MCC Volleyball downs Northeast in four sets

NORTH PLATTE – The McCook Community College volleyball team picked up a 3-1 win Saturday over Northeast Community College in a triangular at North Platte.

The Lady Indians won 25-21, 24-26, 25-20 and 25-12 with three players posting double-doubles.

"We needed this win to get the wind back in our sails," said MCC Coach Hayley Kobza, whose team lost a pair of Region IX South games at home earlier in the week.

The Norfolk team entered Saturday as the No. 20 team in the NJCAA Division 2 rankings but lost its first match of the day in five sets to North Platte. The Hawks go to 14-9 on the season.

"We had a lot of players play great today and their stats show that, but overall they played good together," said Kobza.

Fernanda Merancio (sophomore, Lamar, Colo.) led the attack with 15 kills, one assist block and had six digs. Freshman Romina Martinez (Cochabamba, Bolivia) posted a double-double with 11 kills, 10 digs and three assist blocks. Rowan Tribelhorn (freshman, Yuma, Colo.) had eight assist blocks and four kills.

Sophomore Gabby Caskey (Ogallala) had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 assist blocks with one ace. Freshman April Conilogue (Longmont, Colo.) added eight assist blocks and four kills.

Greta Bolognini (sophomore, Bergamo, Italy) led MCC defensively with 16 digs, adding two ace serves and an assist. Freshman Caylin Barnett (McCook) had 13 digs and one ace.

Sophomore Jessie Jerome (Rawlins, Wyo.) had 17 assists, six kills and four assist blocks. Freshman Kayten Hagan (Kearney) also had 17 assists and made it a double-double day adding 13 digs.

MCC improves to 13-9 on the season. On Tuesday the Lady Indians are home to host a 6 p.m. match with North Platte, 6-12.

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