MCC volleyball downs No. 16 Cloud County

MCC downs No. 16 Cloud County to close out regular season

CONCORDIA, Kan. For the second time in three days, the McCook Community College volleyball team got down 2-1 on the road but came back to knock off a nationally ranked opponent. On Saturday MCC downed Cloud County Community College -- ranked 16^th in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association Division II polls.

The Lady Indians dropped the first set 19-25, evened the match taking the second set 25-19, lost the third set 22-25, the closed out 25-22 in the fourth and 15-10 in the final set. On Thursday MCC came back from a 2-1 deficit in Scottsbluff to knock of Western Nebraska, ranked No. 17 in Division I.

The win wraps up the regular season with a 23-10 mark heading into the Region IX tournament. It's the third year in a row MCC has topped the 20-win total, and the most in Coach Hayley Kobza's four years at MCC.

Cloud County ends their regular season at 23-8.

"This was a tough team. They were athletic and scrappy," said Kobza. "Just when we thought our blocking had improved, they were hitting over it and that made it tough on our back row defense."

MCC's pair of sophomore co-captains had big games on defense. Kiera Barr (Granby, Colo.) had 33 digs and Mallory Brown (Colorado Springs), had 15 digs to go along with 11 kills.

Freshman Fernanda Canedo, (Cochabamba, Boliva) led MCC with 20 kills, added 16 digs and two assist blocks. Freshman Jayceea Hanson (McCook) had 14 kills and three assist blocks, freshman Emily Barr (Hershey) had five kills, three assist blocks and a solo block, and sophomore Bailey Honn (McCook) had four kills and two assist blocks.

"We had a lot of the girls step up and play very well and the stats reflect on that, but in all honesty it took all 14 of them for this win," Kobza said.

Freshmen Heiata Tauota, (Nantes, France) had 41 set assists and eight digs. Freshman Madison Mendoza, (Ogallala), had six digs.

MCC is 4-1 in five-set matches this season. After losing to Cowley County 3-2 on Sept. 18, the Lady Indians have won the last four in a row and three straight on the road.

The Region IX Tournament starts Wednesday at Sterling, Colo. Pairings and match times will be announced following the conclusion of Saturday's games. The tournament will match up south division teams against north division teams in a double-elimination format.

For the latest on MCC volleyball and all MCC sports including, schedules, rosters, photographs, and other news, please check out the official home of MCC Athletics at: https://mccindians.com/index.aspx?path=wvball