STERLING, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team got 21 kills from Lilly Zwart but the Cougars dropped a heart-breaking five-setter to Laramie County Community College 19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-13, 15-11 in the first-round of the Region IX tournament in Sterling, Colorado, on Wednesday.
WNCC drops to the second regional tourney bracket and will face Central Wyoming College at 2 p.m. Central Wyoming took Northeastern Junior College to four sets before falling 25-13, 20-25, 25-21, 25-13.
The other side of the bracket saw Western Wyoming Community College top McCook Community College in five sets 25-20, 23-25, 13-25, 25-20, 25-11 while Trinidad State College upended Casper College in five sets 18-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 18-16. Trinidad State will face Western Wyoming in the winner's bracket on Thursday, while McCook takes on Casper at noon in the other bracket.
WNCC took control early as they captured the first two sets 25-19, 25-18 to hold a 2-0 lead.
The third set was a battle as the Cougars couldn't hold on to get the third set and win as LCCC earned the 25-23 win.
The Golden Eagles rode the win in the third set and cruised to the 25-13 win the fourth as LCCC had a run of nine straight service points to open up the set.
The fifth set saw LCCC jump out to a 10-6 lead and never looked back to get the 15-11 win.
WNCC had three players in double-figure kills. Zwart tallied 21 kills along with seven digs. Dani Cruz had a double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs, while Charli Blackman tallied 11 kills along with eight digs and three assisted blocks.
Also for the Cougars, Shanelle Martinez had a double-double with 54 set assists and 28 digs. She also had five kills and one ace serve.
Kyana Gabriel finished with seven kills with four digs, while Chloe Grady had four kills, two solo blocks, and six assisted blocks.
Finja Schul finished with three kills and five assisted blocks, while Maya Angelova had two kills.
Megan Bewley finished with 10 digs while Taylor Tyser had 21 digs with four set assists.