NMMI Sports Press
It’s always tough to lose to an in-town rival, especially at home. But Thursday night at the Godfrey Athletic Center, that exactly what happened, with Gateway Christian earning a three-set victory over New Mexico Military: 25-11, 25-21, 25-19.
The Lady Warriors rolled into the contest with just a single loss in six matches; NMMI had eight matches under their belt, but only a trio of wins.
As evident in the set scores, Gateway cruised to an easy victory in the opening stanza, but NMMI regrouped and played a much better overall game in sets two and three.
Set two was especially close with numerous ties throughout. The Lady Colts took their first led 7-6 after several solid serves by sophomore defensive specialist Ezabelle Gomez. Other ties occurred at the 12, 16, and 18-point marks, but the Institute never could regain that initial lead.
Set three was almost as close, but after an 8-8 tie, the Lady Warriors never relinquished the lead.
The top two attackers on the night for the Lady Colts were freshman Kaytlyn Lackey on the outside, and senior Paulina Sanchez in the middle.
In the back row, senior libero Ashlynn Irish looked solid, as always, as did senior outside hitter Anastasia Ament, who never left the floor.
“We have really good moments,” said NMMI’s head coach Chantale Riddle. “But sometimes we tend to get stuck in these ruts. I think if we start getting out of those ruts quicker, we’re going to be able to beat quality teams like that. Gateway’s a good team, they’ve always had a good program. And we know that when we play them, we have to go hard – we have to play at our top level.”
“I see us doing a lot of good things out there,” continued coach Riddle regarding the continued improvements her team is making. “We’re working hard and we’re starting to peak. We’ve especially been working with our hitters: Paulina [Sanchez] has been growing and growing, and on the outside, Lackey has been working hard as well.”
But what has impressed coach Riddle the most has been the change in each player’s attentiveness during practice. “All of the girls are listening to me. When they do things their own way, they’re starting to understand that they’re not doing it right. But when we are listening, we’re successful and we’re doing good.”
Next up for the Lady Colts will be a pair of matches next week. NMMI will host Loving on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 6:00 pm, then travel to take on Mescalero Apache on Thursday, also with an expected 6:00 pm start.