CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday in the Region IX Crossover Classic in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Saturday.

                After splitting contests on Friday, including picking up their first win of the season against Western Wyoming Community College, the Cougars opened Saturday play with a 4-set win over Northwest College 25-16, 21-25, 25-17, 25-21.

                WNCC ended the day getting swept by Laramie County Community College 25-11, 25-14, 25-20.

                WNCC will be back on the road this weekend at the Pizza Hut Classic when they face ranked teams in New Mexico Junior College and Odessa on Friday and then New Mexico Military and Colby Community College on Saturday.

                In the win against Northwest, WNCC finished with 49 kills and 79 digs. Dani Cruz had a double-double with 18 kills and 15 digs. Natalia Malinowska tallied 23 set assists while Allie Twamley had 13 set assists. Alex Gonzalez-Orozco led the team with 27 digs.

                Also for the Cougars, Keira Zelada eight kills, Kyana Gabriel tallied seven kills, Maria Niedzwiecka had six kills, and Emma Hergenreder had five kills.

                In the loss to LCCC, WNCC finished with just 28 kills and had a hitting percentage of .110. LCCC finished with 44 kills and a hitting percentage of .383.

                Gabriel paced the Cougars with 12 kills, while Cruz had seven kills. Malinowska had 14 set assists and Gonzalez-Orozco had 12 digs to lead the team.