Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press
As the second half of conference play begins, the New Mexico Military Institute Bronco volleyball team sits atop the standings in first place.
Behind the dynamic duo of Marian Ovalle and Katarzyna Niderla, the Broncos extended their winning streak to five games with a straight-set sweep of New Mexico Junior College, 25-13, 25-23, 25-19, Saturday afternoon at the Godfrey Athletic Center.
NMMI is now 7-0 at home and improves to 18-4 overall and 6-1 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.
"Well our biggest thing today was that we asked our kids to set the tone for the entire second half," said NMMI head coach Shelby Forchtner. "I feel like they started off really strong."
The Broncos began the first set on a 4-0 run. Ovalle had a pair of kills while Niderla added with a service ace during the run.
NMMI pulled ahead by 10 when Niderla put down a clutch kill in the middle of the game.
With the offense clicking on all cylinders, everything seemed to come together for the Broncos in the first set.
The lead grew to 13 points after a service ace by Megan Waghorn.
It seemed like NMMI was going to hold the Thunderbirds to single digits in the set as Barbara Guedes Rezende put down a block to give her team a 23-7 advantage.
NMJC finally got out of the single-digit column, but it trailed by 14 late in the set.
Rezende put down the final kill to give the Broncos the 25-13 win in the opening game.
After a pair of lead changes to start the second set, the Broncos led 6-4 after a kill by Ovalle.
NMMI had led by as much as six points before NMJC fought its way back to tie the set at 16-all. There were four lead changes down the stretch.
The Broncos closed out the set on a 4-2 run behind a pair of kills from Ovalle and Niderla to eventually win 25-23.
In the final set the momentum shifted in favor of the Thunderbirds as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead.
NMMI battled back to cut the deficit to one after a service ace by Dana Manu. The score was tied twice until the Broncos pulled ahead.
Waghorn served up another ace to give NMMI a five-point lead in the middle of the set.
The Thunderbirds kept the game within reach, but the Broncos got a pair of kills from Laila Bernardino and Ovalle to stay on top for the victory.
Ovalle led NMMI with 12 kills while Niderla added with 11 kills, two service aces and a solo block.
Rezende and Manu each tallied three kills.
Waghorn had three service aces to go along with 17 assists. Karya Suvariouglu chipped in with 10 assists.
Ovalle and Mio Yamamoto led the defense with 13 digs each.
No. 11 ranked NMMI has a big test at 6 p.m. Wednesday as it hosts Odessa College, who sits in second place in the WJCAC and nationally ranked at No. 17.
"Marian, Katarzyna and Dana the last two and a half weeks have been the glue holding our offense together," said Forchtner. "We just need to get everybody else involved. We have the offense for everybody to be effective and explosive.
"We just got to get back into that offensive rhythm again. This is a good win for us on our home floor."