Colts fight hard, drop three-set battle to Ruidoso

NMMI's Olive Amechi spikes a ball in between Ruidoso's Presley Huey (3) and Regan Jamerson (16) Thursday night. (Photo by Peter Dindinger/NMMI Sports Press)
NMMI's Olive Amechi spikes a ball in between Ruidoso's Presley Huey (3) and Regan Jamerson (16) Thursday night. (Photo by Peter Dindinger/NMMI Sports Press)
Posted: Oct 07, 2021

Peter Dindinger – NMMI Sports Press

Against a Class 4A opponent, the New Mexico Military Institute Colt volleyball team, at times, showed great potential.

Unfortunately, the Colts suffered a straight-set sweep to the Ruidoso Warriors, 23-25, 15-25, 18-25, Thursday night at the Godfrey Athletic Center.

In the opening set, NMMI looked like it had a shot to beat a school from a higher classification for the first time in a decade.

Aided by a kill from Emily Spaniel, the Colts reeled off six unanswered points.

Ruidoso (3-11) then fought its way back to cut down the deficit to four.

Holding on to the lead until the very end, NMMI buckled and allowed the Warriors to tie up the set at 19-all.

Ruidoso used a 3-0 run to eventually propel itself to a 25-23 victory.

Suspense wasn’t absent in the second set.

The Warriors began the game on a 3-0 run before the Colts got a pair of clutch kills from Spaniel and Olive Amechi to later tie up the set.

From that point on there were seven different lead changes.

NMMI (4-11) had pulled ahead for a short-lived one-point lead until Ruidoso tied things up and regained momentum by going on a 7-0 run in the middle of the set.

With the flip of a script, the Warriors took the second game by 10 points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

There were four early lead changes at the start of the final set.

NMMI got a small spark after a service ace by Amechi that gave it a one-point lead, however, the Warriors went on a 4-0 run and never looked back.

Ruidoso pulled ahead to a nine-point lead before the Colts attempted to chisel away at the deficit with a kill from the back row by Savannah Sandoval.

The Colts had only trailed by six after a pair of kills by Spaniel and another service ace from Amechi.

NMMI unfortunately couldn’t sustain the rally as it fell 25-18 in the final set.

There are only two more non-district games remaining on NMMI’s schedule. The Colts host Tatum at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 11 before heading on the road for a rematch against Ruidoso on Oct. 14.

District 4-3A play begins Oct. 21 in Tucumcari.

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  • Sat, 04/27 | Baseball vs. Amarillo College L, 14-1 (Final - 5 innings) RC | BX | PH | V
  • Fri, 04/26 | Baseball vs. Amarillo College W, 10-2 (Final - 7 innings) RC | BX | PH | V
  • Fri, 04/26 | Baseball vs. Amarillo College W, 11-1 (Final - 6 innings) RC | BX | PH | V
  • Thu, 04/25 | Colt Tennis District 4 Tourney G1 - No. 3 @ No. 2 L 5-4 (3:00 pm) PH
  • Tue, 04/23 | Colt Golf Alien 8 Invitational 1st place R
  • Mon, 04/22 | Colt Golf Artesia Invite 4th place R
  • Sat, 04/20 | Baseball at El Paso Community College L, 12-2 (Final - 5 innings) BX
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  • Fri, 04/19 | Baseball at El Paso Community College W, 9-5 (Final) RC | BX
  • Fri, 04/19 | Baseball at El Paso Community College W, 7-0 (Final - 7 innings) RC | BX
  • Thu, 04/18 | Colt Golf Lovington Invitational 4th place R
  • Tue, 04/16 | Colt Tennis Artesia W, 5-4 (3:00 pm)
  • Tue, 04/16 | Lady Colt Tennis Artesia L, 9-0 (3:00 pm)
  • Tue, 04/16 | Colt Varsity Baseball Colt Varsity Baseball at Ruidoso HS 17 - 3 (4:00 pm MDT)
  • Tue, 04/16 | JV Colt Baseball JV Colt Baseball at Ruidoso HS JV 7 - 6 (6:00 pm MST)
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  • Fri, 04/12 | Baseball vs. Western Texas College L, 9-5 (Final - 7 innings) RC | BX | PH | V