Peter Dindinger – NMMI Sports Press
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Under the bright lights of the big stage at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, the New Mexico Military Institute Bronco volleyball team went to work and took care of business in the opening round of the NJCAA Division I tournament Thursday morning.
Behind a combined 26 kills from Marian Ovalle and Dana Manu, sixth-seeded NMMI swept Tyler Junior College, 25-14, 25-14, 25-22.
The Broncos (31-4) advance to take on No. 3 Miami Dade in the quarterfinals at 5:30 p.m. CST Thursday.
Miami Dade is fresh off a 25-22, 25-11, 25-17, sweep of 14th-seeded Jefferson. No. 11 Tyler drops to 26-12 and moves to the consolation bracket.
The Broncos got on the board with a block from Darcy Dodd in the opening set.
NMMI then used a 5-0 run that was highlighted by two kills from Ovalle and Manu.
The Broncos' largest lead of the set was by 10.
Tyler fought back to cut the deficit to five before NMMI accelerated back to a double-digit lead with back-to-back service aces by Ovalle.
To start the second set, the Apaches held their only lead of the entire match as they had a short-lived 1-0 advantage at the start.
Back-to-back kills by Ovalle helped surge an 8-0 run.
The Broncos extended their deficit to eight after a kill by Barbara Guedes Rezende.
NMMI held a 10-point lead late in the set with a 19-9 advantage.
Using a trio of kills by Katarzyna Niderla, Manu and Rezende, the Broncos were able to hold on for the 25-14 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
To start the third set, NMMI jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
The Apaches tied the set up at three-all before a block by Ovalle gave the Broncos the lead back.
A service ace by Ovalle later gave NMMI a five-point lead.
Tyler tried to keep the game close by cutting the deficit down to one, but the Broncos weren't phased as they stayed on track to win 25-22 to finish off the sweep.
Ovalle led the way with 14 kills while Manu chipped in with 12. Dodd added with seven kills and Niderla had six.
Megan Waghorn had 19 assists and seven digs. Karya Suvariouglu tallied 16 assists, a kill and three block assists.
NMMI finished with 10 blocks at the net.
Defensively, Mio Yamamoto grabbed 15 digs.