After just two practices, the outlook for the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team looks promising.
Six returners and eight freshmen hit the courts Thursday afternoon to begin defense of its 19th straight Region IX title.
Logan Belford, a sophomore from Loveland, Colorado, said it feels good to be back on the court.
"I am really excite to be on the court again this year and I think I can speak for everyone else in saying that," Belford said. "We are really excited and we have a great team. We are going to great places this year. We are going to Las Vegas, Salt Lake, and we are going back to Council Bluffs. We are all excited for the season because we will have a lot of fun matches."
So far, after just two practices, Belford said the talent looks good.
"So far it has been a lot of the fundamentals, just working on everything and getting the fundamentals down like the hitting, passing, and doing a lot of conditioning as well."
The Cougars return plenty of firepower from last year's 33-8 team. Back are starting setters Jayme Commins of Ogallala and Enna Masaki of Kailua, Hawaii.
Those two setters will have a lot of talent to set the ball to this season. Belford said there are plenty of strong hitters.
"I think we will be just as good as last year if not better," Belford said. "We have some tall girls with a lot of heavy hands on the team."
Besides Belford, Commins, and Masaki, the Cougars also return 5-11 middle hitter Aloni Jordan of Maryland Heights, Missouri, 6-1 rightside hitter Sarena Bartley of Ridgefield, Washington, and 5-11 middle hitter Kailie Tusiamatatele of Kapolei, Hawaii.
The incoming freshmen have plenty of talent as well. WNCC has three defensive specialists including Torrington's Adia Sherbeyn, Terri Takita-Robins of Miliani, Hawaii, and 5-1 Ana Costas of Gurabo, Puerto Rico.
The freshmen hitters include 5-6 Gabriela Canavati of Laredo, Texas, 5-6 Camille Esselin of Thronville, France, 6-0 Amryi Grace-Paris of Kapolei, Hawaii, 6-3 Leslie Lagafuaina of Tacoma, Washington, and 5-8 Santana Monroe of Greenwood Village, Colorado.
The one thing Belford said the sophomores are working on is building the team continuity, which will be key in the team's climb to compete in their 20th straight national tournament, which is the longest active consecutive streak in the nation.
"Our focus, as sophomores, is to bring the team together right now," Belford said. "When we first stepped on the court, we were 14 different individuals, but right now we are becoming a team and working together to become a team. That is what will make or break matches."
The Cougars first competition be next weekend when they travel to Ogallala on Aug. 11 to scrimmage Metro State and the University of Nebraska-Kearney. WNCC will then have an alumni scrimmage on Aug. 18 followed by opening the season Aug. 24-25 at the Reiver Invite in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The team is excited for that first competition in Ogallala.
"I think we just have to work on coming together as a team," Belford said about the first competition. "We are not going to focus on whether we are winning or losing. We are going to work on putting things together that should be together already like the pass-set-hit, getting our plays down, and getting to know who you are playing by and getting comfortable with that."
Overall, Belford said once they get everything down, they should have a big season.
"I think we have a good chance of going to nationals again this year," Belford said. "This is a really big year with it could be our 20th regional title. We have that but we are keeping our focus and mentally."
The regional tournament will also be a different twist for the Cougars then in the past. Gone is the two regional tournament set-up for the North and South. Instead, there will be one regional tournament with the top two teams heading to the national tournament.
"I think the competition at regionals will get us more prepared for nationals," Belford said. "It will be more competition, which will be nice."