Peter Dindinger – NMMI Sports Press

At times the New Mexico Military Institute Colt volleyball team showed signs of fight but at the end of the night the Loving Falcons came away with the sweep, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18, Tuesday at the Godfrey Athletic Center.

The Falcons went on a 7-0 run to begin the first set before NMMI scored two unanswered points to get on the board.

Playing behind a seven-point deficit, the Colts struggled to keep the game close early on.

Loving eventually took its largest lead of the night as it pulled away to an eight-point advantage.

After a clutch kill and an ace by Olive Amechi, NMMI battled back to within five points but the Falcons were able to hold on for the win.

NMMI began the second set with a slight 2-1 lead before the score was tied seven times down the stretch.

Alexandra Kammerer served up an ace to give the Colts a short-lived 5-4 lead. The set was tied twice more until the Falcons used a 5-0 run to gain some breathing room.

The Colts then got a clutch service ace from Taylor Conrad to make the score 12-11 before tying the game two additional times.

Loving used a small 3-0 run to take a 20-16 lead.

NMMI didn’t go down without putting up a fight in the final stretch of the set. Once again, Amechi came up with a kill and an ace to help the Colts trail by one point.

The Falcons outscored NMMI narrowly, 4-3, to take the 25-23 set victory to lead the match.

To start the final set, the Colts used a 3-1 run to take a 4-1 lead after a kill by Emily Spaniel.

At the beginning, NMMI led for much of the set until there were seven lead changes. The Falcons then used a 7-0 run to close out the Colts and win the match.

NMMI will host crosstown rival Gateway Christian at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.