On Wednesday evening No. 3 New Mexico Military Institute completed a straight-set victory over Clarendon College in front of a packed crowd at the Cahoon Armory Gym. With the win, NMMI improves to an overall record of 19-2 on the year and 5-0 to open conference play.
Set 1
The No. 3 ranked Broncos opened the match on 5-1 run behind a pair of powerful kills by Allison Miller and Selin Guler to set the mood of the match. The NMMI offense used the hot start on offense to keep their foot on the gas.
Behind great defense, the Broncos forced a timeout by the opposition as NMMI took a 12-5 lead. Clarendon fought back to a 15-8 deficit but the Broncos did not let the Bulldogs get any closer. The home side ended the first set on a 10-5 run to secure the 25-16 win as Miller tallied one of her two service aces.
Set 2
Clarendon began the middle set in the driver's seat taking a few leads early on. However, the rhythm wouldn't last long for the away team as NMMI tied the set at four. The Broncos earned the first lead of the set as Momoka Minamiya caught the Clarendon defenders off guard as she earned her lone service ace on the night to give NMMI the 6-5 lead.
After back-to-back kills by Miller the home team jumped out to a 10-6 advantage. Clarendon stuck around in the middle of the set as they were able to earn a point after the Broncos would earn a couple. After a Michelle Mlikan kill gave the Broncos a 15-9 lead, the high powered defense allowed NMMI to go on a 10-7 run to close out the middle set 25-16.
Set 3
With both teams warmed up from the first two sets, the third set was a back and forth contest. With the game knotted at three, Dilean Bounds gave NMMI the 5-3 lead with a well placed kill on the right corner of the floor. Using momentum the Broncos jumped out to a 16-11 advantage which caused a different gear by Clarendon College.
Extending the match, the Bulldogs took back some fire as they went on a 8-1 run to take a 19-17 lead. Down two, the Broncos turned to Miller for closure. The outside hitter went on a run of her own as she helped secure the sweep as she tallied the Broncos final five offensive points. As she had done in both prior sets, Miller ended the final set with a furious kill to achieve the 25-22 comeback in the match-winning third set.
Despite the win, Head Coach Shelby Forchtner believes there's more work to be done in order to keep winning the second round of matches in conference play. "We worked this week on a lot of stuff coming at us and you have to be clean with it … we just didn't do a really good job of that today," Forchtner said. The Broncos pushed their win streak to 13 straight matches and remained a perfect 6-0 at home.
The Broncos will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 5 as host Midland College for a conference matchup at 2 p.m. in the Cahoon Armory Gym.