COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The 18th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team finished off the opening weekend at the Reiver Invite in Council Bluffs, Iowa, with an unblemished record in winning all four matches against higher-ranked teams.
WNCC opened the tournament on Friday with a sweep over No. 3 Missouri State-West Plains and then knocked off No. 1 Iowa Western Community College in five sets.
Saturday saw the Cougars earn two sweeps over Top 15 ranked teams. The Cougars opened with a 25-20, 25-23, 25-21 win over No. 5 Butler Community College. WNCC then toppled No. 12 Jefferson College behind nine kills from Erica Fava 25-13, 25-20, 25-23.
The opening match against Butler saw Shanelle Martinez get a double-double and Fava a near double-double in the win.
Martinez finished with 31 set assists with 13 digs and four kills. She also had three assisted blocks from her setter position.
Fava led the team with 11 kills and tallied nine digs with three points and three assisted blocks.
Also for WNCC, Ale Meoni tallied seven kills, five digs, 12 points, two aces, and two assisted blocks. Emmalei Mapu tallied six kills with three assisted blocks, while Juliana Oliveira had five kills and four digs.
WNCC also saw Jenna Curtis tally three kills and nine digs, Alex Hernandez get six kills, two digs, six points, a solo block, and five assisted blocks, and Anakaren Chavez finished with 13 digs and seven points.
All three games with Butler were close. In the first set, Butler held a 12-8 lead before Chavez served three points to tie the first game at 12. Butler led 18-17 late and the two squads were knotted at 19s before WNCC woke up.
After getting a sideout to go up 20-19, Meoni served four points for a 24-19 lead and then won the first set on a missed serve.
The second game saw WNCC battle back from a 13-5 deficit. The Cougars slowly cut the lead to 18-14 after Chavez served three points. Butler led 22-18 before Hernandez got a kill and then Hernandez served five points for a 24-22 lead. Oliveira closed out the second set with a kill at 25-23.
The third set was also close. WNCC led 6-1 after Chavez had four points and led 13-9 after two Martinez points. Butler came back to take a 14-13 lead only to watch the Cougars resume the lead at 21-16 on three Meoni points.
WNCC went up 24-19 and Oliveira finished off the game with a kill and the 25-21 win.
After the Cougars toppled Butler, WNCC faced Jefferson College 30 minutes later and took control in the first set. WNCC led 6-1 after Curtis served five points and led 13-4 after four Fava points. WNCC led 17-9 before Jefferson cut the lead to 17-12. It was short-lived as Curtis served five more points for a 24-12 lead and then Mapu closed off the game with a kill and a 25-13 win
The second set saw WNCC only trail twice in the set, the first time at 2-1 and the second time at 3-2.
WNCC ran out to a 10-6 lead on two Hernandez points and led 16-11 on two Chavez kills. Moments later, Hernandez had two ace serves for a 21-14 lead. Jefferson came back and sliced the lead to 22-19, but the Cougars held tough to earn the 25-20 win.
The third-set saw WNCC having to battle back after Jefferson led 9-5 and later 17-14. That was when Fava had a kill and Meoni had three points for an 18-17 lead. Jefferson came back to lead 21-19 before an Oliveira kill tied it at 21.
Jefferson had one more point before Mapu tied things with a kill and then Martinez had two points for a 24-22 lead. Meoni finished off the match with a kill.
Fava led the team with nine kills, 14 digs, a solo block, and three points. Meoni tallied eight kills with six digs, four points, an ace, four solo blocks, and two assisted blocks. Also, Curtis finished with seven kills, 15 points, six digs, and two aces.
Martinez tallied nine digs, six points, two solo blocks, two assisted blocks, and 36 set assists, followed by Mapu with six kills, three solo blocks, five assisted blocks, and two digs. Oliveria had two kills and three digs with a solo block, followed by Chavez with 20 digs, five points, and two aces, Hernandez with four kills, five digs, six points, and a solo block, and Megan Bewley with two digs.
WNCC, 4-0, will be back in action when they have two matches next week. The Cougars host the Highway 26 Border War on Wednesday when Eastern Wyoming College comes to Cougar Palace for a 7 p.m. battle. WNCC will then hit the road to face Laramie County Community College on Friday at 6 p.m.