NMMI Sports Press
With a dominant win in the first set, the Institute looked primed for another sweep of conference rival Odessa College on Thursday afternoon at the Betty Jo Graber Athletic Center in Weatherford, Texas in the championship semifinal of the Region V Tournament.
Freshman outside hitter Allison Miller had two long service runs and freshmen defenders Fuka Sekita and Momoka Minamiya didn't let a ball touch the backcourt as the Broncos rolled to a 25-11 win.
But the sloppy play NMMI got away with in their tournament opening 3-1 win over the fourth-seeded Vernon College Chaps returned in the second set against the Wranglers as Odessa brought more energy and neutralized the Broncos big hitters.
"We started the match super aggressive, attacking them with our serve and keeping them out of system, our defense was sharp and then we turned around did the exact opposite," explained NMMI head coach Shelby Forchtner. "We watched balls hit the ground, we weren't getting touches on the block and our sophomore leaders struggled. We knew Odessa was playing a lot better and we just gave them more confidence throughout the match."
Sophomore middle Vitoria Oliveira led the Broncos with 13 kills and sophomore opposite Leah Linares added 11, but the effective Odessa blockers limited the efficiency of NMMI's top scoring duo.
Freshman outside hitter Selin Güler saw extended playing time and made the most of it, converting 8-of-14 swings with no errors.
The Broncos played better in the morning contest against Vernon, but the signs of an off day were present as the team committed 27 attack errors. Oliveira had the type of game that earned her multiple Player of the Week awards throughout the season with 18 kills and a .429 hitting percentage, stats that were sorely missed against the Wranglers.
The loss makes the road to an automatic bid to nationals a bit longer, as NMMI will await Friday morning's winner between Hill and Western Texas for a 3 p.m. matchup. In all, it will take three more wins to capture the second of two bids awarded to Region V.
In other action, tourney host and top-seeded north squad Weatherford downed New Mexico Junior College 3-0 and will play Odessa for the tournament championship tomorrow (Friday) at 7 p.m. Weatherford is the only north team to beat a west squad in the tournament so far.