SCOTTSBLUFF, NE – The #20 Laramie County Community College volleyball team opened day two of the Wyobraska Invitational with a sweep of Iowa Western Community College (25-9, 25-11, 25-21) in the 9:00 am match before making history with their first win against Western Nebraska at the Cougar Palace since the program was brought back with a four-set win over the Cougars (25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21).
The win over Western Nebraska was the first for the Golden Eagles since 2018 when they defeated the Cougars in the Region IX Championship Game on November 3rd. It also marks the first time since the return of the program in 2002 that the Golden Eagles took a match from WNCC in Scottsbluff.
IWCC 0 LCCC 3 – 25-9, 25-11, 25-21
The Golden Eagles seemed to enjoy the early morning start in set one, pulling ahead 8-3 in the opening salvos as Iowa Western struggled to stay in system against the LCCC attack. The lead swelled to ten at 15-5 and would remain in that range through the set with LCCC taking it 25-9.
"I actually talked to them in the locker room and told them how proud I was of how we've played well and warmed up well for morning matches even after playing the night before," Head Coach Zach Shaver said. "I give a lot of that credit to our captains setting the tone and the standard that it doesn't matter what time we are going to play; we expect to play well."
The road map for set two seemed to be the same for LCCC, bursting out to a 9-2 advantage and forcing a Reiver timeout as they threatened to put a strangle hold on the match early. After a brief charge from IWCC cut the lead to 12-6, the Golden Eagles responded with a 4-0 run to go up 16-6 and remained in front by double figures all the way to a two-set lead, closing the second 25-11.
The Golden Eagles began to use their bench more in the final set and it proved more competitive as Iowa Western traded points most of the way through as LCCC was only up 13-12 midway through.
LCCC finally got their break in the match at 20-18 forcing a timeout by the Reivers but the chat wasn't enough to slow the final push and the Golden Eagles secured the win by reeling off a 5-3 run to close the set 25-20 and take the match in a sweep.
The Golden Eagles were paced by Demi Stauffenberg who finished with 13 kills and Addyson McArthur who added 10. As a team, LCCC hit .295 in the match with only 11 hitting errors.
Kate Ohlsen added another 27 assists to her season numbers and had 12 digs, which was tied for most on the team with libero Sadie Christiansen. At the net, it was Lauren Fagerberg taking the lead with four blocks.
WNCC 1 LCCC 3 – 25-21, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21
It was a battle that lived up to the billing as the Golden Eagles were able to prevail in a tense atmosphere against Western Nebraska. Set one was a wire-to-wire win for LCCC, jumping in front 11-7 and holding a two-to-four-point lead for the rest of the way to go up 1-0 with a 25-21 set win.
The second set was much more tense with ties and lead changes abounding, including draws at 10, 13, and 22 all. LCCC was able to break free late and won the final two points including an Elysiana Fonseca block to finish the set 25-23 and put the Golden Eagles up 2-0.
Western Nebraska answered back in the third, jumping out to an 8-2 lead through the first ten serves as a few miscues early put the Golden Eagles on their heels. Shaver made a few changes to the lineup and the Golden Eagles fought back to even the match at 19 all and eventually take a lead at 21-20, but WNCC traded points to a tie at 23 all and gave LCCC a taste of their own medicine to force a fourth set by taking the final two points and the set 25-23.
Coach Shaver said it was his bench which nearly led the team back in the third after the early hole.
"I think it was an opportunity for people to show what they could do, and they delivered well. We made some lineup changes, and all those players gave us a chance and we almost got the three-game sweep."
The story didn't change in the fourth. With both sides battling for momentum, the match was even at eight all when the charge was led by Ohlen to put them up by four 12-8 on a small run. That proved to be the difference as Stauffenberg helped close out the match with eight kills in the final set to give the Golden Eagles their first win at the Cougar Palace since volleyball returned to LCCC in 2002.
"(Western Nebraska) had several really good players but I think we had a stronger team together, our six versus their six," Shaver said. "Our mental toughness that we've been working on and developed with all of these hard matches that we've played showed at the end of set four when we didn't make any mistakes even though Western Nebraska was still playing well. We played a little bit better than they did."
The win was also only the third for the Golden Eagles in that time, with the last victory dating back to November 3, 2018, when they defeated the Cougars in the Region IX Championship match.
Stuaffenberg was a beast throughout with 21 kills on 61 attempts to hit .213 in the match.
"She's very consistent," Shaver said of the reigning conference Freshman of the Year. "The team trusts her. She's a smart player and that's the key to her success right now."
McArthur had 11 kills and seven Golden Eagles tallied a kill in the match. Ohlsen had 27 assists to lead the offense and the team had 46 assists on 51 kills through the four-set match.
Christiansen was a rock on defense with 24 digs and Stauffenberg finished with 15 digs for a double-double. Fagerberg was the top middle at the net for LCCC in scoring with four blocks and McArthur added three more to her season total.
The win moves the Golden Eagles to 15-3 on the year and their winning streak to three straight. They will be back in action on Saturday afternoon against Missouri State – West Plains at 1:00 pm from the Cougar Palace.
"We are going to do some scouting tonight, a little study hall to keep in our routine," Shaver said as the team has 24 hours between matches. "Enjoy that we have a little rest time and get a good dinner, but staying in a routine is important."
Information on the match can be found at www.golccc.com or on the LCCC Golden Eagles social media accounts.