STERLING, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball dropped a pair of matches on Saturday of the Sheila Worley Invitational in Sterling, Colorado, on Saturday.

                WNCC opened play on Saturday falling to 10^th-ranked New Mexico Military Institute 25-17, 25-15, 25-17, before falling to Dodge City Community College in straight sets 25-15, 25-19, 25-19.

                WNCC, 6-8 on the season, will be back in action this weekend with five matches as they get set to host the Wyo-Braska Classic. WNCC opens the home classic on Thursday night when they face Missouri State West Plains at 6 p.m.

                The New Mexico Military contest saw the Cougars hit just .012 for the match with no Cougar managing more than six kills. The Cougars also had 23 hitting errors in the defeat. Kyana Gabriel led the way with six kills along with six digs.

                Dani Cruz and Lilly Zwart each had five kills in the loss.

                Taylor Tyser finished with 14 digs in the contest while Shanelle Martinez had 15 set assists with three block assists.

                Also for WNCC, Finja Schul and Charli Blackman each had three kills and three digs. Schul also had two solo blocks and three assist blocks.

                The Dodge City match was competitive as the Cougars had opportunities to win the sets, but strong service runs by Dodge City late in the game gave DCCC the win.

                After the dropping the first set 25-15, WNCC opened the second set up 3-0 and had had the match tied at 12-12 before Dodge City ran off seven straight points for a 19-12 lead. WNCC came back to cut the lead to 21-18 on two Cruz points, but Dodge City claimed the 25-19 win.

                The third set saw WNCC up 8-6 before the Dodge City service took affect as DCCC went up 10-8 on five straight points and then led 17-11 after another four points.

                WNCC battled back in cutting the lead to 18-15 on two Blackman points and trailed 20-18 on two Taylor Tyser points. WNCC was withing 21-19 when Dodge City closed out the match with four straight points.

                WNCC was led by Zwart with 12 kills along with six digs, three block assists, and three points. Blackman finished with five kills and two points, while Cruz, Gabriel, and Chloe Grady all had two kills. Martinez had a double-double with 25 set assists and 12 digs, while Tyser had 10 digs. Cruz added four points with 13 digs.

                Schul had four solo blocks and two assisted blocks, while Megan Bewley had eight digs.