MCC Volleyball sweeps Southeast to go 5-0 in Nebraska Conference play

The McCook Community College volleyball team topped Southeast Community College Tuesday at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center. MCC swept the Storm 25-16, 25-20, 27-25.

"I think this one was really good for our mentality and our focus for how we want to move forward, but we still need to work on minimizing our errors," said MCC Coach Hayley Kobza.

MCC improves to 5-0 in the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference. The team has one conference match left, at Central Community College (Columbus) on Oct. 4.

Southeast Community College falls to 0-3 in the NCCAC, and 4-18 overall.

"We gave away a lot of points tonight, so instead we need to force our opponents to make the errors rather than us giving them points," Kobza said.

Sophomore Victoria Thomas (Houston, Texas) led MCC with 13 kills to go along with 17 digs, one assist block and two ace serves. Makayla Brown (sophomore, Colorado Springs) had 11 kills, six digs and one assist block.

McKenna Crews (sophomore, Loveland, Colo.) led MCC with 24 digs and had three aces.

"I thought our sophomores did really well today taking care of the court whether they are on or off and they really led our team," Kobza said.

Freshmen Fernanda Merancio (Lamar, Colo.) and Gabby Caskey (Ogallala) were both credited with five kills and seven digs. Merancio had an ace serve and Caskey added two assist blocks.

Freshman setter Jessie Jerome (Rawlins, Wyo.) led MCC's passing attack with 36 assists to go along with eight digs, four kills, one assist block and three aces. Greta Bolognini (freshman, Bergamo Italy) was credited with 11 digs and one ace.

Redshirt freshman Anna Williams, (Cheyenne, Wyo.) had two kills and three digs and freshman Glorya Carr (Hugo, Colo.) had one kill.

MCC goes to 13-8 overall and the team will host Trinidad State (5-14, 1-2) Thursday at 7 p.m. in the first of back-to-back Region IX south sub-region opponents.

"We have a really big week and not just with regional play but also with some of the community things we're involved activities we've decided to take on," Kobza said.

On Friday MCC will host Otero Junior College (6-14, 3-0) at 6 p.m. on Stella Night. The volleyball team is asking fans to wear purple in support of Stella McConnell who is battling cancer. The team will take an extended "team" photo with Stella before the match on the west side of the Events Center bleachers. Area businesses are offering unicorn-themed popcorn and doughnuts with the proceeds going to the McConnell family.

"At the end of the day we need to remember there are way bigger battles to be fighting and we should be privileged to get the opportunity play," Kobza said. "And we need to make sure we're feeding our energy toward the things we're doing this week."

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

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Here is a look at the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference standings and schedule:

NCCAC STANDINGS

                          W – L PCT.

McCook CC        5 - 0   1.000

Central CC          2 - 1     .667

North Platte CC   0 - 3     .000

Southeast CC      0 - 3     .000

NCCAC RESULTS:

Sept. 7 – McCook CC 3, North Platte CC 0 (at North Platte)

Sept 10 – McCook CC 3, Southeast CC 0 (at Beatrice)

Sept. 14 – McCook CC 3, Central CC 2 (at McCook)

Sept. 15 – Central CC 3, North Platte CC 1 (at North Platte)

Sept. 20 – McCook CC 3, North Platte CC 2 (at McCook)

Sept. 21 – Central CC 3, Southeast CC 0 (at Columbus)

Sept. 27 – McCook CC 3, Southeast CC 0 (at McCook)

UPCOMING NCCAC SCHEDULE

Sept. 28 – Southeast CC at North Platte, 6 p.m.

Oct. 4 – McCook CC at Central CC, 6 p.m.

Oct. 6 – North Platte CC at Southeast CC, 6 p.m.

Oct. 12 – Central CC at Southeast CC, 6 p.m.

Oct. 19 – North Platte CC at Central CC, 6 p.m.