The fifth-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team received 13 kills from Jenna Curtis and 11 points from Erica Fava as the Cougars swept past Northwest College 25-15, 25-13, 25-19 to open up the WyoBraska Invite that is being played at WNCC and Eastern Wyoming College during the weekend.

             The other Thursday match in the WyoBraska Invite saw Northeastern Junior College top EWC 25-17, 25-9, 25-17.

             Action in the tournament continues Friday and Saturday with matches beginning at 9 a.m. WNCC's contests Friday will see the Cougars battle Casper College at 1 p.m. and Western Wyoming Community College at 5 p.m.

             WNCC freshman setter Shanelle Martinez said the team played well in getting their 14th win of the season.

             "I think we played well today but I think we could have run our middles a little bit more," the Cougar setter said. "We just have to get into our system a little bit more but I think overall, we did pretty well."

             Martinez said a big part of the win was the team's defense, where the Cougars hustled for balls, including several pancakes and some big blocks. WNCC had five solo blocks in the match with Emmalei Mapu recording two.

             The first set saw the Cougars come out strong as Martinez served three points for a 4-0 lead and then Curtis added three points for an 8-1 lead. WNCC went up 13-4 after Ale Meoni had three points, including two aces and led 17-7 on a Curtis kill.

             Northwest came back to cut the lead to 17-10 on two points from Megan Pannell, but the Cougars doubled up the Trappers 22-11 on two Anakaren Chavez points and won the first set 25-15 on a Fava kill and then service point.

             The second set went back and forth. Northwest led 9-7 after two points from Kamri Hutchings. Juliana Oliveira stopped the streak with a kill and then Fava served seven straight points for a 15-9 lead. Oliveira followed with three points for a 19-10 lead.

             WNCC went up by double digits after Martinez had three points including kills from Mapu and Charli Blackman for a 23-11 lead. WNCC won the second set 25-13.

             The third set started the same way as the second set and Northwest led 3-2 and later tied at 4-4. WNCC went up for good on a Fava point and a Meoni ace serve for a 6-4 lead. WNCC expanded the lead to 10-5 on a Fava kill and then Fava had three points for a 10-5 lead that was aided by two Curtis kills and a Fava ace serve.

             WNCC doubled up Northwest 18-9 on a Chavez point. Northwest battled back as Hutchings had two points to cut the deficit to 19-13 and then Kimberly Pannell had two points to make it 21-16. Northwest trailed 23-18 after a point from Mia Sorensen, but WNCC held on to get the win 25-19.

             Curtis led the way for the Cougars with a double-double of 13 kills, 11 digs, six points and an ace serve. Fava had 11 points with eight digs and six kills, while Martinez had 30 set assists with eight points and five digs.

             Meoni had a good night with eight kills, five points, four aces, and four digs, while Mapu had three kills and two solo blocks. Blackman finished with three kills while Oliveira had a kill with three points.

             Also for the Cougars, Chavez had 13 digs with five points; Hernandez had three points, two digs, and an ace serve; Autumn Bennett had two digs and a service point; Lexi Keoho had seven digs; and Shae Hardy had three assists with a dig.