Plainswomen Volleyball Headed To National Tournament
Nov 13, 2018, Sterling, Colo.— What goes around really does eventually come around.
The Northeastern Junior College (NJC) Plainswomen volleyball program has endured 14 consecutive years of frustration in the championship match of the Region IX South Tournament at the hands of the Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) Lady Cougars.
All of those years of tears and frustration were washed away and replaced with tears of joy Friday, Nov. 2 as the Plainswomen defeated WNCC in four games in Cheyenne, Wyo., 14-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-21 to capture the Region IX Tournament title.
NJC, 26-5, enjoys its first regional tourney title since 2002 and its sixth overall. In 2002 the Plainswomen won the Region IX West title, while advancing to the NJCAA Tournament in West Plains, Mo. where NJC posted a 1-2 mark.
The Plainswomen will advance to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament Nov. 15-17 in Hutchinson, Kan.
There are so many story lines to this accomplishment by the Plainswomen, starting with their coach, Jessica Squier, who took over as head mentor in 2012 after wearing the NJC uniform during the 2006-07 seasons.
Squier has endured eight of those 14 losses to Western Nebraska (six as a coach and two as a player) in the championship matches of the Region IX South Tournament since it began in 2004.
The victory was magical and satisfying for her, and she was happy that her players, who have overcome so many obstacles during the 2018 campaign, will have the opportunity to compete in the National Tournament.
"As soon as we won I just squatted down for a few moments and had my moment," she recalled. "From that point on I started focusing on the next goal which is winning the National Tournament."
Squier said it wasn't and extra incentive to beat Western Nebraska: She just wanted her team to win the title.
"What really kind of changed my mindset was that it didn't matter who we were playing, if I could prepare my team and coach to the best of my ability and win the Region IX Tournament was all that mattered," she admitted.
"Having that mindset really helped us. I was also thrilled that all of our efforts as a coaching staff, all of the reflecting and the planning, showed and paid off. When you see those things transition into wins, that makes you excited knowing that the girls have bought into play what we have been saying and trusting us. That part to me is most special."
NJC just didn't win the Region IX Tournament title, they actually won the entire Region IX Tourney title. For the first time since 1998, 12 teams from the Region IX North and South combined to compete in the tourney with two teams emerging to advance to Nationals.
That 1998 tournament was held at NJC – the first year of existence for the Bank of Colorado Event Center. NJC did not make it out of that tournament, and the following season the tourney was divided into the Region IX East and West.
NJC won the Region IX West title in 2002 and in 2004 marked the beginning of the Region IX North and South Tournaments with the winner from each advancing to Nationals.
WNCC denied the Plainswomen that opportunity 14 straight times before NJC put an end to all of that Friday.
In addition, this will be the first time since 1998 that WNCC has not qualified for the National Tournament. After losing to NJC Friday, the Lady Cougars still had a shot, fighting through the consolation bracket before losing to Laramie County, Wyo., Community College (LCCC).
Laramie County was the number one seed out of Region IX North and the Lady Lancers also fell to defeat to NJC Thursday. But they will join NJC at the National Tournament next week.
The Plainswomen opened the tournament on Halloween (Wed., Oct. 31) and put fear in their first opponent, Western Wyoming Community College, by winning in four games, 25-21, 25-18, 15-25, 25-17.
The Plainswomen displayed their potent offensive attack as sophomore First Team All-American Sara Antic along with sophomore Kacey Jaeger each had 14 kills; freshman Julia Gutierrez Mas 12; sophomore Ashlyn Martinez 9; freshman Taylor Burns 7 and sophomore Second Team All-American Sofia Pajevic 4.
Pajevic set up 43 assists. Freshman Kinley Coe led in digs with 17; Pajevic 14; Antic 11; Gutierrez Mas 10 and Jaeger 8.
Martinez had 4 blocks and Antic 3. Gutierrez Mas served 4 aces and Antic 3.
On Thurs., Nov. 1 the Plainswomen faced LCCC and things looked really spooky in the beginning with NJC dropping the first two sets, 25-27, 15-25.
To make the situation look even more dire, NJC trailed 13-18 in the third set and was on the verge of being swept into the consolation bracket.
But the Plainswomen refused to lose and rallied to win the third set 26-24. Momentum stayed with NJC as the Plainswomen won the fourth set 25-20 and shocked the Lady Lancers with a 15-11 victory in the fifth set to move into the championship match for the 15th straight year against WNCC.
"I told the girls during a timeout to focus on themselves and what their roles are and let me worry about the other team," Squier said. "Another thing was that the will to win by our girls became very strong and they realized they had to be in control of themselves and that's what turned us around."
Again NJC's attack was potent with Gutierrez Mas smashing 15 kills; Jaeger 14; Antic 12; Martinez 5 and Burns 4. Pajevic had 45 assists.
