MCC home opener ends in Indian sweep

Ryan Maddera (6) and Hannah Emerson (14) try blocking Marissa Rocha's attack in the third set of Tuesday's match.

Steve Towery/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. -- McCook Community College volleyball head coach Hayley Kobza expected to see a quick turnaround from her team’s season-opening loss at Cloud County Community College.

Five wins later, Kobza is feeling much better.

Fresh off a 4-0 weekend at the Southeast Community College RKP Invitational in Beatrice, the Indians won their 2017 home opener with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-18) sweep of Kansas Wesleyan Tuesday at the Peter & Dolores Graff Events Center.

Jessica Mahan makes a back-row attack during the first set of Tuesday's match.

Steve Towery/McCook Gazette

“I thought my girls played some decent volleyball,” Kobza said of Tuesday’s win. “Every set I tell the girls, ‘let’s go out and play some Indian volleyball.’ It can be hard when a team’s playing a little slower because it may make you not play at your best. I kept telling them, ‘let’s go.’ They did good.”

MCC (5-1 record) came out strong in the opening set. The Indians jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 9-2 before KWU found its footing.

The hosts had five different 4-0 runs in the opening set while KWU only had one similar stretch. Ty Johnson ended the set with a termination to give MCC a 25-13 win.

The Indians kept the momentum going in the second set with another strong start. MCC scored the set’s first five points before gradually building its lead to another 25-13 set victory. KWU struggled to generate any consistency, as the Coyotes’ best run was 3-0 early in the set.

MCC found more resistance in the third set, but still never trailed.

Kobza said the entire team played well Tuesday, especially her libero, Jessica Mahan.

“She (Jessica) was our starter last year and she’s really picked up her game,” Kobza said. “She wants to go on to a four-year (college) and she knows she needs the stats to do that, so she’s going after every ball and trying to make herself a better player. That’s been a big benefit for this team.”

Now 5-1 on the season, Kobza said she was pleased at the response from her team following last week’s loss at Cloud County.

“The girls had an eye-opener,” she said about the loss to Cloud County. “I tell the girls that they’re great and I think I maybe told them that too many times and it got to their heads. After Cloud County, they were like, ‘okay, we gotta start playing better if coach tells us we’re great.’ After that, we really turned it around.”

MCC will travel to Great Bend, Kan., for the Barton Community College Classic. The Indians will open with matches against Barton and Clarendon College, Texas, on Friday, Sept. 1. MCC will face Vernon College, Texas, and Pratt Community College, Kan., on Saturday.

With another tough weekend ahead of them, Kobza said her team will have to keep building off of performances like Tuesday’s.

“We’re not going to have any easy games coming up,” she said. “Vernon’s always tough and Clarendon’s usually nationally ranked. We gotta start practicing better and keep improving if we want to keep winning.”

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