The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team lost a heartbreaking five-set contest to No. 13 Salt Lake Community College in the first day of the WyoBraska Invite on Thursday at Cougar Palace.

                The Cougars controlled the contest early on, taking the first two sets 25-15, 25-23 while only trailing just twice in the sets. Salt Lake came storming back to grab the third set 25-18 and then held on for a 25-23 fourth set to force the deciding fifth set.

                The fifth set was a humdinger as the two teams that have been in the national spotlight for the past 20 years, battled back and forth before the Bruins came out on top 21-19 for the come-from-behind win.

                WNCC drops to 11-5 on the season while Salt Lake moves to 14-4. WNCC will look to rebound when they play two matches in the WyoBraska Invite on Friday, taking on Sheridan College at 1 p.m. before facing Midland College at 7 p.m.

                Thursday's loss might sting a little, but it was the fight that the Cougars put in, especially in the fifth set which saw plenty of electricity from the crowd. Salt Lake took a quick 5-0 lead and led 9-5 and seemed to be cruising to an easy win.

                WNCC had other ideas as the electricity sparked the Cougars as WNCC tied the fifth set at 10-10 on a Luisa Beining kill. WNCC had the first match point at 14-13 after Gabriela Canavati hammered home a kill.

                Things went back and forth from there with WNCC earning match points at 19-18 on a Olivia Transfiguracion ace. Salt Lake had a match point at 15-14 and then at 20-19 after a kill from Ariane Pola before Bruna Correa served the final point for the win.

                The loss was a heartbreaker for the Cougars as they controlled the first set from start to finish, holding a 15-6 lead after four Ana Costas service points. WNCC led 16-7 on a Karen Cordero kill before Salt Lake pit together a 3-point service run from Talia Myers to cut the lead to 16-11. WNCC rebounded with two Cordero points for a 19-11 lead and won the opening set 25-15 on a Beining kill.

                WNCC trailed just twice in the second set and held a 13-9 lead before Salt Lake came back to knot things at 19-19. WNCC came back to grab a 21-19 lead on a Canavati ace before Pola served three points for Salt Lake to give them a 23-21 lead.

                A missed served handed the serve back to WNCC and Cordero served up three points for the 25-23 win.

                The third and fourth sets were close as well. WNCC trailed early in the third before grabbing a 14-13 lead and later 17-16. Salt Lake took control after that, going on a 9-1 run to earn the 25-18 win.

                The fourth set saw WNCC lead 18-16 before the Bruins came back to lead 20-18. WNCC cut the lead to 21-20 on a Leslie Mamai-Lagafuaina kill. WNCC trailed 24-23 late before Salt Lake earned the 25-23 win.

                WNCC had four players with double figure kills. Mamai-Lagafuaina led the way with 18 kills followed by Cordero with 17. Beining finished with 14 while Canavati had 12.

                Cordero finished the contest with a triple-double. Besides her 17 kills, Cordero also had 10 digs and 10 points. Ana Costas finished with a double-double with 14 digs and 17 points. Transfiguracion had 59 set assists.

                Also for the Cougars, Adia Sherbeyn had 11 points and three points, Arianna Mitchell had five digs, Anuhea Kaolu had three digs, and La'Treva Kennedy had six kills and two solo blocks.
                Salt Lake was led by Kenadee Christensen with 14 kills while Pola had a double-double of 11 kills and 11 blocks. Sammi Johnston has a team-high 33 digs.