WC sweeps Casper in first round of nationals

The Weatherford College volleyball team has not faced much adversity this season, but the Coyotes found themselves down 7-1 to Casper College in the first set of the national tournament Wednesday afternoon. 

But the better team, and its more experienced players, prevailed as WC stormed back to win the set and sweep the Thunderbirds at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The No. 2-seeded Coyotes (33-2) will move on to face No. 7 Salt Lake Community College (26-4) on Thursday at 4 p.m. CST.

When Casper (27-9) jumped out to that early lead, a Gabriella Maldonado block seemed to turn things around, as WC won the next eight consecutive points to take the lead, 9-7. They didn't trail again in the set, winning 25-20.

"We started off with classic jitters, and it took us a minute to settle and get in a groove," said Kailee May, WC head coach. "But we came back with confidence. They knew the things to correct and came back in the second two sets and just ran away with it."

Weatherford won the second set 25-13, only trailing once at 3-2. WC distanced itself from Casper as the set wore on, winning 25-13. 

The Coyotes never trailed in the third and deciding set, winning 25-10.

Having played in the same event in Clarksville last year, WC's veteran players seemed to lead the way.

"The sophomores know what they're doing here," May said. "They're super confident in their abilities, and I hope that sets the precedent for tomorrow. There's nothing to be nervous about…we're not the underdogs and we should be confident in what we've done all season long."

Victoria Sanchez was one of those leaders, registering 21 assists and nine digs for Weatherford. Weronika Urbanska added nine kills, six service aces and seven digs. Ally McCabe had 10 assists.

Glorybell Puente tallied 10 kills, and Beline Thibaut had 10 digs.

WC got the job done at the net, with nine total team blocks compared to one for Casper. 

The Coyotes had double-digit kills in all three sets (13, 15, 11), while Casper had nine, five, and seven, respectively. 

Thursday's match will be livestreamed on the NJCAA Network.