WC finishes 8th in the nation

         The Weatherford College volleyball team closed out their first NJCAA national tournament with a 3-1 loss to the College of Southern Idaho Saturday in Hutchinson, Kansas.

         WC finished the tournament in eighth place. Middle blocker Selanny Puente was named to the All-Tournament Team after having 40 kills in 13 sets.

         Weatherford completed their season with a 33-6 overall record with their second straight conference title and first Region V championship.

         "I'm super proud of this team," said Kailee May, WC head coach. "It stinks to lose, but they accomplished something really great, really impressive."

         Saturday's match started with a highly-contested first set that featured three lead changes and six ties. Ukrainian Annie Nikolnikova had eight kills in the first set alone for Southern Idaho and went on to finish with 17 for the match. The Golden Eagles (27-10) won the set 25-21.

         WC jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the second set and never trailed. The Coyotes won 25-21 despite a late push by the Golden Eagles.

         Southern Idaho never trailed in set three, winning 25-19. The fourth set saw two lead changes and three ties, with the Golden Eagles prevailing, 25-17. 

         For the match, Puente turned in 13 kills on an impressive .545 hitting percentage. Brooke McHale had 13 kills and 14 digs.

Abby Folsom ended with 24 assists and Abby Benitez had 13 digs. Lorena Gomez turned in 19 assists and 14 digs.

         No. 1 seed Florida Southwestern State College won the national title, their second in a row. The Buccaneers defeated Miami Dade College 3-1 in the championship match. Navarro College finished third.