Lilly Zwart and Finja Schul combined for 31 kills and the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team made head coach Fatima Balza debut at Cougar Palace a successful one with a 4-set 25-23, 25-21, 20-25, 25-20 win over Eastern Wyoming College Tuesday night.
Zwart, who pounded down 17 kills in the win, thought the team played well to give her coach her first home victory.
“I thought we did really, really well to adjust to the crowd and it was nice to have that atmosphere and the supporters, not only from the students but our families and the community,” Zwart, who was named Region IX South Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, said. “I think she will be super happy to get a victory where she used to play many moons ago, but I think it was really crucial of how hard we fought for this game and mainly for her.”
It was a game where the Cougars did enough right things at the right time to get the victory. WNCC finished with a total of 47 kills with four solo blocks, 11 assisted blocks, and six ace serves.
Zwart said it was a good team win.
“I think it was really great that we all stepped up with our hitting because we obviously lost two main hitters, Kyana and Dani, to some injuries,” Zwart said. “So seeing others step up in the game and put those balls away was really nice to watch.”
The win was the Cougars second straight after going 3-1 over last weekend. Zwart said
“It is looking like a really bright future and hopefully we can keep winning games and just being a really strong team like I know we can be if we continue to train hard and play hard, we should have a really good season this year,” she said.
The match Tuesday was a very competitive contest between two talented team. WNCC grabbed an 11-9 lead in the first only to watch EWC come storming back to lead 16-12. WNCC came back to tie the set at 18-18 on a Schul service point.
The Lancers fought back and took a 21-18 lead. WNCC kept battling as Nora Marginean got a kill and then stepped back to the service line and served up three points to tie the set at 21-21. After the Lancers retook the lead at 22-21, Tamika Eastman hammered down a kill and then served two points for a 24-22 lead. WNCC won the set on a Zwart kill at 25-23.
The second set saw the Lancers bolt to a 3-1 lead behind two service points from Vladana Ristic and led 6-5. Things changed as Alex Gonzalez-Orozco served up four points for a 10-6 lead.
The Lancers cut the deficit to a single point on three occasions, but never could get the lead. Gonzalez-Orozco then put the Cougars up 19-14 after three service points. WNCC won the set 25-21 on a Zwart kill.
The third set saw both teams stay tight early. With the score knotted at 9-9, WNCC took a 14-10 lead after two Marginean points and a service point from Eastman. The Lancers’ Julia Dolan stopped the really and then Siala Unufe had four straight service points to put the Lancers in front 15-14.
WNCC came back and took a 20-19 lead on a Chloe Grady block and two Schul service points. EWC responded with a sideout and then Emma Blackstar served five points for the 25-20 win.
The fourth set started with a Grady kill and two points from Marginean for a 3-0 lead. The Lancers came back to take an 8-7 lead on a service point from Boden Liljedahl. Schul stopped the run with a kill and then served two points for a 10-8 lead.
The Cougars stretched the lead to 17-13 on a Jaylen Nachtigall kill and led 20-14 after two Gonzalez-Orozco points. The Lancers fought back to make it a 21-19 contest on two points from Liljedahl and appoint from Blackstar. WNCC finished off the set 25-20 on two Eastman service points.
Zwart led the team with 17 kills and two solo blocks while Schul had 14 kills, seven points, and three aces. Eastman tallied six kills, five digs, and eight points, while Grady had four kills and four assisted blocks.
Also for the Cougars, Marginean tallied three kills, two digs, nine points, and 28 set assists; Nachtigall had two kills and an assisted block; Dessiah Christopher had a kill and block; Taylor Tyser finished with 13 digs and two points; Gonzalez-Orozco had six digs and 13 points with an ace; and Ahleejah Tovo-Sunia had four digs.
WNCC moves to 4-1 on the year while EWC drops to 3-2. The Cougars will next be in action this weekend at the McCook Invite where they will face Indian Hills and Hill College on Friday and then Hutchinson and Southeast Community College on Saturday.
“There will really be some good teams there,” Zwart said. “Hutchinson, a team we lost there will be there and it will be really exciting that we will go against them and hopefully be improved and win.”
