half. Luis Martinez scored the first goal of the season and then Washington Junior had it 2-1.

                The second half saw Jerry Escamilla score to make it 3-1 and the Junior scored his second goal of the game for the 4-1 lead.

                Imanal Munoz had three saves in net.

                WNCC will be back in action Saturday when they face Central Community College-Columbus for a women’s and men’s doubleheader.

WNCC softball falls to Trinidad State

                TRINIDAD, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team dropped four games against Trinidad State Junior College Friday and Saturday.

                Friday the Cougars fell 7-1 and 17-8 where the Cougars belted five home runs in the second game defeat.

                Saturday games saw the Cougars fall 12-1 and 5-2.

                The first game on Saturday saw the Trinidad score three runs in the second, but WNCC came back to cut the deficit to 3-1 in the third as Chloe Cronquist led off with a solo home run.

                WNCC managed just two hits in the contest. Bella Coffman had a double in the game and Cronquist had the home run.

                The second game Saturday was much better for the Cougars even they lost 5-2. WNCC took a 2-0 lead in the second and the runs came with two outs. Erin Hanafin led off with a 4-pitch walk. Hanafin scored on a Makenzie Bakel single and then Bakel scored on a Chayden Chong single.

                The lead stayed that way until Trinidad scored one in the fifth and the took the lead with four in the sixth for the 5-2 lead.

                WNCC had seven hits in the contest. Coffman and Chong each had two singles, while Bakel had a single, double, an RBI, and a run scored. Chong also had a RBI, while Hanafin had a run scored.

                Friday’s second game saw the Cougars belt five home runs. Butterfield hammered two home runs and had two RBIs and two runs scored. Schweitzer also had two hits with a home run and two RBIs.

                WNCC will be back in action Tuesday and Wednesday when they head to Las Vegas, New Mexico, to face Luna Community College in a conference 4-game series.

 

Saturday’s Games

Game 1

WNCC                   001 00 – 1 2 1

Trinidad                033 24 – 12 6 1

LP – Chayden Chong.

2B – Bella Coffman.

HR – Chloe Cronquist.

 

Game 2

WNCC                   020 000 0 – 2 7 0

Trinidad                000 014 x – 5 6 0

LP – Lexi Butterfield.

2B – Makenzie Bakel.

 

Friday’s Games

Game 1

WNCC                   000 000 1 – 1 2 1

Trinidad                043 000 x – 7 6 0

LP – Lexi Butterfield.

2B – Bailey Blachard.

 

Game 2

WNCC                   303 11 – 8 8 0

Trinidad                625 04 – 17 18 0

LP – Chayden Chong.

2B – Bella Coffman.

HR – Bailey Blachard, Lexi Butterfield 2, Chayden Chong, Emma Schweitzer.

WNCC baseball goes 1-3 against Lamar

                LAMAR, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team went 1-3 against Lamar Community College in Empire Conference action Friday and Saturday.

                WNCC lost the first three games but came back to get the fourth game 7-4 as Paul Panduro went six innings in striking out 10 and not walking a batter in getting the win.

                WNCC started the game on a tear, scoring three in the first and one in the second for a 4-0 lead. The first inning saw Matt Womack blast a 3-run, 2-out home run for the 3-0 lead. The second inning saw Jordan Rollins double in Quinn McCafferty for a 4-0 lead.

                Lamar sliced the WNCC lead in half with two in the fourth, but WNCC answered with two in the fifth on singles by Michael Felton and Luis Alcantara for a 6-2 lead.

                Lamar added a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 6-3. Both teams then added a single run in the seventh. WNCC’s seventh inning run came on a Dillon Fabricus 2-out solo home run.

                Lamar’s seventh-inning run came as the Lopes had two singles, but then Owen Vantillo struck out the final three batters to get the save.

                The first game Saturday was not a good game as the Cougars fell 23-4 as the Lopes out-hit WNCC 15-4.

                Womack got a single in the second and the Michael Felton walked to put two on. But neither could score. Lamar then went on to lead 23-0.

                The Cougars finally got something going in the fifth innings. Caleb Coats led off with a walk and scored on a Joey Olson single. Jayden Orozco followed with a single and Rei Kimura walked to load the bases. Olson scored on a balk call and then Felton came through with a double to score to more for the four runs, but that was all they could get.

                WNCC finished with six hits in the contest. Womack had a home run with four RBIs in the win. Fabricus had a home run and two RBIs while Alcantara had a single with two runs scored.

                Friday’s first game was an offensive show as the two teams combined for 35 runs and 28 hits. WNCC had a 9-0 lead after an inning and a half. The Cougars scored two in the first as Rollins doubled in two runs.

                WNCC added seven in the second, scoring all seven runs with two outs. Joe Kinneberg and Coats singled and Alcantara was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Olson then singled to score two runs. Rollins then singled to score three runs for a 7-0 lead. Womack and JT Cafferty followed with run-scoring doubles for the 9-0 lead.

                Lamar scored five in the bottom of the second, but WNCC came right back to score two in the third and five in the fourth for a 16-5 lead. The third inning saw back-to-back solo home runs by Coats and Alcantara to start the innings.

                The fourth inning saw Alcantara slap a double to score two runs and then Olson double to score two runs. Olson score the fifth run in the inning on a passed ball for the 16-5 lead.

                That was all the runs WNCC could get as the Lamar offense heated up, scoring one run in the fourth, eight in the fifth, and five in the sixth to lead 19-16.

