The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team's six sophomores wanted to end sophomore recognition day on a positive note.

                They definitely did that, sweeping Barton Community College 25-19, 25-15, 25-21, to wrap up the regular season with 29 wins.

                Lauren Shaul, one of the six sophomores, said the sophomores finished the regular season the way they wanted, with a win.

                "It was pretty special being able to play in my hometown these past two years," the Gering High graduate said. "I made a lot of new friendships and have met a lot of cool people while I've been here."

                More importantly, the Cougars played well, finishing with just two service errors and very few hitting errors. Those were the two areas that haunted the Cougars in losses to Northeastern Junior College and San Jacinto earlier in the week. It was the Cougars fifth match in four days.

                "I thought the team played well," Shaul said. "The energy was a little low but I think everyone was probably just tired from the previous four games. But overall, we did what we needed to do to win."

                While it was WNCC's final regular season match, the Cougars will have a couple more matches at home as they get set to host the Region IX South volleyball tournament that begins Thursday. Shaul said the focus of the team is to play well, like they did Friday and Saturday.

                "I think we just need to focus on ourselves and the things we need to do as a team to perform at our best," Shaul, who finished with seven points, six digs, and an ace, said. "Our goal is to have everyone on at the same time so we can really dominate."

                Saturday's contest was one where the Cougars stayed mentally tough throughout to get the sweep. The last time WNCC and Barton played, WNCC needed five sets to defeat the Kansas Cougars at Great Bend, Kansas, back in September.

                All three sets started back and forth. It is what the Cougars did midway through each set that separated the score.

                In the opening set, the two Cougar squads were knotted at 11-11. That was when Brooke Kaawa pounded home a kill and then sophomore Kirstee Trees had four points, including an ace for a 16-11 lead. Barton sliced the lead to 18-16, but it was short-lived as Shaul had two points for a 22-17 lead and then Syenna Masaki finished the set with an ace serve and the 25-19 win.

                The second set was tied at 7-7 before Kaawa hammered home a kill and then Shaul had two points for a 9-7 lead. Trees branched out the lead even further with a five-point run and a 19-10 lead. WNCC won the second set on two Kaawa service points.

                Third set was very similar to the previous two. The two squads were tied at 10-10 and WNCC held a 15-14 lead. Things changed as Kaawa, the sophomore from Hawaii, had a kill and then five points for a 20-14 lead. WNCC pushed the lead to 22-17 on a Shaul point and led 24-18 on a series of plays that saw, not one but two immaculate saves for the Cougars for the lead. WNCC won 25-22 on a Joise Maldonado kill.

                Kaawa led the Cougars with a double-double on the day. The sophomore form Hawaii finished with 12 kills and 13 digs. She also had five points, two aces, and two assists.

                Maldonado also pounded down the ball. The sophomore outside hitter from Puerto Rico finished with 13 kills and had two digs. Kaile Tuisamatatele, who was celebrating her birthday Saturday, finished with seven kills and two assist blocks, while Kadara Marshall, another sophomore from Hawaii, had six kills and six points. Sarena Barley finished with five kills and two assisted blocks.

                Also for the Cougars, Genesis Benitez, a sophomore from Puerto Rico, tallied 11 digs from her libero position, while Kirstee Trees, the sophomore defensive specialist from Riverton, Wyoming, had 12 points, seven digs, and two aces.

                Syenna Masaki finished the game with 41 set assists and five digs; Jayme Commins had three set assists.

                WNCC, 29-6, will now host the regional tournament that begins Thursday evening with two first-round contests. WNCC will play Friday at 9 a.m. as the No. 2 seed.

                Other scores in the WNCC Classic on Saturday saw San Jacinto top Northeastern Junior College in three sets 25-20, 25-22, 25-8; Iowa Western Community College defeat Laredo Community College 25-10, 25-19, 25-19, Iowa Western top Barton in four sets 25-14, 22-25, 25-23, 25-9, and Northeastern Junior College needing four sets to get by Laredo 29-27, 19-25, 25-15, 25-22.