Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press
Behind a dominant performance by middles Katarzyna Niderla and Vittoria Price, the New Mexico Military Institute Bronco volleyball team was able to overcome a second set loss on Wednesday night at the Godfrey Athletic Center.
NMMI (12-7, 5-2) bounced back with a four-set win over the Western Texas College Westerners, 25-14, 23-25, 25-17, 25-14.
Niderla and Price combined for 32 kills on the night.
"That's what we can do. Both of our middles are that dominant and powerful," said NMMI head coach Shelby Forchtner. "They both can hit these extremely hard angles and we just don't use them enough like we should."
In the opening set, the Westerners had a slight 2-1 lead before the Broncos tied up the score with a kill by Darcy Dodd.
The score was tied once more at 3-3 until NMMI pulled ahead. Niderla landed a strategic tip that increased the Broncos' lead to two.
Later in the set, Niderla recorded an ace to make the score 13-8.
Keeping up the intensity, NMMI finished off Western Texas with an 11-point win.
There were 10 ties in the score during the second game. The Broncos held a two-point lead late in the set but the Westerners (4-11, 2-6) rallied towards the end with a 2-0 run to take the game.
With a close start to the third set, NMMI pulled away with a three-point lead after Cassidy Nixon tallied an ace.
Aided by a pair of kills from Julia Johnson and Sadie Gomez, the Broncos led by five points to eventually take a 2-1 set lead in the match.
To begin the final game, Dana Manu gave NMMI an early lead. The Westerners tied the set up until Johnson swung the momentum back over to the Broncos with a kill.
NMMI put its foot on the accelerator and never looked back, surging ahead with a six-point lead. An ace by Jalen Baca late in the set increased NMMI's lead to 10.
Niderla tallied 19 kills while her counterpart Price added 13. Johnson chipped in with nine kills, a pair of aces and 14 digs.
Dodd and Heleine Filipe had seven kills apiece while Manu finished with six.
In the back row, Baca also tallied 14 digs while Aniston Biel added with 10 digs and 33 assists. Nixon and Manu each finished with seven digs.
NMMI hosts Midland College at 2 p.m. Saturday before Frank Phillips College arrives in Roswell for a 6 p.m. match on Wednesday, March 17.
"We really want to defend our home floor because we haven't been here the entire year. Hopefully we can carry that through the rest of conference," Forchtner added. "They're (Western Texas) a good defensive team, really scrappy (and) they made us work for our points."