WNCC did, however, earn the split on the day as they captured a straight set win over McCook Community College 25-21, 25-18, 25-19 in the first game of the triangular behind a 19-kill performance from Erica Fava. The win stopped a 2-game losing streak.
The other match in the triangular saw Iowa Western earn a 25-21, 25-19, 25-18 win over McCook.
Jenna Curtis, who had 11 kills in the win over McCook and 15 kills against Iowa Western, said the team played well despite the split.
“We played really well today,” Curtis said. “We were prepared for McCook because we knew we had to beat them because we had a losing streak. But, against Iowa Western, we fought to the end. That is probably the best that we have ever played because we had a ton of energy on our team. When we were down a few points, we knew we still could pick it up and keep our energy high.”
The Iowa Western match was a battle between two Top 20 ranked teams. The first set saw WNCC jump out to a 6-1 lead before Iowa Western tied the contest at 9-9 on Duru Ozkan points. From there neither team went up by more than two points before Iowa Western won 25-22.
The second set saw WNCC jump to a 4-0 lead behind four points from Macey Boggs. Once again, the contest was tied at 11 and later at 14s and then at 17s. That was where WNCC forged ahead 21-17 behind three points from Fava including two aces and a kill from Curtis. Iowa Western battled back, tying the set at 23-23. Ale Meoni stopped the run with a kill and then Curtis served the final point for the 25-23 win.
The next three sets were the key. Iowa Western won the third set pretty easy, earning a 25-15 lead including leading 17-8 after four points from Yadhira Anchante.
WNCC never got down as they came back in the fourth set to force a fifth. The fourth saw the Reivers lead 8-4 after five points from Emma Prentice. WNCC battled back as Hyleigh Fornstrom had a kill to slice the lead to 11-10 and then Boggs had three points, including two aces and a kill from Curtis for a 13-11 lead.
WNCC never trailed again in the fourth, leading 17-12 after three Curtis points and then 20-13 after two Fornstrom points. WNCC won the fourth as Fava hammered a kill and then Fava had three points with Curtis hammering the 25th point to force the fifth set.
Early on in the fifth, WNCC took control, leading 4-1 and then 7-2 after two Meoni points. WNCC Led 9-5 before a sideout sent Anchante to the service line. Anchante ran off six service points to give the Reivers a 12-9 lead. Curtis stopped the run with a kill and then Boggs had an ace to cut the lead to 12-11.
Iowa Western came back to lead 14-11before a Meoni kill made it 14-12. But Iowa Western’s 6-foot-3 middle Cherlin Antonio had the final kill for the win.
Curtis said how the team responded after the third set was key because the Cougars lacked energy in the third set, but had plenty in the fourth and fifth set.
“The fourth set was the most important because we didn’t play the best in the third set and we knew that, so we knew we had to pick it up to fight for a fifth set,” Curtis said. “We were excited [against Iowa Western]. No matter what we fought. There were a lot of long rallies.”
Boggs had a triple-double in the loss with 46 set assists, 27 digs, and 12 points. She also had three aces and three assisted blocks.
Meoni led the team offensively with 21 kills followed by Curtis with 15, Fava with 12, and Angel Nahinu and Fornstrom each with four.
Meoni also had 11 digs and five points, while Fava had 30 digs, seven points, and two aces. Nahinu had two solo blocks and three assist blocks.
Also for the Cougars, AnaKaren Chavez had eight digs, Mariah Fukumoto had 24 digs, six digs, and three assists.
In the South sub-region win over McCook, Fava had 19 kills along with nine digs, and six points to lead the Cougars. Meoni had 13 kills with 10 points and seven digs, while Curtis had had 11 kills, four points, and three digs.
Also for the Cougars against McCook, Boggs had 28 set assists with five points and six digs; Fukumoto had six digs and three points; Chavez had eight digs; Julie Moccellin had 16 set assists and four digs; and Fornstrom had three kills with seven points.
WNCC, 17-11 on the season, will continue play on Saturday with another match. Action at Cougar Palace begins at 11 a.m. when No. 13 Central Wyoming College battles No. 2 Iowa Western followed by WNCC taking on Central Wyoming at 1 p.m.
After Saturday, WNCC will be back at home Tuesday, Oct. 12 when they host Eastern Wyoming College in a match that was rescheduled from early September.
