NMMI Sports Press
The Lady Colt Varsity Volleyball squad improved their district record to 2-1 with a three-set sweep of the Dexter Lady Demons Tuesday night at the Godfrey Athletic Center on the NMMI Campus.
It was the final regular-season home game of the year as well as Senior Night for the five seniors on the varsity squad, most of whom had their parents in attendance, which isn’t the norm for most cadets attending NMMI.
“Those girls mean a lot to all of us,” said first-year NMMI head coach Chantale Riddle. “It was nice to have a little bigger crowd with some parents and to hear them cheer us on. I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better group of seniors for my first season. They all work so hard, they’re so committed and they give you everything they’ve got. I love that about them. I’ll be sad to see them go.”
After the extended pre-game ceremonies, the Lady Colts hit the court with gusto, jumping out to a 5-0 lead with senior setter Alex Kammerer serving and senior outside hitter Olive Amechi taking hard shots that the Lady Demons couldn’t handle.
Dexter called a timeout and settled down while NMMI became a bit mistake prone, leading to an 18-15 lead for the Lady Demons. The Lady Colts stayed the course and eventually, Dexter began to misfire again and NMMI tied it at 18-all.
With junior libero and team captain Ashlynn Irish serving, the Lady Colts took a 23-18 lead and finished off the set 25-20 with an ace serve from junior Yasmeen Marrufo.
NMMI committed errors on the first couple balls of the second period, but a string of strong service from Amechi turned things around quickly. The errors piled up for Dexter as the gap widened to 15-4. Dexter attempted to come back, but more tough serving from Irish and freshman setter Mia Martinez helped NMMI win the second set 25-20.
The third set saw the Lady Colts fall into an 9-2 hole as Dexter put together their most error-free play of the match. After a NMMI timeout, the Lady Colts adjusted, Amechi found her stride from the outside again and the score was evened at 15-all.
“We played with a different rotation tonight because some girls are out, and we had just been getting used to the old rotation,” Riddle said. “And I think we had some nerves with senior night and the last home game. They really wanted to play well. I kept telling them to just play their game.”
From there, NMMI took over with Irish serving for the next eight Lady Colt points, which included a great cross-court shot from Martinez, a kill and a block in the middle from senior Emily Spaniel and a few Irish aces. A couple Dexter errors handed NMMI the final two points for a 25-16 win.
The Lady Colts kept Dexter off balance throughout much of the match whenever Irish or Amechi had the serve.
“They work hard on serving in practice and they really focus on it,” Riddle said. “They want me to give them zones every two seconds, but I want them to go back there and hit for power and that’s what they’ve been doing.”
Irish was polishing the hardwood all night as she dove and slid to dig balls that could be easily set for her teammates.
“She wants to dig every ball anyone hits, including me,” said Riddle. “She can get frustrated over small mistakes, but she lets it go quickly and keeps her head in the game. That’s why she’s our captain. We want the ball in her hands.”
The Lady Colts have three games remaining, all district road matchups, starting with Ruidoso at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The Lady Warriors beat NMMI in straight sets at the GAC on Oct. 18. Ruidoso was idle Tuesday, but currently sits atop the district standings at 3-0.