LINCOLN – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team had strong serving and blocking in earning a four-set win over Southeast Community College on Thursday in Lincoln the South conference opener.
WNCC dropped set one 25-20 and then rebounded to take the next three sets 25-17, 25-20, 25-11 to earn the win over the Bobcats.
WNCC, 1-0 in conference play and 3-15 overall, will continue the conference slate when they travel to face North Platte Community College on Friday before returning home for their home-opener on Tuesday against Northeastern Junior College with a first serve at 6 p.m.
Thursday’s win was a battle early on with the Bobcats. WNCC trailed in the first set 20-13, but used a 6-point service run from Natalia Nowak to tie the set at 20. Southeast got a sideout and served the final five points for the 25-20 win.
WNCC started the second set down 8-3 after Southeast had four straight aces. Kyana Gabriel stopped the service run and then Eli Braithwaite served three points to tie the second set at eight. WNCC opened the contest as Emma Hergenreder had two points for an 11-9 lead and then Alex Gonzalez-Orozco served seven straight behind the blocking of Braithwaite for a 21-12 lead. WNCC won the second 25-17.
WNCC fell behind 10-6 in the third but came storming back behind three service points from Allie Twamley and won the third 25-20 on a block from Keira Zelada and Nadiyyah Northern.
The fourth set saw WNCC never trail as Twamley had three service points to start for a 4-0 lead. Hergenreder later had four points with three aces for a 13-4 lead. WNCC put the set away when Gonzalez-Orozco served seven straight for a 22-6 lead and won 25-11.
WNCC finished the match hitting .286 while Southeast hit just .061. WNCC also had 13 solo blocks and had 13 ace serves in the win.
Gonzalez-Orozco led the team with a double-double on the night with 20 digs, 17 service points, and two aces. Dani Cruz and Kyana Gabriel each had 13 kills. Cruz hit .344 for the contest with three service points, while Gabriel hit .400 with nine digs, two aces, and four points.
Hergenreder had three ace serves, six points and five digs, while Braithwaite had seven solo blocks and five service points. Also for the Cougars, Zelada had five kills and two digs; Natalia Nowak had 19 set assists, two aces, seven points, and four digs; Twamley had 19 set assists, four aces, and six points; and Northern had seven kills and four solo blocks.
Southeast had just 29 kills in the match, led by Taryn Sheets with eight, while Libby Kratochvil had 26 set assists.