MCC Volleyball wins twice in Saturday tournament play

he McCook Community College volleyball team took a pair of games Saturday in the MCC Invitational Tournament. MCC opened the day with a 3-1 win over Ranger College of Texas then swept Garden City Community College.

"Overall I thought this was a really good weekend not just for MCC volleyball but for the community as well," said MCC Coach Hayley Kobza.

The two-day MCC tournament had 18 teams from six states and played 37 matches.

"It takes a tribe and a family to run this event and super grateful for everyone that stepped in to help," Kobza said.

From a volleyball standpoint after facing and losing to two teams Friday that were in the top five national rankings in the preseason, MCC responded with a different look Saturday.

"We had some different players come in and played another different lineup and I thought they all showed exactly what they can do, they just needed that opportunity to come out and play volleyball," Kobza said. "Shout out to Jordan Duzenack on the attack and to Greta Bolognini who stepped in at the libero role for two matches and played really well," Kobza said.

Duzenack, (freshman, Loveland Colo.) saw her first significant of the season and came up with 23 kills and 13 digs in her two Saturday matches. Bolognini, a freshman from Bergamo Italy who played her senior year at Parkview Christian High School in Lincoln, Neb., led MCC with 32 digs in her two Saturday matches.

"I think we need to continue to work up and work on a few things that we know we need to work on," Kobza said. "You still have to learn what you need to continue to improve on even when you win but overall, I thought we did good."

MCC goes to 7-5 on the season. Next up MCC will hit the road for a couple Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference matches starting with a Wednesday trip to North Platte in a game that starts at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the team goes to Beatrice to take on NCCAC opponent Southeast Community College at 1 p.m. then follow that with a 3 p.m. game against the Ottawa JVs.

MCC will return home Sept. 14 to host NCCAC foe Central Community College.

For all the up-to-date information on MCC volleyball this season including, schedules, statistics, rosters and photos, please visit the official website of MCC Athletics at mccindians.com

MATCH 1 – McCook CC 3, Ranger College 1: MCC won 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19.

Victoria Thomas (sophomore, Houston, Texas) led the attack with 18 kills, three assist blocks and 13 digs. Jordan Duzenack added 14 kills to go along with five digs. Fernanda Merancio (freshman, Lamar, Colo.) was credited with nine kills and one assist block.

In the middle Gracen Tuttle (freshman, Ogallala) had five kills and four assist blocks. Jisell Chumacero (sophomore, Eaton, Colo.) had three assist blocks and two kills.

Alexis Pontine freshman, (Ignacio, Colo.) had 45 assists, eight digs, three ace serves and three assist blocks.

Greta Bolognini led MCC with 21 digs to go along with one ace. Sophomore McKenna Crews (Loveland, Colo.) had six digs.

MATCH 2 – McCook CC 3, Garden City CC 0: McCook closed the tournament with a 25-21, 25-23, 25-17 win over the Broncbusters.

Victoria Thomas and Fernanda Merancino both had 10 kills. Thomas also had six digs. Jordan Duzenack and nine kills, eight digs, one ace, one assist block and one solo block.

Jisell Chumacero had four kills, two assist blocks and two aces. Gracen Tuttle had three kills and one assist block.

Alexis Pontine was credited with 33 assists, five digs, one kill and two assist blocks.

Greta Bolognini paced the way on defense with 11 kills and had two aces. McKenna Crews had six digs and an ace.