The 18th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team captured their fifth win of the young season against Eastern Wyoming College, who was playing their first match of the season, in convincing fashion 25-9, 25-18, 25-14 Wednesday night at a near capacity Cougar Palace.
WNCC had a plethora of players step up in getting the win as Ale Meoni and Erica Fava each had nine kills while Meoni tallied 15 service points.
WNCC also saw nine players register a kill and eight players get a service point.
Meoni said it was a good win for her team in front of a near full gym.
"I am so proud of us for winning this game. It was the first home game of the season and we worked so hard during the past few weeks," Meoni said. "I am so glad that so many people came to watch us and I am also happy that we won for them. Their support was a huge part of our game and I can't wait to see how the rest of the season will go."
EWC first-year head coach Judd Wisener thought they played better in the second set compared to the first and this will be a match that they can grow upon.
"We kind of played like I expected. It was the first game and we haven't seen any competition really and this was a big night for some of our freshmen because most of our roster is freshmen," Wisener said. "It was what I expected. We didn't play super well in the first set and we definitely played the game that I am looking for in the second set. Overall, we are finding our groove slowly but surely."
WNCC used a strong serving game in the first set to roll to the 25-9 win. Jenna Curtis served four points for a 5-0 lead. EWC got a sideout on a missed serve and then Ana Djurovic had a service point to cut the lead to 5-2. Emmalei Mapu got a kill and then Anakaren Chavez had five points with Meoni getting three kills for an 11-2 lead.
After a kill from EWC's Avery West to stop the service run, WNCC's Alex Hernandez got a kill and then Meoni served five points for an 18-3 lead. After a missed serve, EWC's Makenna Reinert had three points to cut the lead to 18-7. Fava stopped that run with a kill and then served three points for a 22-7 lead. WNCC won the first set 25-9 on a Shae Hardy service point and a Meoni kill.
The second set was back and forth as EWC held a 12-11 lead after two service points from Djurovic and a West kill. WNCC came back to grab a 15-12 lead on three Chavez points. EWC tied the set on a Reinert kill and two Aliyah Frazier points.
WNCC went up 21-16 on two Juliana Oliveira points and a Jayla Brehmer kill and went on to win the second set 25-19.
The third set started close as EWC led 4-3, but Meoni had eight service points for a 13-4 lead. EWC cut the lead to 17-9 on a Viktoria Sarbakova point, but Meoni got a kill to stop any more bleeding.
EWC got to within 10 at 21-11, but another Meoni kill and then a Brehmer ace serve put the Cougars up 23-11 and they won the match on a EWC missed serve.
Meoni led the Cougars with nine kills, three solo blocks, 15 points, two aces, and two digs. Fava had nine kills with three points and two aces, while Curtis and Hernandez each had five kills. Curtis also had five points with two aces and two digs, while Hernandez had two digs and a point.
Also for the Cougars, Shanelle Martinez had 22 set assists with four points, five digs, and two kills; Lexi Keoho had 11 set assists and a solo block; Hardy had two set assists and a point; Chavez had 11 points, six digs, three aces and four set assists.
WNCC also got three kills from Oliveira along with two points and a solo block, Mapu had three kills with two solo blocks; Charli Blackman had a kill, while Brehmer had two kills and two points.
Wisener complimented the way WNCC played and he knew it was going to be a hard chore to beat them. But, he is looking forward to playing them in a couple weeks at Torrington.
"Tops to them; they played great overall," Wisener said of WNCC. "I am super excited to play them in the next couple of weeks because it will give us some time to get our feet under us and get ready. We have a tournament coming up for us this weekend where I am hoping to get some really good reps in and be ready the next time we see them."
WNCC, 5-0, will be back in action Friday when they travel to Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for a 6 p.m. contest. Meoni said she is looking forward to that game.
"I expect the team to go there with a lot of energy and play to our full potential like we showed we can," Meoni said.
The Lancers, playing their first game of the year, will be at the Trinidad State tourney over the weekend. Wisener said his team can use this match for the rest of the season.
"The competition and the level that we have seen, I feel like this match will help us this weekend," Wisener said.