Casper, Wyo. – The Monroe College Women's Volleyball team saw their hopes for a national title come to an end at the NJCAA national tournament after a pair of tough losses against Western Nebraska Community College (25-23, 25-18, and 27-25) and Seward County College (25-20 (S), 25-23 (M), 26-24 (S) and 25-17 (S)).
The Mustangs faced the Western Nebraska Community College Cougars in the opening round of the NJCAA National Championship. The opening set was back and forth early on, with the score eventually even at 5-5. From there, Monroe used a 7-3 run to take a 12-8 lead. The points came off of kills from
Marissa Hackett,
Cristen Coryatt,
Kathrin Pasel, and
Karen Souza, and a serve from
Anyela Aquino that led to a Western Nebraska error. From there, the score was tied six more times in the set, including at 23-23. The Cougars scored the final two points to take the set, 25-23.
Monroe jumped out to a 4-1 lead in set two, getting a kill from Pasel and some strong serves from
Carla Soufront. Western Nebraska came back to tie the score later in the set, and pulled away for a 25-18 win.
The final set was more evenly contested, as the Mustangs once again jumped out to the lead (5-1) on strong serving from Hackett and kills from Pasel and Souza. The Cougars got back to 5-4, and from there, neither side could build a substantial lead. Monroe eventually took a three-point lead at 19-16, when Soufront set up Pasel for a kill. The Cougars went on to take the set, 27-25. Pasel had led the team with 11 kills, while Coryatt added 10, and Soufront dished out 30 assists.
Neysha Gonzalez had seven digs.
The consolation ladder match against the Seward County College Saints saw the Mustangs fall in three sets by scores of 20-25, 25-23, 26-24 and 25-17. Coryatt posted a double-double with a match-best 24 kills and 11 digs.
Kathrin Pasel added 17 kills, while
Carla Soufront chipped in with 41 assists and seven digs.
Set one went to the Saints, 25-20. Monroe took a 5-0 lead in the set before Seward County came back. Up 7-6 later in the set, the Mustangs used a 5-0 run to take another lead, this on 12-6. Seward County fought back and closed out the set by scoring five of the last six points.
The second set went to Monroe, 25-23. Neither side could gain a foothold as both teams battled back and forth. With the score even at 23-23, the Mustangs got a kill from Coryatt and a block from
Rachel Johnson to tally the final two points. Seward County took the final two sets to put the match away in four.
The Monroe College volleyball team returned to nationals for the first time since the 2013 campaign. For 2016, the squad posted an overall record of 21-13 and nabbed its regional championship title for the fifth consecutive year.
