Peter Dindinger – NMMI Sports Press
Riding a six-game losing streak, the New Mexico Military Institute Colt volleyball team was looking for a boost of confidence to help get them back on track.
The Colts were able to erase the skid with a sweep of the Hondo Valley Eagles, 25-16, 25-14, 25-16, on Monday night at the Godfrey Athletic Center.
“It feels really good. They’ve been needing this,” said NMMI head coach Violeta Konculic. “They’ve been working hard and working on getting the little things right, and I think we finally figured it out tonight.”
NMMI (3-7) had struggled with finishing the big kills and being consistent on offense.
That all changed when the first set started.
The Colts began on a 3-0 run that was aided by two consecutive service aces by Ashlynn Irish.
There were four different lead changes to follow until NMMI tied up the score at 7-7 with a kill by Anastasia Ament.
Two straight service aces by Taylor Conrad gave the Colts a 9-7 lead.
From that point on, NMMI began to establish some dominance by extending its lead to nine with a kill by Olive Amechi.
The lead grew to 12 when Irish came up with another service ace.
Daniela Laporte finished off the set with a kill to help NMMI win 25-16.
To begin the second set there were seven early lead changes before the Colts broke a 10-10 tie with a service ace by Savannah Sandoval.
NMMI took advantage of some Hondo Valley miscues on defense to extend the lead to five points.
The lead was extended to nine when Amechi laid down another kill late in the set to help her team eventually take the second game by 11 points.
NMMI broke a 3-3 tie early in the third set after a kill by Amechi, who later reeled off three straight service aces to extend the lead to four in a matter of minutes.
Emily Spaniel then contributed to the offensive spree with a kill to make the score 10-6.
The Eagles (0-4) erased a four-point deficit to tie the set at 12-12.
NMMI answered by going on a 4-0 run that included another service ace by Sandoval.
After a reception error by Hondo Valley, the Colts were able to put together the sweep with a nine-point victory in the final set.
NMMI will begin a four-game road trip beginning with a match in Tatum at 6:30 p.m. Thursday followed by a rematch with Hondo on Tuesday, Sept. 28.
“I think we need a little bit more of practice, but it’s all coming together,” added Konculic. “Right now discipline is the biggest thing. If we can do this every time over and over again we will not have any problems.”