NMMI Sports Press
The nine Bronco Volleyball sophomores received tokens of appreciation from their coaches and teammates during pregame festivities Wednesday night at Cahoon Armory before the final home match of the season.
Then sophomores Vitoria Oliveira and Rhiana Todd put on a hitting clinic as the No. 6 team in the nation dominated the Midland Lady Chaparrals with set scores of 25-13, 25-15 and 25-18, with plenty of non-starters getting valuable playing time along the way.
The Broncos rolled through the first two sets and struggled a bit to start the third as head coach Shelby Forchtner put in an all-sophomore lineup that wasn't accustomed to playing together.
"We wanted to let them all be out there together for their last home game, and the first few points were a little disorganized, but they got it together," Forchtner said. "Most of these kids would play and likely start on a lot of the teams in our conference and around the country and it's good to get them out there this late in the season to get some experience before we start playing tougher competition in the postseason."
The Broncos have already wrapped up the top seed for the west side of the Region V Tournament in Weatherford, Texas next week, where the top four from the Western Junior College Athletic Conference and the top four from the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference will clash for the right to compete at the NJCAA Division-I National Championships in Hutchinson, Kansas starting on Nov. 16.
With a win at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas on Saturday, the Broncos can cap off the regular season with an undefeated conference record for the first time since back-to-back perfect league marks in 2017 and 2018, but it could be the first time NMMI does it in an eight-team conference featuring two other top-10 squads.
"I feel like this group is playing their best volleyball as of late. We were having longer, back-and-forth matches with the tougher teams in the first round, but now we're beating the same teams in three sets," Forchtner explained. "A lot of those little inconsistencies from the early in the season have been cleaned up and we're playing our brand of aggressive volleyball. Those dreaded lulls are few and far between and they aren't costing us sets."
With freshman middle Yuliana Favela sidelined, the emergence of Rhiana Todd as a dominant scorer is just what the Broncos need at the most critical juncture of the season. Todd converted 9-of-17 kill attempts with a single error, matching the .471 hitting percentage posted by Oliveira.
"Rhi is just an energy bug and when she gets going it's hard to stop her. She feeds off big plays and really rises to the occasion," said Forchtner.
They'll also need middle blocker Adriana De Jesus to keep improving. The sophomore from Puerto Rico had five kills on nine tries with no errors and assisted on a block.
"Adriana has done a great job since Yuli was injured, "Forchtner said. "She's been effective, but as we start playing some bigger opponents, we're going to have to make sure she's moving well and getting more touches."
Defensively, it was freshmen Fuka Sekita and Allison Miller that flashed their athletic prowess keeping Midland serves and shots from hitting the hardwood. Sekita amassed 14 digs while Miller tallied seven.
The Broncos served up nine aces, but also gave away 11 points on bad deliveries, but Forchtner was still pleased with her team's aggressiveness at the back line. Sophomore opposite Leah Linares, the teams season kills leader, only served three times, but wowed the crowd with a magnificent ace that would've fooled a lot of good curveball hitters.
"She serves like that all the time in practice, she just doesn't every really get to in games because of the way our setters switch out," Forchtner said. "But she's one of the best on our team and she crushes us in practice."
Forchtner said the 2023 sophomore class will be remembered not only for their accomplishments on the court, but also for their exceptional contributions off it.
"They're great players, but also great leaders and genuinely good people," she said. "They've done a great job getting the freshmen on the same page, and doing it in a positive manner. They're really fun to coach and they'll be tough to replace."
The Institute's homecoming court will be introduced during Saturday's Bronco Football game, but two of the honorees, sophomore setter Kekililani Helekahi and team media specialist Dominique James will be on the road trying to get that last regular-season win against FPC at 2 p.m. CDT in Borger.