NMMI Sports Press
The New Mexico Military Institute Bronco volleyball team made the road trip to Clarendon, TX on Wednesday, and came away with a 3-0 sweep of the Clarendon College Bulldogs for their first Western Junior College Athletic Conference win of the season.
It was the first conference match-up for both squads, with the favored Broncos still brandishing their No. 5 national ranking from the NJCAA's preseason poll. The Institute had played eight matches since that poll came out, posting a 6-2 record, with one of those losses a five-set gut-check against the No. 2-ranked team in the NJCAA, The College of Southern Idaho.
Despite the Bulldogs earning the first point in all three sets, NMMI cruised to victory, rarely ever trailing. Clarendon's largest margin came early in Set 2, where a series of tough serves and Bronco miscues allowed the Bulldogs to surge to an 8-3 lead.
But as head Bronco coach Shelby Forchtner put it, "…stellar defense, along with some good moments on offense…" helped NMMI regain the lead and put away the sets in order: 25-15, 25-18, 25-22.
Coach Forchtner was hoping for another great performance at the service line, akin to how the Broncos played in their home-hosted tournament at the start of the season, but stated "Our serving today was average, with the aces and service errors being about equal." And indeed they were, with NMMI picking up seven aces – including two each by sophomores Bridgette Needham and Karime Raygoza – against eight service errors.
On the defensive side NMMI recorded 48 digs, spread out among almost everyone who played: Freshman libero Hula Crisostimo led with 16 digs, defensive specialist Raygoza had seven and freshman outside hitter Peyton Schendt had six.
NMMI also posted 20 block assists, topped by sophomore Beki Eaton's five, all in the final third set.
Schendt had several of those 'good moments on offense' knocking down 17 kills in just 33 attempts, good for a .455 attack percentage. Sophomore Agape Mafua, who earned the final match point for NMMI on a big hit from the outside, had six kills, and freshman Lisi Langi was .500 at the net with five kills on 10 chances.
"For our first conference match, it was a good win for us, but we're going to have to serve and serve-receive better," said Forchtner.
That next conference match will be next at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, Sept. 15, at home in the Cahoon Armory gym versus Odessa College.
But first, the Broncos will be travel to Odessa to play in this weekend's Wrangler Invitational where they'll face Blinn College, Garden City CC, Eastfield College and Laredo College. That's another tough group of opponents, especially with Blinn being nationally ranked.
"We go to these tough tournaments so that we can push ourselves. Even if we take a few losses, it helps us to be successful in the long run, and makes us a better team," finished Forchtner.