                The second game Friday was a close contest. WNCC scored first with a Olson solo home run.

                Lamar came back with single runs in the first three innings to lead 3-1. WNCC cut the deficit to a single run as Sergio Tarango blasted a solo home run.

                WNCC didn’t get anymore runs and Lamar added three insurance runs in the fifth for the 6-2 win.

                WNCC had five hits in the contest. Alcantara had two hits to lead the team.

                WNCC will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Beatrice to face Southeast Community College in a doubleheader. WNCC will then host McCook Community College in a 3-game series next weekend.

 

Saturday’s Games

Game 1

WNCC                   000 04 – 4 4 3

Lamar                    376 7x – 23 15 2

LP – Dawson Hurford.

2B – Michael Felton.

 

Game 2

WNCC                   310 020 1 – 7 6 1

Lamar                    000 210 1 – 4 10 2

WP – Paul Panduro; S – Owen Vantillo.

2B – Jordan Rollins.

HR – Dillon Fabricus, Matt Womack.

 

Friday’s Games

Game 1

WNCC                   272 500 0 – 16 15 1

Lamar                    050 185 x – 19 13 2

LP – Harold Baez.

2B – Luis Alcantara, JT Cafferty, Joey Olson 2, Jordan Rollins, Matt Womack.

HR – Luis Alcantara, Caleb Coats.

 

Game 2

WNCC                   100 100 0 – 2 5 2

Lamar                    111 030 x – 6 6 0

LP – Trent Richter.

2B – Luis Alcantara.

HR – Joey Olson, Sergio Tarango.

WNCC women tie Central, men fall

                COLUMBUS – It was a different day for the Western Nebraska Community College soccer teams on Saturday against Central Community College-Columbus.

                The Cougar women outshot the Raiders 14-4 but couldn’t anything into the back of the net as they settled for a double overtime 0-0 tie.

                The Cougar men also failed to score, but the Raider men were able to put three goals in net to earn the 3-0 win over WNCC.

                The women’s match was a battle on a sunny Saturday. WNCC had 14 shots but only six on goal. Andrea Jiminez and Litzi Delarosa each had three shots in the contest. Jiminez also had one on goal. Also getting shots included two each from Destiny Mueller and Maddi Parks, and one from Raguel Ferreira.

WNCC had four corner kicks compared to three for Central-Columbus.                                   
Ana Von Ruden had two saves in net to register the tie.

The WNCC men also had a tough time finding the back of the net in falling 3-0 to the Raiders.

WNCC had nine shots in the contest compared to 10 for Central-Columbus. Central-Columbus led 1-0 at halftime scoring a goal in the 41^st minute.

Central added a second goal in the 25^th minutes of the second half and added an insurance goal in the 43^rd minutes.

Washington Junior had four shots in the contest while Esteban Tavira had two shots.

Imanal Munoz and Mario Mejia each were in net for the Cougars. Munoz had nine saves while Mejia had six saves.

WNCC had three corner kicks compared to zero for Central-Columbus. The Raiders were issued five yellow cards while WNCC had just one

WNCC will be back in action Friday and Saturday when they host Otero Junior College on Friday and then Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday.

WNCC ends season with loss to Otero

 

                LA JUNTA, COLO. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team ended their season in falling in the first-round play-in game to Otero Junior College 89-77 Saturday evening in La Junta, Colorado.

                The Cougar men competed with the Ratters for parts of the games. WNCC stormed out of the gate after the opening tip-off, leading 7-0 on a 3-pointer by Tyler Mack and buckets by Them Koang and Issad Solano.

                After that, Otero picked up the pace, going on a 13-0 run to lead 13-7 and later at 28-13. WNCC trailed at halftime 41-29.

                The second half was a different story as the Cougars stayed even with the Rattlers with each scoring 48 points. WNCC opened the second half on a 17-6 run that included scoring 10 straight that saw WNCC cut the lead to one point, 47-46 on a Koang free throw with 13:49 to play.

                WNCC never could get the lead as Otero build the lead back to 10 points at 66-55 at one time. WNCC did come back and cut the lead to seven points at 66-59. WNCC did get it cut down to single digits at 71-63 on a Chase Thompson trey, but the Rattlers went on a 13-4 run to lead 84-67 to earn the win.

                WNCC shot just 39 percent for the game and 29 percent from beyond the arc (6 of 21). Otero shot 46 percent from the field and 42 percent from behind the arc (10 of 24).

                WNCC was out-rebounded in the game 49-31, led by Koang with six boards.

                WNCC had four players in double figures. Solano led the way with 17 points followed by Chase Thompson with 16 points. Tyler Mack had 14 points including four 3-pointers while Carter Brown had 10 points.

                WNCC finishes the shortened COVID year at 8-11 that included four games that were canceled because of COVID concerns.

 

WNCC                   29 48 – 77

Otero                    41 48 – 89

WNCC

Chase Thompson 16, Tayler Johnson 4, Agwa Nywesh 5, Issad Solano 17, Them Koang 7, Carter Brown 10, Jasiya DeOllos 2, Tyler Mack 14, Turumbil Zaki 2.

OTERO

Amin Young 13, Tommy Kamarad 5, Tyan Stowers 12, Lonell Martin 7, Porter Anderson 12, Ezra Burnett 14, Kyrie Thomas 8, Dwayne Chester 3, Rodney Mason 4, Shawn Fudge 3, Austin Jensen 2, AC Curry 6.