COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The fourth-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team dropped two games in the first day of the Reiver Invite in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday.

                The WNCC women lost a hard-fought five-setter to Indian Hills Community College 25-12, 25-21, 21-25, 21-25, 10-15, before falling in three games to No. 3 Iowa Western Community College 18-25, 13-25, 25-27.

                The Cougars will look to rebound with two matches on Saturday when they face Jefferson College and Barton Community College.

                In the opening match against Indian Hills, the Cougars rolled to a 25-12 win in the first game behind an 8-point service run to open up a 10-7 game to a 19-7 contest. The second game saw the two teams tied at 8-8 before the Cougars put together strong serving for the win.

                WNCC fell 25-21 in the third set. The Cougars led 19-15 but watched the Warriors come back to tie the game at 19 and then go up 23-20 before falling. The fourth game was just as tight with neither team holding more than a 3-point lead until Indian Hills won 25-21.

                The fifth game was knotted at 10-10 before the Warriors reeled off five straight for the win.

                Amryi-Grace Paris led the team with 16 kills while Sarena Bartley finished with 15. The Cougars also had Masaki, Kaile Tuisamatatele, and Leslie Lagafuaina all had seven kills.

                Masaki finished with a double-double. Besides her seven kills, she also had 20 set assists, 12 points, nine digs, and two solo blocks.

                Jayme Commins finished with 21 set assists, eight points, six digs, and three kills.

                Also for the Cougars, Adia Sherbeyn had seven points and five digs; Tuisamatatele had five points, four solo blocks, three assisted blocks, and two digs; Ana Costas had 15 digs, five points, and two aces; Terri Takita-Robins had nine points and five digs; Paris had four digs and three points; and Lagafuaina had seven solo blocks and four assist blocks.

                The Iowa Western match saw WNCC finish with just 28 total kills in the three games. Lagafuaina, Paris, and Masaki each had five kills, while Tuisamatatele led the team with six kills.

                Costas tallied 16 digs followed five each from Commins and Sherbeyn.

                Commins had 11 set assists while Masaki had nine. Lagafuaina had three solo blocks in the contest.