11/27/14 • By Kyle Cummings / kcummings@columbustelegram.com

It's not hard to notice that the Central Community College volleyball team has had quite a bit of success lately.

Most recently, the Raiders are coming off a fifth place finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association, Division II national tournament.

Raider coach Mary Young has one secret to the success -- recruit hardworking players.

Wednesday, the Raider volleyball team added two more in Amber Mazankowski and Sydney Yong.

"We've built our program and really the culture of winning around great kids," Young said.

Mazankowski, who lives in Columbus, but attends Nebraska Christian High School, has plenty of ties to the Raider program.

Mazankowski was born in Arcadia, which is also Young's hometown. Plus, for the first two years of her life, Mazankowski lived right across the street from Shayla Trotter -- a sophomore defensive specialist last season for Central.

Though Mazankowski moved from Arcadia when she was 2 years old, that didn't keep her from getting to know Trotter quite well.

Admittedly, it was hard to ignore those ties, Mazankowski said.

"Playing with a family friend with Mary being my coach, I thought would be amazing," she said. "I know she has a really good program and talking with Shayla and asking her questions, like, 'How do you like the program?' and her saying, 'It's wonderful. You should go there.' That really helped, too."

So when Young offered Mazankowski a scholarship, it was a no-brainer, she said.

"It's very relieving, that's for sure," Mazankowski said. "I've been wanting to play volleyball and now that our season is over with and Mary offered me a scholarship, I took it."

Though Mazankowski played middle hitter for her high school in Nebraska Christian, Young said she has the ability to play any type of hitting position.

Yong, like Mazankowski, also has a strong connection to the Raider volleyball program in older sister Cassidy.

Cassidy Yong transferred to Central as a setter in her second year of eligibility, helping run the Raider offense to a fifth-place finish at nationals.

Because of that, Sydney became quite familiar with Central Community College volleyball and Young.

Yong even got to catch a few matches, including the Division II, District G Championship match, in which Central downed North Dakota State College of Science in a five-set thriller to secure a place in the national tournament.

Sydney Yong was in the stands watching, realizing how far Central could take her.

"I saw a lot of competition and I think the Raiders are really competitive," Yong said. "They know what they're doing. Hopefully this year we're exactly the same and we make it to nationals again."

The day couldn't have been any better for Young...until she received a text from Yong.

"On the way home she sent me a text that said, 'I want to be a Raider,'" Young said. "We qualified for nationals, so that was awesome, but that was the frosting on the cake when I got that text."

Yong comes in as a libero from Millard West, a team that has made the state tournament four straight years, including a second place finish in 2013.

During Yong's final season with Millard West, she was the top passer in Nebraska -- something the Raiders certainly have a need for.

"We lose all of our defense and passing line, so it's really important to us to replace that area," Young said.

Mazankowski and Yong are the first two Central Community College volleyball commits for next season.