Gutierrez Mas had 13 digs; freshman MacKenzie Wells 11; Antic 9; Jaeger 8 and Pajevic 7. Burns was tough at the net with 6 blocks, Jaeger 5 and Martinez 4. Antic served 5 aces, Gutierrez Mas 4 and Pajevic 3.
Even had the Plainswomen lost that match, they still would have had a shot at the number two qualifying spot for the Nationals. But that wasn't on the Plainswomen's agenda as they not only defeated WNCC to claim the title, but it was their turn to help eventually deny the Lady Cougars their 20th straight trip the Nationals.
NJC had lost the two regular season meeting to Western Nebraska, having to settle for runner-up in Region IX South after winning the title last season.
But when it counted most, the Plainswomen won the biggest match of the season between the two teams to emerge as Region IX Tournament champions.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Gutierrez Mas stepped up big with 13 kills; Jaeger 11; Antic 8; Burns 5 and Martinez 4 with Pajevic recording 36 assists.
Jaeger led in digs with 11; Antic 10; Gutierrez Mas 8 and Pajevic and Wells 7 each. Gutierrez Mas had 6 blocks and Martinez 5.
Jaeger smashed 5 aces, Antic and Gutierrez Mas 3 each and Pajevic 2.
After battling injuries to key players throughout most of the season, the Plainswomen entered the tournament with a full slate of players and performed to the level her coach expected.
"We played at the level that I always believed that we could," Squier said. "Things are not always going to go the way you expect because other teams will expose your weaknesses.
"But we also have strengths and we controlled those strengths and I think that's what won us our three matches."
The Plainswomen have some much-needed time off before making the journey to Hutchinson, Tuesday, for the National Tournament. It's a time to nurse some nagging injuries as well as focusing on the next task ahead, which is coming away with the NJCAA National title.
"You feel like you have all of this time, but you really don't," Squier said. "I really appreciate that we have several days off to get ready for the tournament.
"We will continue to work on our strengths and make them better, which are serving, serve receive and especially ball control which we were able to do well in the Region IX Tournament.
"We really don't have enough time to work on anything new, so we will keep the girls focused on their goals and concentrate on our strengths and what we can control. I think if we do those things we will be very competitive. Our goal every year is to win the National Tournament and that's what we will be focused on."
Squier stressed that her team is going to Hutchinson with the absolute goal of winning the National title.
"Winning the National championship is always my goal every year," she said. "That will never change, not as a player and not as a coach.
"I always have lofty goals, and I really believe this team can do it providing the girls continue to do the little things correctly and trusting each other and the coaching staff. Those things go a long way."
Squier also announced that Pajevic, Antic, Jaeger and Gutierrez Mas were selected to the All-Region IX South Team for the 2018 season.
Antic, Pajevic and Jaeger were also All-Region IX South selections last year as freshmen. Pajevic was also selected Player of the Year and Setter of the Year in Region IX South for the 2018 campaign.
Selected to the Region IX All-Tournament Team were Pajevic, Antic, Jaeger and Gutierrez Mas.
The Plainswomen are the 13th-seeded squad in the 16-team National Tournament and will take on fourth-seeded Navarro, Texas Community College at 3 p.m. CST Thurs., Nov. 15.
If the Plainswomen win that contest they will move into the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. CST on Thursday. The semi-finals are slated for Fri., Nov. 16 at 6:30 p.m. CST with the championship match at 5:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m. CST.
The top-seeded team in the tournament is Miami Dade, Fla. Laramie County enters the tournament as the 15th-seed.
There are two other teams in the tournament that NJC faced in the Nationals in 2002. College of Southern Idaho is the second seed and NJC lost to that team in the opening round in four sets. Also in the tournament is 14th-seeded Wallace State, Ala. Community College.
The Plainswomen defeated Wallace State in straights sets in the 2002 Nationals.
NJC heads into the National Tournament with six players in triple digits in kills, led by Jaeger with 366; Antic 286; Gutierrez Mas 216; Martinez 161; Burns 147 and Pajevic 126.
NJC has a total of 1,488 kills as a team and averages 13.17 kills-per-set with a .219 hitting percentage.
Pajevic has 1,123 assists this season, averaging 10.3 assists-per-set. She has only 39 setting errors all season long.
Gutierrez Mas leads in digs with 340; Pajevic 274; Wells 266; Antic 253; Jaeger 251; Coe 169 and freshman Cierra Williams 169.
Gutierrez Mas has served up 57 aces; Pajevic 45; Antic 36 and Jaeger 36.
NJC has been to the NJCAA National Tournament five previous times – 1978, 1981, 1982, 1993 and 2002. Sheila Worley, an NJCAA Hall Of Fame Coach, took the Plainswomen to Nationals the first three seasons.
Sue Pollart guided NJC to the 1993 National Tournament where the Plainswomen placed sixth. Marci Henry, currently Athletic Director at NJC and also an NJCAA Hall Of Fame Coach, mentored the Plainswomen to the 2002 National Tournament.