MCCOOK – The 5th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team started slow but picked up steam behind a 16-kill performance from Jenna Curtis as the Cougars downed McCook Community College 23-25, 25-13, 25-15, 25-19 in a Region IX South sub-region contest Wednesday in McCook.
The win was the 25th of the season for the fifth-ranked team in the country and it was the Cougars' eighth straight win.
The Cougars started slow in the first set by dropping the opener, but it wasn't bad early on as the Cougars and the fisty Indians that battled tooth and nail. WNCC led 14-12 on a Curtis kill, but a missed serve gave the service to the Indians and McCook went on a 9-1 run to lead 21-15.
WNCC fought back behind two points from AK Chavez to bring the Cougars to within 21-23 and then a ace by Erica Fava tied the set at 23. McCook got the last two points for the 25-23 win.
The second set saw WNCC race to an early lead as Chavez had three points for a 6-2 lead and then Fava had three for a 10-4 lead. Alex Hernandez widened the lead as the sophomore middle hitter had four points for a 17-6 lead. Later on, Hernandez closed out the second set with two points and the 25-13 win.
The third set was identical to the first as both teams went back and forth early on. This time with the score tied at 9-9, Curtis got a kill and then had three points for a 14-9 lead. Shanelle Martinez later had two points for a 17-11 lead.
McCook cut the lead to 21-15, but a Curtis kill gave the service to Ale Meoni and the sophomore had three points including an ace serve and the game-winning kill from Hernandez for the 25-15 win.
Martinez started the fourth set with five straight point and a 5-0 lead. WNCC pushed the lead to 11-4 on a Meoni point and then Martinez had two more to go up 17-8. McCook sliced the lead to 21-15 and later to 23-18, but a sideout gave WNCC the match point and Chavez served the final point.
WNCC finished the contest with a total of 58 kills as three were in double figures. Curtis led the way with 16 kills while also tallying eight digs, six points, and two aces. Fava had a double-double with 14 kills and 20 digs. Fava also had nine points, three aces, and a solo block.
Emmalei Mapu also had double-figure kills with 10 along with two digs and two assisted blocks. Meoni had a near double-figure kill with nine while also getting six points, three digs, and two aces.
Martinez had a triple-double of 38 set assists, 11 points, 10 digs, two aces and a kill.
Chavez had 11 digs with eight points, two aces and three set assists, while Hernandez had seven points and seven kills.
Also for the Cougars, Shae Hardy had six set assists with two digs and a point, while Lexi Keoho had six set assists with three digs and two points.
WNCC, 25-3, will be back in action Saturday when they travel to Lamar Community College for another conference game beginning at 2 p.m.