MCC Volleyball wins 20th of season; sweep Otero

LA JUNTA, Colo. – The McCook Community College volleyball team picked up their 20^th win of the season Friday in a sweep over Otero Junior College. MCC won 25-22, 25-23 and 25-17.

"These ladies stayed on top and played clean tonight," said MCC Coach Hayley Kobza.

Friday's win also moved MCC into a tie with Northeastern Junior College for second place in the south sub-region of Region IX with a 6-3 record in the standings. NJC lost Friday 0-3 to Western Nebraska which clinches the top seed in the south. MCC and NJC also clinch spots in the Region IX tournament. This year only the top four teams in each sub-division advance to the post-season tournament.

"The ladies were legitimate tonight," said Kobza.

The win, coupled with the 3-0 sweep Thursday at Trinidad is the first time MCC has won in back-to-back road games at Trinidad and La Junta in five tries since Kobza took over at coach in 2016.  

Freshman Fernanda Merancio (Lamar, Colo.) paced MCC on the attack Friday with 12 kills along with two digs. Victoria Thomas (sophomore, Houston, Texas) had seven kills, six digs and three assist blocks. Gabby Caskey (freshman, Ogallala) was credited with six kills, five digs, three aces and one assist block.

Jordan Duzenack (freshman, Loveland, Colo.) had three kills and three digs. Sophomore Jisell Chumacero (Eaton, Colo.) had two kills, three assist blocks and two digs.

McKenna Crews (sophomore, Loveland, Colo.) had eight digs. Greta Bolognini (freshman, Bergamo Italy) came up with six digs and two aces.

Jessie Jerome (freshman, Rawlins, Wyo.) had 29 assists on the night with six kills and seven digs.

Otero falls to 10-23 and 3-4 (fourth place) in the south standings.

MCC will close out the regular season at home with a pair of matches next week.

On Wednesday MCC will host the University of Nebraska JVs at 7 p.m. and on Friday MCC hosts Lamar on sophomore night, which begins at 7 p.m. It is also the final Region IX south game of the year.

The Region IX Division I tournament starts Nov. 2 in Casper, Wyo. with the top four teams in the south division taking on the top four teams in the north division in the first round. Matchups are based on division seeding.

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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REGION IX SOUTH STANDINGS

                                    W-L     PCT.          OVERALL

Western Nebraska      8-0       1.000              27- 3

McCook CC                6-3         .667              20- 9

Northeastern JC         6-3         .667              16-12

Otero JC                    3-4         .429              10-22

Trinidad State JC        2-6         .250                7-20

Lamar CC                  0-6         .000                1-19

Remaining Region IX SCHEDULE

Oct. 24 – Lamar at Otero JC, 7 p.m.

Oct. 27 – Otero JC at Western Nebraska, 7 p.m.

Oct. 28 – Lamar at McCook (Sophomore Night), 7 p.m.

             – Otero JC at Northeastern JC, 7 p.m.

             – Trinidad State at Western Nebraska, 7 p.m.

Oct. 29 – Trinidad State at Northeastern JC, 3 p.m.

Nov. 2-5 – Region IX Tournament at Casper Wyo.