It will be a busy weekend for the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball and soccer teams. All three teams will host their last home games of the season on Friday and Saturday.
The Cougar volleyball team can wrap up the South Sub-region No. 1 seed with a win Friday night against Northeastern Junior College at 7 p.m. After that, the second-ranked Cougars will host Casper College on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the final home game for the six sophomores.
Friday night’s contest will also be “Think Pink” Breast Cancer Awareness night. Breast cancer survivors will be admitted free to the game and those wearing pink will receive $1 off the price of admission. Also, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman will be in attendance to watch the Cougar volleyball team as teams and fans celebrate the special night.
As for the match itself, the Cougars enter with a 31-2 record and an 8-0 conference mark. The Plainswomen are 17-16 overall and 7-1 in the conference after falling to Otero Junior College last weekend. If the Cougars win on Friday, they are guaranteed the No. 1 seed in the Nov. 1-3 South Region IX volleyball tournament that will be played in McCook.
Saturday’s home match against Casper will be the final home match for sophomores – Danika Youngblood, Alex Rivera, Kat Agson, Tasha Meyer, Taylor VanderWerff, and Megan Johnson. The sophomores have lost just four matches in their two years at WNCC. They have a combined 72-4 record.
The Cougar volleyball team will wrap up the regular season on Oct. 24 when they travel to Northeastern Junior College to face the Plainswomen in Sterling, Colo.
The WNCC men’s and women’s soccer teams will also be hosting their final regular season matches of the year at the Landers Soccer Complex. On Friday, the two teams will battle Trinidad State Junior College with the women kicking things off at 1 p.m. followed by the men’s contest. Then, on Saturday, Otero Junior College comes to town with the men starting things at 12 noon followed by the women’s game at 2 p.m. Saturday is also AYSO day as AYSO players get in free to the contest and have a chance to meet the players and get autographs before and after the matches.
This weekend’s soccer games are especially important for the Cougar men for Region IX playoff seedings. If the men win both matches, they couldl move up to No. 5 and a first-round contest with Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, Wyo. Otherwise, the Cougar men will be the No. 6 seed and face Northwest College in the first round in Powell, Wyo. The first-round regional matches are slated for Oct. 24.
The Cougar men are 4-10 on the season while Trinidad State enters with a 5-7-1 record. The Trojans are 3-6-1 in conference play, while the Cougars are 2-8. Otero, Saturday’s opponent, enters with a 13-1-2 record.
The Cougar women will wrap up their season this weekend. Because of a revamped regional/district tournament format, only the top four teams qualify for the post-season tournament. The Cougar women are mathematically eliminated from the post-season, but will try to finish off the season on a positive note heading into next season.
WNCC enters Friday’s match against Trinidad with a 2-8-1 record while the Trojans come in with a 1-7-1 record. The Otero women, who are in their first year in Region IX, have a perfect 13-0 record and have allowed just four goals all season. In conference play, Otero is 8-0 and have outscored its opponents 29-0.