Peter Dindinger – NMMI Sports Press
LUBBOCK, Texas – Two teams had distanced themselves from the rest of the pack in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference, and on Saturday afternoon they both met to determine the Region V West tournament championship.
Second-seeded New Mexico Military Institute fought hard against nationally-ranked Odessa College but it couldn't come out on top as it fell in straight sets, 25-18, 25-15, 25-23, at the Rip Griffin Center.
To start the first set, there was a quick 1-1 tie before the Wranglers (23-2) took a 10-6 lead.
The Broncos cut the deficit down to two points after back to back blocks by Katarzyna Niderla.
Odessa then jumped out to a 10-point lead before NMMI came back within four towards the end of the set.
Both teams engaged in four ties to start the second game. Niderla had a clutch kill to tie the set at 5-5 until the Wranglers went on a 3-0 run.
The Wranglers pulled away with a nine-point to eventually take the set 25-15.
Despite being in a hole down two sets in the match, NMMI didn't quit as it jumped out to a 5-2 lead after a kill by Julia Johnson in the third game.
A kill by Niderla and an ace from Vittoria Price extended NMMI's lead to 9-5.
The Broncos (16-8) continued their solid momentum with a kill by Marian Ovalle and an ace by Niderla which kept NMMI's lead at four.
Odessa tried to cut the deficit but a kill from Darcy Dodd kept the Broncos ahead 16-14 in the middle of the set.
The game went on to be tied five more times before the Wranglers pulled away late to capture the match.
Ovalle led NMMI with eight kills and four digs while Price had six kills, an ace and four block assists.
Niderla finished with five kills and Johnson chipped in with three kills, six digs and three block assists.
Defensively, Tiffinay Gauspohl tallied 10 digs while Jalen Baca and Dana Manu each finished with nine apiece.
Gauspohl also recorded 15 assists and Aniston Biehl finished with eight assists.
In the straight-set semifinal win over Midland College, 25-15, 28-26, 25-14, earlier in the day, Ovalle and Niderla led the Broncos with 10 kills each.
The Broncos overcame three tied scores in the first set before taking an 18-9 lead and eventually closing out the set by 10 points.
Midland and NMMI endured through five different lead changes and eight tied scores in game two.
NMMI pulled away by six in the middle of the set before having to go through three ties in the score towards the final minutes of the game to eventually come out on top.
Heleine Fillipe chipped in with six kills while Manu had five kills and two block assists.
Gauspohl, Cassidy Nixon and Johnson all finished with two aces each. The Broncos tallied eight aces for the match.
Baca had 10 digs, Johnson with seven and Gauspohl had three on the defensive end.
Nixon finished with 19 assists while Gauspohl added 15 assists.