On Wednesday morning, The No.3 seeded New Mexico Military Institute Broncos opened the first round of the NJCAA Championships with a 3-0 loss against Indian Hills Community College. With the loss, the Broncos dip to an overall record of 31-3 and continue play in the national tournament tomorrow morning.

Set 1

To open the match both sides traded points as neither team could take command early. Selin Guler knotted the set at six with a beautiful assist from Dilean Bounds. A few points later, the set was tied at 10 with the help of an attacking error by Indian Hills.

NMMI was able to take a slight 12-10 lead but Indian Hills would answer with a 5-0 run to take a 15-12 lead. The Broncos responded with a kill by Bounds and Allison Miller to once again tie the set at 15. Indian Hills would go on another 5-0 run as they jumped out to a 20-15 lead.

The Broncos fought back as they trailed by two 24-22 but Indian Hills would take the first set 25-22.

Set 2

Much like the first set, both sides battled early on as the set was tied at 10 after Yuliana Favela and Daicy Benites Franco denied a Warriors point with a block. NMMI took the 15-14 lead as Guler tallied one of her seven kills on the day.

Indian Hills responded with a 4-0 run to take a 18-15 lead. The Broncos would answer with three consecutive points to knot the set at 18 but Indian Hills would end the set on a 7-4 run as they took the 2-0 lead with a 25-22 set two win.

Set 3

In the final set, Indian Hills jumped out to a 10-4 lead. Down six, the Broncos fought back to trail 11-9 after Benites Franco and Sarah Schubert recorded another block. The Warriors were able to find momentum as they jumped out to a 15-10 lead.

Down five, NMMI battled their way back to a 18-17 game as the Broncos rallied four consecutive points behind a pair of kills by Guler to force a timeout. Following the pause, Indian Hills ended the set on a 7-5 run as they were able to secure the final set 25-23.

Returning to the NJCAA DI Volleyball Championships for the first time since 2022, Head Coach Shelby Forchtner did not think the squad performed to their capabilities, "I just don't think we had the fight that we did all year long," Forchtner said. "One is always picking the other up and today we didn't have that, our defense wasn't picking up our offense and our offense wasn't picking up our defense."

The Broncos can still place in the top nine and that is mindset for Forchtner and the squad, "It sucks when you have a team that should be in the top eight and we just didn't show up … now we just have to shift our mindset to come out tomorrow and play."

The Broncos will return to the court tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. CST as they take on Navarro College on day two of the NJCAA Volleyball Championships.