The No. 2 Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team survived a thriller Thursday night against Otero Junior College.
The Cougars were facing a 2-0 deficit and came back to capture the five-game win 19-25, 22-25, 25-15, 25-23, 15-5. It was the Cougars 27th win of the season, but more importantly, it moves the Cougars to 6-1 in conference play, while Otero drops to 4-2 in conference.
Barbara Briceno, who finished with 25 kills and 16 digs on the night, said the difference in the final three games was energy.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game and we know that every single game from now on will he hard," the sophomore from Peru said. "I think we worked really hard in the third set because we knew we were two down. All we had on our mind was not to make any more errors."
The Cougars went into the 10-minute break between the second and third games scratching their head. What happened after the break was a totally different Cougar team.
"We came out of the locker room after the second set with so much energy," Briceno said. "What Maraea [O'Connor] told us in the locker room and the assistant coach [Whitney Roth] also, they told us that we actually didn't want it and they wanted it more than us. We just came out with so much more energy."
The first two games Otero had all the energy as they built a 13-6 first-game lead and led 18-13 before going on to win 25-19.
The second game was tight as the two teams were knotted at 9-9 on a Kaylee Spreier kill. Things changed after that as Nicole Rackley had three points and then Karina Erreguin had three more for a 16-10 lead. WNCC came back to slice the lead to 21-19 on two Brooke Kaawa points and trailed 23-22 on a Lara Picht kill, but Otero got the final two points to lead 25-23 and hold a 2-0 lead.
The third game was the deciding game actually. WNCC held a slim 9-8 lead. Bia Berta, who finished the night with 12 points, had five in a row for a 15-8 lead. WNCC pushed the lead to 19-11 on two Spreier points and won the contest on two more Berta points and Kadara Marshall hammering home the final point.
Otero came out and grabbed a 4-1 and later 10-7 lead in game four. The Rattlers kept playing strong, holding a 15-14 lead. That is when the Cougars caught fire as Briceno had a kill and then served four points for an 18-15 lead. WNCC would lead 23-18 on a Picht kill before Otero came back on three Erreguin points to cut the lead to 23-22.
Briceno would get a kill to stop the run and WNCC would win the fourth game, forcing a fifth and deciding game, on a Briceno kill.
The fifth game belonged to WNCC as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead on two Spreier points. Alwaise Villa would give the Cougars an 8-2 lead with two points and WNCC went into cruise control as Berta had three more points for a 13-4 lead. Picht served the final point for the win.
WNCC had a number of players stand out in the win. Briceno led the team with 25 kills and 16 digs. Briceno also had a solo block and six points. Lara Picht also had a double-double, finishing with 17 kills, 15 digs, and seven points.
Berta had a triple-double of 12 points, 15 digs, and 61 set assists. Kaawa led the team with 20 digs. Kaawa also had nine kills, three points, two set assists, two solo blocks, and four assisted blocks.
Also for WNCC, Spreier had eight points, seven kills, and four digs; Joise Maldonado had three kills; Marshall had six kills, a solo block, and two digs; Genesis Benitez had six digs; and Villa had 12 digs and five points.
Briceno said this game showed them that they have to be ready for all teams at all times.
"Everyone will want to get us," she said. "We just need to keep working hard, keep the energy up, and do not make any more errors."
WNCC will be back in action Friday when they host Lamar Community College at 6 p.m. and then Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday at 1 p.m. Friday's contest will also feature the unveiling of Mr. and Miss. WNCC after the match, while Saturday's match will include a tail-gate party from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. with $3 Runzas, music and games.