MCC Volleyball wins twice in Saturday play

NORFOLK – The McCook Community College volleyball team picked up a pair of wins Saturday on the second day of the Norfolk Marriott Invitational.

After opening the tournament with two losses Friday, MCC swept Western Iowa Technical College and the Mount Marty JV team Saturday to climb back to .500 on the season at 4-4.

"It was a new day, a new mindset and we got two wins out of that," said MCC Coach Hayley Kobza. "It's not that we don't have the talent, it's more about the process of doing all the things it takes to win."

MCC returns to the Peter and Dolores Graff Friday to host 14 teams in the Labor Day weekend tournament. MCC opens play Friday against Frank Phillips College at 3 p.m. and a 7 p.m. match against Dodge City.

"We have another big weekend ahead of us, and we just need to continue to want to get better," Kobza said.

On Saturday MCC plays Fort Scott Community College at 2 p.m. and Garden City Community College at 6 p.m.  

Up-to-date information about MCC volleyball including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com.

McCook CC 3, Western Iowa Technical College 0: MCC recorded a straight-set win over a program in its first year winning 25-12, 25-20 and 25-12. 

Fernanda Merancio (sophomore, Lamar, Colo.) led MCC with 12 kills and added an assist block. Freshman Romina Martinez Castro (Cochabamba, Bolivia) had 10 kills, nine digs and one assist block.

Sophomore Gabby Caskey (Ogallala) recorded seven kills, two assist blocks and three aces. Sophomore Gracen Tuttle (Ogallala) had four kills, two assist blocks and a solo block. Freshman Rowan Tribelhorn (Yuma, Colo.) had two kills and an assist block while Jordan Jerome (sophomore Rawlins, Wyo.) had a pair of kills.

Greta Bolognini (sophomore Bergamo, Italy) led the team with 18 digs and an ace. Sophomore Emerie Rios (Sterling, Colo.) added five digs and Caylin Barnett (freshman, Southwest) had four digs and two aces.

Kayten Hagan (Kearney) led MCC with 31 assists in the match to go along with eight digs and an assist block.

McCook CC 3, Mount Marty JV 0: MCC closed out the weekend winning 25-20, 25-12 and 25-8.

Castro led the attack with 15 kills and added 11 digs. Merancio added eight kills and two assist blocks. Sophomore Jordan Duzenack (Loveland, Colo.) had a kill and three digs.

Caskey picked up eight kills in the middle with a pair of assist blocks, one solo block and an ace. Tuttle had four assist blocks, a solo block and two kills. Jerome added a pair of kills and three assist blocks.

Bolognini picked up 15 digs and a pair of aces in the match. Barnett recorded 10 digs and an ace while Rios had six digs.

Hagan distributed 31 assists, had four digs and two aces.