Cougars Oliveira, Lindolfo, Zwart earn Region IX Player of the Year honors

 

                The Western Nebraska Community College soccer and volleyball team had several players listed as All-Region players along with a couple of Player of the Year selections.

                The Cougar men's soccer team, who competed in the program's first national tournament this week, had both the offense and defensive player of the years.

                Eduardo Oliveira, who had xx goals this season, was named the Offensive Player of the Year (Leagues MVP) while sophomore Guilherme Lindolfo was named the Defensive Player of the Year. WNCC head coach Todd Rasnic was selected as the Region IX Men's Coach of the Year.

                As for individual honors, Oliveira was named a First Team Forward selection while Lindolfo was a First Team Defender selection.

                Second Team All-Region honors were bestowed upon Lucas Ovalle and Maxime Niyibaho as midfielders, Paul Denz as a defender, and Owen Henderson as a goalkeeper. Denz and Henderson are both freshmen.

                Honorable mention selections included Isrrael Rodriguez as a midfielder, Anthony Lemus as a forward, and Michael Escobar as a defender.

                The WNCC women's soccer team placed two members on the All-Region teams. Lizbeth Barrera earned her second-straight all-region honor by being selected as an All-Region Honorable Mention defender. Yasmin Urbina was named an Honorable Mention forward.

                The Cougar volleyball team had several members make the Region IX South All-Region as well at the Region IX tournament All-Tournament team.

                First off, the All-Tournament team that was announced after the tournament on November 9 included a pair of Cougars. Sophomores Tamika Eastman of Harrison, Nebraska, and Taylor Tyser, of Laramie, Wyoming, were named to the team.

                Other members of the All-Tournament team included Region IX champion Eastern Wyoming College's Boden Liljedahl, Amarie Huntsman, Siale Unufe, and Una Stepic; Region IX champion Northeastern Junior College's Nerea Alvarez-Jorge, Natalie Moore, and Samantha Mosley; Laramie County's Lea Susoy and Savannah Cummings; Western Wyoming's Darleen Peterson and Shayna Quenga; and Central Wyoming's Khloe Hobson and Hallie Reeder.

                EWC's Liljedahl, a libero, was named the tournament's MVP.

                The four Cougars that made All-Region South Conference honors included sophomore Lilly Zwart and freshman Nora Marginean on the First Team, and Taylor Tyser and Finja Schul on the Second Team.

                WNCC's Zwart was named the Region IX South Player of the Year.