NMMI Sports Press
Wednesday night's Bronco Volleyball game at Cahoon Armory was bookended by smiles and tokens of affection as NMMI players showed their appreciation for some of their favorite instructors during pregame announcements and acknowledged Officials Appreciation Week with gifts for the referees after the final point.
In between, the No. 7 Broncos extended their win streak to 10 games with a 3-0 victory over the visiting Frank Phillips College Lady Plainsmen with several freshmen turning in exceptional peformances.
On the offensive side, middle/opposite Yuliana Favela went 8-for-11 with no errors, outside hitter Allison Miller converted 8-of-19 kill attempts with one error and outside/opposite Sarah Schubert had six kills on 14 tries with a single error.
Non-starters got in on the big averages in their limited playing time, with outside Selin Güler going 4-for-6, MJ Stephens 1-for-2 and outside Alissa Benevides converting her sole attack when she made a quick swipe on a blocked ball and surprised FPC.
Defensively, libero Fuka Sekita was flawless with 17 digs and no errors. Miller had an all-around night with 10 digs to go along with her high hitting percentage.
"I think Ally is just more comfortable and confident. She's playing at a high level all around — passing well, good defense, aggressive serving and she's taking some nice, big swings," said NMMI head coach Shelby Forchtner. "She's always had a really good shot selection, and now she's in a good rhythm, she knows our system and she's doing a great job controlling her body out there."
After a week on the road, the Broncos came out on fire on their home court in the first set, jumping out to a 12-5 lead behind big hitting from sophomore opposite Leah Linares and Miller. A seven-point run backed up by sharp service from freshman defensive specialist Momoka Minamiya made it 19-7 and the Broncos finished it off 25-9 with alternating kills from Miller, Favela and sophomore middle Vitoria Oliviera.
The second set began how the first ended, with Oliveira sliding to the right and bashing the ball off the block. Oliveira was active with seven kills on 15 attempts, but the FPC blockers shadowed her most of the night and had relative success slowing her down.
The teams traded the lead back and forth until Favela started playing head games with her defenders, faking big swings and placing the ball on the open hardwood with accurate touch shots. With a 14-8 lead, Favela went back to the big swings with freshman setter Dilean Bounds serving five straight points.
Stephens flashed some serious hand-eye coordination with the set-winning kill off a long, high dig that she tracked as it floated over her head from behind.
In the third set, the Broncos let off the gas and errors began to pile up. The Broncos put together a short run to take a 19-15 lead, prompting a timeout from FPC. The Lady Plainsmen regrouped and fought back to within a point at 20-19 before they caught the error bug and served into the net.
Linares fired her teammates up with a huge kill on the right side and Güler scored after a bad set led her to lob one over that caught the Lady Plainsmen by surprise.
Oliveira served up an ace and the Broncos were a point away from victory when FPC put together their best possessions of the night with a big kill off the block, a diving save by the libero that landed on NMMI's back line and a block on Linares to pull within a score at 24-23, before handing over the set with a serve into the net.
After the game, Forchtner said the dreaded slow set has been a thorn in the Broncos' sides all year, and while they've managed to overcome many of those sluggish sets with talent and effort, better teams haven't and will not let NMMI get away with it.
"We've played a really tough schedule and had to play at a high level and really finish to beat teams," she explained. "And then when you play teams that aren't as systematic, we have a tendency to drop off the map a little. We can come back from some of that, like we did tonight, but we just shouldn't have to. We have to keep playing our game and not let ourselves play down to the situation."
While Forchtner is always constructively critical in her pursuit of perfection, she's also very pleased with her team's performance over the past month. After a 3-2 loss to start the Sheila Worley tourney in Sterling, Colorado, the Broncos have won 10-straight, including a 7-0 start to conference play and two wins over top-5 opponents.
One of those top-5s, Odessa College, is still ranked ahead of NMMI, but that could change next Wednesday when the No. 7 Broncos host the No. 4 Wranglers at 6 p.m.
"We know we can beat them, and hopefully our gym is rocking and we can come out aggressive, win and stay in the driver's seat for the second half of the conference season," Forchtner said. "We play the toughest schedule to be ready for games like next week."
But Forchtner and her Broncos are not looking past Saturday's road tilt in Amarillo with the upstart Badgers. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST.