NMMI Sports Press
The No. 9 Bronco Volleyball team earned a much-needed victory over the visiting No. 8 Odessa College Wranglers Saturday afternoon inside Cahoon Armory on the NMMI campus.
It was a reversal of fortunes from Wednesday's contest, when No. 19 New Mexico Junior College came into Cahoon and swept NMMI, as the Broncos won in straight sets, a welcome surprise for NMMI head coach Shelby Forchtner.
"Odessa is a very good team and we thought this could be a knock-down, drag-out fight," said Forchtner. "We were able to shut them down in a few key areas. They still took big swings and had some nice kills, but I feel like we served more aggressively and that was the difference in the game. We had them out of system a lot. We needed that win on our home floor."
The first set had both squads thinking it would be a long fight, after NMMI gave up a 17-9 lead and the teams traded blows until eventually the Broncos emerged with a 29-27 win.
"All week, we practiced limiting errors, especially multiple errors in a row," Forchtner said. "If somebody made an error or two errors, we weren't going to let there be a third. That's how we got beat by NMJC. Two or three times during that match we'd commit three to five errors in a row. We didn't let that happen today."
After winning the first set, the Broncos seemed to settle into a groove and distance themselves from their opponent. Freshman Kekililani Helekahi started at setter and played a big role in helping the team find balance and rhythm. She finished the match with 37 of the Broncos' 43 set assists.
"She just has a vibe about her. She goes out there and gets it done," Forchtner said. "She has an air about her when she steps on the floor. She'll make an error and bounce right back. She just makes plays and that's exactly what this team needed."
The Broncos hit .309 as a team, the first time they've had a hitting percentage above .300 since Aug. 20. Sophomore outside hitter Baby Moleni led NMMI with 16 kills on 42 attempts with just two errors. Sophomore outside/opposite Allyah Tokelau and freshman opposite Leah Linares each had nine kills and sophomore outside/middle Barbara Guedes was efficient with six kills on eight attempts for a .750 hit rate.
NMMI took the second set 25-20 and the third 25-16, gradually pulling away from and demoralizing the Wranglers along the way.
"Once we won that first set, they hardly allowed a rally at all the last two," Forchtner said. "We stopped any momentum they tried to build and took it for ourselves. I'm glad that most of the things we worked on in practice translated to the game."
Forchtner said the last couple days of practice after the NMJC loss were tough and she and the coaching staff pushed the players hard, and they responded.
"The group that started today played really well the last couple practices," she said. "In fact, I think they beat the team 25-8 in practice and we haven't had that kind of fire for a while. We also worked on our aggressiveness when it comes to celebrating. Whether you ace them, block a ball straight down, or they hand you points on errors, we want to celebrate the same way. When something goes our way, we want to make them feel it."
Forchtner hopes the current starting group (Linares, Guedes, Moleni, Tokelau, Helekahi, Oliveira and libero Mio Yamamoto) can continue to bring high-energy, aggressive play while staying in a nice rhythm.
"We've given a lot of chances this year to get out there and run the show for us, and we feel like this group can do that for us," she said.
The Broncos (13-6 overall, 1-1 in conference play) travel to Canyon, TX for their next match against Amarillo College at 5 p.m. MDT on Wednesday. That game will be held at the West Texas A&M Fieldhouse.