STERLING, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team attended the Sheila Worley Invitational in Sterling, Colorado, and faced three nationally ranked teams over the weekend.

                Despite playing tough in all four matches, the Cougars came up short in the matches. On Friday, the Cougars lost to New Mexico Junior College in four sets 20-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-14 and then fell to No. 7 Odessa College in four sets 21-25, 27-25, 25-15, 17-25.

                Saturday's action saw the Cougars give No. 11 New Mexico Military all they could answer before falling in five sets 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 24-26, 15-5. WNCC wrapped up the tourney in falling to No. 13 Colby Community College 25-20, 25-14, 25-19.

                WNCC, 2-15 on the season, will be back on the road this weekend when they open up South conference action with road trips to eastern Nebraska when they face Southeast Community College on Thursday and then North Platte Community College on Friday.

                In the match against New Mexico Junior College on Friday, WNCC had 42 kills as a team but only hit .096 for the match. Kyana Gabriel led the way with 13 kills and nine digs while Keira Zelada had seven kills. Natalia Malinowska had a double-double with 18 set assists and 14 digs, while Alex Gonzalez-Orozco led the team with 25 digs.

                Against Odessa, WNCC managed just 34 kills with a hitting percentage of .077. Dani Cruz led the way with 12 kills while Gabriel had 11 kills. Malinowska had a double-double with 28 set assists and 11 digs, while Gonzalez-Orozco had 12 digs.

                Saturday's contest against New Mexico Military was an exciting one that went down to the wire. WNCC took the first set with a come-from-behind win. The Cougars trailed 20-19 when they got a sideout. That was when Scottsbluff's Emma Hergenreder went to town from the service line with five straight points for the 25-20 win.

                New Mexico Military came back and took sets two the three. Set four saw NMMI leading 23-18. WNCC got the ball back and Gonzalez-Orozco served three points to make it 24-23. After a NMMI point, Cruz hammered down a kill to get the ball back once again. This time Malinowska served the final three points with the set-winning kill from Zelada. The fifth set was all NMMI to take the match.

                WNCC managed 52 kills and hit .117 for the match. The Cougars also had 90 digs with some hustling saves.

                Gabriel led the way with 17 kills and 15 digs while Cruz had 15 kills and 14 digs. Malinowska had a triple-double with 45 set assists, 14 digs, and 11 service points. Gonzalez-Orozco tallied 27 digs, while Hergenreder had 14 digs, three kills, and nine points.

                The Colby match saw the Cougars tally just 24 total kills but hit .158 for the match. The first set was close as the Cougars trailed 18-13 at one time, but closed the gap to 21-19 on a Cruz service point, but Colby took the first 25-20. Colby also took the second and third sets for the win.

                Cruz led the way with 11 kills followed four each from Gabriel and Nadiyyah Northern.