Jenna Curtis had 10 kills and the No. 18 Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team got 14 points from Ale Meoni as the Cougars swept Trinidad State College 25-15, 25-17, 25-15 Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace.
The win was the Cougars sixth straight and moved WNCC to 15-8 on the season.
Hyleigh Fornstrom, the middle hitter from Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, said the team played OK, but wasn’t as sharp as they could have been.
“I thought we played OK. We could have done better,” Fornstrom, who had five kills and three solo blocks, said. “I think we came out a lot more disciplined today [Saturday] than we did last night [Friday against Otero]. However, our energy was lacking so that held us back a little bit.”
The Cougars had a busy week and Saturday was their third straight day of action. WNCC played Casper on Tuesday and then Northwest College on Thursday and Otero on Friday. Fornstrom said it made for a long week, plus they played down to their opponent.
“We also had a game on Tuesday with Casper so it made for a long week,” Fronstrom said. “We didn’t raise our standards and shut them down faster than we chould have.”
But, once the team got going, they showed plenty of talent and it came from different players on Saturday in different areas.
“Once we get going we have so much potential on this team,” Fornstrom said. “I think we can shut down anybody in our region and compete really well for nationals. We have to find that spark in our team and that one click to bring it out in us.”
Trinidad started the match with three straight points from Addison Pack. WNCC head coach Binny Canales called a timeout immediately and righted the ship as Meoni hammered a kill and then Erica Fava had five service points with two aces for a 6-3 lead. WNCC never trailed again in the first set, leading 17-12 on two AnaKaren Chavez points and went up 23-13 after five Meoni points with two aces. Fornstrom won the first set with a kill 25-15.
The second set was close at the start as both teams were knotted at 4-4. Meoni than changed the complexion of the set with six service points with two ace serves, two kills from Curtis, and a kill from Fronstrom to lead 11-4.
Trinidad sliced the lead to 15-11 but the Cougars went up 20-13 on a Meoni ace serve and Jayla Brehmer won the second set with a kill 25-17.
Trinidad controlled the third set early leading 5-2 on a Ana Perez point and led 9-7. Meoni changed the momentum with a kill and then Fava had three points for an 11-9 lead. WNCC led 17-12 after a Laura Milori point and a Fornstrom kill. The Cougars went up 22-13 after four Fornstrom points and then Fava ended the match with a kill 25-15.
WNCC had balanced statistics as no one had a double-double. Curtis led with 10 kills, three digs, and two points. Fornstrom had five kills with three solo blocks, two assisted blocks, two digs, and four points; followed four kills each from Fava and Meoni. Meoni also had two digs, two ace serves, and 15 points, while Fava had nine digs, nine points, and four aces.
Also for the Cougars, Macy Boggs had five digs and 24 set assists; Holleigh Jaime had four digs and two points; Milori had two kills; Chavez had 10 digs and six points; Mariah Fukumoto had two digs; Julia Moccellin had three digs; and Angel Nahinu had two kills.
WNCC will have some time off before playing again next weekend when they travel to Lamar Community College Friday night followed a big Saturday encounter with Northeastern Junior College Saturday afternoon in Sterling, Colorado.
