The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team opened the first day of the Wyobraska Invite with a strong showing against Missouri State-West Plains in posting the four-set thrilling win 25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23 Thursday evening at Cougar Palace.

                In the other Wyobraska game at Cougar Palace, Western Wyoming Community College swept past Gillette College 25-14, 25-22, 25-20.

                The other two matches of the invite were played in Torrington, Wyoming, with No. 20 Laramie County Community College needing four sets to get past Trinidad State College 25-23, 16-25, 26-24, 25-20. The other contest saw Eastern Wyoming College sweep past Colorado Northwestern 25-11, 25-17, 25-15.

                Friday's action at both sides kicks off at 9 a.m. The Cougars, 7-8, will have two contests when they face LCCC at 1 p.m. and then Central Wyoming College at 7 p.m. Other games at WNCC on Friday pits LCCC against Iowa Western at 9 a.m., NJC facing Western Wyoming at 11 a.m., NJC meeting Central Wyoming at 3 p.m., and Iowa Western taking on Western Wyoming at 5 p.m.

                Thursday's win for the Cougars was a big win for the Cougars as they snapped a 3-game losing skid and put together a team effort in getting the win.

                Charli Blackman, who had a double-double with 10 kills, 10 digs, and seven points, said the team played well.

                "This is an awesome win. We haven't had very many good games and I think that was a positive game," Blackman said. "It starts a new winning streak and we are excited to continue to go on this high that we just had."

                A big key for the win was a change in offensive styles as WNCC went to a 6-2 offense and it worked as eight different Cougars registered at least a kill in the contest while nine different players had a dig, and seven players registering a service point.

                "We completely changed our offense and our defense and the girls adjusted to it completely," Blackman said. "We really worked hard for this and it really paid off."

                Blackman said everyone did their job on the court Thursday night.

                "Our offense was amazing," she said. "Everyone was killing the ball and everyone was getting touches. Everyone was doing what they needed to do and I am really proud of them."

                WNCC also got a double-double from Shanelle Martinez with 27 set assists, 18 digs, and nine points. Lilly Zwart led the team with 11 kills along with eight digs, while Taylor Tyser had a near double-double with 18 digs, nine points, and six set assists.

                Also for the Cougars, Finja Schul had four kills, four digs, five assisted blocks, and five points; Shae Hardy had 16 set assists, five digs, and two points; Dani Cruz had nine kills, six digs, and five points; Kyana Gabriel had two digs and two points; Chloe Grady had four kills and four digs; and Maya Angelova had a kill with two solo blocks, and three assist blocks.

                Blackman said the team needs to build off of this win as they have four more games in the invite this weekend.

                "It is really awesome to build off of this win," Blackman said. "We have LCCC and Central tomorrow (Friday) and we are going to go in with a really big high after a really big win. We are excited and hopefully we come out with a win tomorrow (Friday)."

                All four sets were competitive. WNCC opened the first set ahead 10-8 on two Blackman points and led 14-9 after three Tyser points. The Cougars went up 20-16 on a Martinez point and led 23-19. The Grizzlies came back to cut the deficit to two, 24-22, but a Chloe Grady kill gave the Cougars the first set 25-22.

                The second set saw MSU-West Plains jump to a 5-3 lad and led10-8 after two points by Iolanda Tercariol. The Grizzlies led 14-12 when WNCC made a run as Tyser had three points to put the Cougars up 16-14. WNCC went up 21-17 on a Blackman kill and led 23-18 after a Martinez point. The Cougars won the second set on a kill 25-21.

                WNCC led the third set 9-6 on a Grady kill, but MSU-West Plains went on a 6-point run behind five service points from Raphaela Felisberto for a 12-9 lead. WNCC tied the third set at 14-14 on three Tyser points and two kills from Zwart. The Grizzlies went up 22-18 on three Tercariol points. WNCC came back to cut the deficit to a single point at 23-22 on a Gabriel kill and the two Gabriel points. WNCC trailed 24-23 on a Cruz kill, but West Plains got the final point to win the third.

                The four set was just as competitive as the lead see-sawed back and forth. WNCC led 5-4 on a Blackman kill only to watch West Plains take leads at 6-5, 7-6, and 9-8. WNCC came back to lead 11-9 after two Martinez points and two kills from Blackman. The Cougars led 14-11 after two Blackman points.

                West Plains came back to lead 19-18 on two Felisberto points. WNCC got the serve back and Martinez put the Cougars up 21-19 with two points and a big setter kill. West Plains came back to lead 22-21 before a Zwart power kill stopped the run. Blackman then served two points for a 24-22 lead and Zwart then hammered home the match winner and the 25-23 score.