NMMI Sports Press
The NMMI Bronco women's volleyball team [18-7, 6-0] upended the visiting Clarendon College Bulldogs [8-16, 1-5] in four sets, earning their sixth-straight WJCAC win on Wednesday night at the Cahoon Armory gym, keeping their perfect conference record intact.
NMMI started the match with two dominant set wins, taking the first 25-16, then bettering that score, 25-11, in the second.
"We started off in a really good rhythm in the first and second sets," said head Bronco coach Shelby Forchtner. "Then we gave some kids an opportunity to get in and play. Some of them handled their business, and some of them didn't. We really struggled and were very error prone in that third set, which we were not in the first two – the dynamic on the floor changed and shifted a bit."
In that third set, NMMI was up 13-6, but let the Bulldogs come back for the win, 25-23.
NMMI stormed back, with their starters on the court, taking the final fourth set 25-20.
"Lisi [Langi] has been playing very well in our last few matches and she carried that over into tonight's match," said coach Forchtner. Langi was the kill leader for the Broncos, knocking down 15 shots on 28 attempts.
"Megan [Martinez] played really well, as did Hula [Crisostomo]," continued Forchtner.
Martinez had the top hitting percentage for NMMI (.500) and also tied for top slot in the block assist column: Martinez, Violeta Quintana and Katelynn Gutz had three block assists each.
Crisostomo dug out 13 Clarendon attacks, just two behind digs leader Barbara Celler's 15.
Next up for NMMI will be the Iowa Reiver Invitational in Council Bluffs, Iowa of Friday and Saturday Oct. 12-13. This will be the final regular-season tournament for the Broncos, with the rest of way slated with the remainder of WJCAC matches.
"This is going to be a super-competitive tournament for us to finish up on, and I think that's a good thing," state Forchtner. "This team seems to step up and play better against really good competition and so I hope that for our final tournament that they go and do work. We really need to get back into an offensive and defensive rhythm – we've struggled a bit in our last few matches with consistency. We've got two or three people playing well, but it's not four or five like it was earlier in the season. We've got to get back to that point where everyone's firing on all cylinders and our defense in really clicking."