Indians sweep Northeast to start volleyball season

The McCook Community College volleyball team opened the season Friday at home with a straight set sweep over Northeast Community College. MCC won 25-13, 25-20, and 26-24.

“I thought this was a good first match for our players with a really, young team so they need to get some games and some wins under their belt before they can play to their full potential,” said MCC Coach Hayley Kobza.

Sophomore Victoria Thomas (Houston, Texas) led MCC with 14 kills and one block.

“Victoria Thomas had a really good game,” Kobza said.

A pair of freshmen added nicely to the attack Friday with Fernanda Merancio (Lamar, Colo.) coming up with 11 kills and Gabby Caskey (Ogallala) tallied nine kills and three blocks.

From the middle, Jisell Chumacero (sophomore, Eaton, Colo.) had two kills and one block while Gracen Tuttle (freshman, Ogallala) had four kills and four blocks.

Freshman Alexis Pontine (Ignacio, Colo.) led the passing attack with 30 assists and freshman Greta Bolognini (Bergamo Italy/ Parkview Christian, Lincoln, Neb.) led the serve with two aces.

“I thought our freshman setter Alexis Pontine came out and led the court really well, she’s still young and has a few things to learn but the more matches she plays in, the better she’ll get,” Kobza said.

The opening match gave the coaches a prolonged look at some of the new players.

“This was one of those games that we have another lineup we can use, and we didn’t use it today just because we wanted to save some stuff for tomorrow to work on,” Kobza said, “But overall, it’s a good group and they’re playing really, well together and playing for each other.”

MCC will continue the home tournament Saturday with a 10 a.m. match against Laramie County Community College followed with a 2 p.m. match with Dodge City.

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