NMMI Sports Press
After dropping their opening match at nationals on Thursday, the New Mexico Military Institute Bronco volleyball team bounced back with two wins on Friday, securing their spot in the final NJCAA rankings as one of the top ten teams in the country.
NMMI came back from an eight-point deficit in the fourth set to gallop past the Monroe College Mustangs in their first match on Friday (25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 27-25), then needed just three sets to fly by the Panola College Fillies (25-15, 25-16, 25-22) and force a re-match of the Region V West Championships against Odessa College tomorrow in a game to determine 9th place.
Freshman outside hitter Julia Johnson topped the Institute in kills in the Monroe match, knocking down 17 shots, while the NMMI defense looked top-notch with 83 digs and 16 blocks. Four Broncos had double-digits in digs, lead by sophomore libero Hula Crisostomo's 22. Freshman Alyssa Lukasik was big in the middle with seven assisted blocks.
Against Panola, NMMI's offense showed up in force with Bronco attackers putting up an outstanding .367 kill percentage as a team. Johnson again lead the team in total kills with 13. Sophomore outside hitter Violeta Mendoza Quintana was close behind with 12, and three other players came close to double-figure kills: soph opposite-side hitter Gabriela Langi with 9 kills, and 8 kills each by Lukasik and freshman middle Vittoria Price.
Crisosotomo averaged six digs per set vs. the Fillies for her 18 total during the match.
With the pair of 'W's, NMMI's record moves to 37-5 on the season. They've got one final match left, against Odessa College on Saturday (Nov. 23) at 10:00 AM CST.
That match will be streamed live on the njcaatv.com website.