On Tuesday, Sept. 15, 1998, the Northeastern Junior College (NJC) Plainswomen hosted the first-ever volleyball match in the then-brand new Bank of Colorado Event Center.
NJC swept McCook, Neb. Community College to successfully christen the new facility. Nothing has changed as far as NJC’s winning ways as the Plainswomen closed out the 35th annual Pizza Hut Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 15, exactly 20 years later, with a pair of victories.
After sweeping Sheridan, Wyo. College Thursday in the first home match of the season for the Plainswomen (25-19, 25-10, 25-12), the Pizza Hut Invitational opened on a sour note for the Plainswomen on Friday, taking on Laramie, Wyo., County Community College (LCCC), a team that was previously ranked in the top 10 in the nation in the NJCAA pre-season polls.
That match went four sets with NJC losing by scores of 23-25, 18-25, 25-20, 15-25.
But the Plainswomen came back to edge Midland, Texas College in five tight and exciting games, 20-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-23, 16-14 to close out Friday’s action.
The Plainswomen were near perfect on Saturday, the 20th anniversary of the first volleyball match in the Bank of Colorado Event Center, sweeping Northeast, Neb. Community College by scores of 25-22, 25-21, 25-19 and winning in straight sets over Western Wyoming College, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22.
The Plainswomen, ranked 20th in the nation this week, improve to 10-2 overall.
NJC Coach Jessica Squier noticed her team didn’t have a lot of energy in the opening match setback Friday against LCCC, but picked up the tempo in the final three matches.
“I think our girls were just mentally tired from the night before after beating Sheridan,” she said, “so we just have to do a better job working with the girls in practice to be more mentally stronger.”
That mental toughness showed in the finale Saturday against Western Wyoming to close out the tournament with three straight victories.
Sophomore outside hitter Kacey Jaeger got NJC rolling with an early kill in the opening set and the Plainswomen later edged out to a 16-11 cushion on a kill by sophomore All-American Sara Antic.
Western Wyoming rallied to tie the score at 20-20 before NJC went on the attack once again to close out the 25-21 victory on kills by freshman Julia Gutierrez Mas, freshman Taylor Burns and Jaeger.
An ace by Gutierrez Mas and another Jaeger smash gave NJC the early momentum once again in the second set but later the Plainswomen found themselves training by as many as three points.
Western had little time to enjoy that lead as NJC battled back to knot the score at 13-13 on a pair of kills by Burns and a stuff/block by All-American setter, sophomore Sofija Pajevic.
Antic took over with a kill and a stuff to push NJC ahead 15-14. The Plainswomen did not look back from that point as another Antic kill helped close out the second set with a 25-22 victory and a win away from another sweep.
Western controlled the early part of the third set, taking a 12-7 lead before the Plainswomen came storming back once again to tie the score at 15-15 on a pair of kills by Jaeger along with an ace, two kills by Burns and one by Antic.
NJC continued to carry the momentum to the end to take the 25-22 victory and close out their second straight sweep and eighth of the season.
Jaeger, another All-American from last season, led NJC in kills with 12, Burns 9, sophomore Ashlyn Martinez 8 and Gutierrez Mas 7.
Pajevic set up the NJC attack with 47 assists. On defense Gutierrez Mas had 11 digs, Antic and Pajevic 10 each and Jaeger 5.
Gutierrez Mas, Antic and Pajevic each served up an ace.
In the win over Northeast Community College Saturday, Jaeger pounded 11 kills, Martinez 9, Gutierrez Mas 8, Pajevic 5, Burns 4, freshman Kinley Coe 3 and Antic 2.
Pajevic had 40 assists. Gutierrez Mas led in digs with 17, Pajevic 15, freshman MacKenzie Wells 10, Antic 8, Jaeger 7 and Martinez 5.
Jaeger had a pair of aces and one each for Wells and Gutierrez Mas. Burns had two stuffs.
In Friday’s win over Midland College, Jaeger once again led in kills with 18, Antic 15, Burns 9 and Coe, Pajevic and Martinez 6 each. Pajevic had 55 assists.
NJC was once again tough on defense as Wells had 27 digs, Jaeger 25, Coe 21, Pajevic 19 and Antic 13. Coe smashed 6 aces.
In the opening loss to LCCC Friday, Jaeger had 10 kills, Antic 9, Pajevic 5 and freshman Ryan Nelson, Martinez and Gutierrez Mas 4 each. Pajevic had 34 assists.
Wells led in digs with 18, antic 15, Pajevic 9 and Gutierrez Mas and Jaeger 4 each. Wells and Jaeger each served 2 aces and Martinez and Gutierrez Mas each had a stuff/block.
In the home opening sweep Thursday over Sheridan, Antic had 12 kills, Pajevic 45 assists, Gutierrez Mas 19 digs and Pajevic 3 aces.
Through it’s still early in the season, Squier still has identified some improvements her team needs to make.
“We still lack discipline,” she observed. “We still rely too much on our athleticism and if we continue to push our discipline we should be a very good team by the end of October.
“But we did see our girls grow mentally throughout the tournament and though they are tired, we saw improvement through the physical aspect of our conditioning.”
Led by the four outstanding sophomores — Antic, Pajevic, Martinez and Jaeger — NJC has had several freshmen step up in crucial times through the first 12 matches.
“We had 12 freshmen and I have no problem utilizing our bench and our starters,” Squier said. “It’s a whole team effort when we win and everything doesn’t fall on just the starters.”
After hosting North Platte, Neb. Community College Monday, NJC will travel to Hutchinson, Kan. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21-22, to compete in the Blue Dragon Invitational against some very formidable opponents.
On Friday at noon NJC will face Indian Hills Community College, ranked 16th in the nation. At 4 p.m. the Plainswomen will take on Jefferson College.
On Saturday NJC will match up against second-ranked Iowa Western at 8 a.m. and will close out the tournament at 2 p.m. against Hutchinson.
Hutchinson will also be the site of the 2018 NJCAA National Tournament in November.
“This will be another tough tournament and a big test for us,” Squier predicted. “Playing the tough teams will help prepare us for our region matches.”
NJC will open Region IX South action Thursday, Sept 27 at Lamar Community College.
