SENATOBIA – After much anticipation and excitement, the Northwest volleyball program made its unofficial debut in front of a socially-distant but enthusiastic home crowd at Howard Coliseum last Saturday afternoon, splitting its schedule with a 3-2 victory against Freed-Hardeman and a 3-0 loss to Itawamba.

Northwest will close out the fall exhibition schedule on Wednesday, Nov. 4 against Pearl River and Itawamba at 2/4 P.M. Both matches will be held on the ICC campus in Fulton.


Northwest 3, Freed-Hardeman 2
(Set scores: 15-25, 16-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-11)

After dropping the first two sets, Northwest took a 10-9 advantage in the third set and eventually pulled away for a 25-18 victory, setting up an impressive comeback victory against Freed-Hardeman.

Northwest continued its momentum into the fourth set, taking an 11-6 lead to pave the way for the eventual 25-18 set win, setting up a thrilling fifth and final set.

Although the Lady Rangers trailed for much of the final set, Northwest never stopped fighting and clawed back to tie the match at 11-11. From there, the Lady Rangers took the next four points to seal the match.

Kapria Manning finished with a team-high 13 kills and three blocks, followed by nine kills and four aces from Chariah Mabry. Alexia Davis and Allison Greene totaled 50 and 49 assists in the victory, while Julissa Soto and Kamryn Conner paced the Lady Rangers with 17 and 16 digs, respectively.


Itawamba 3, Northwest 0
(Set scores: 19-25, 21-25, 23-25)

Despite falling in straight sets to fellow Mississippi foe Itawamba, the Lady Rangers rallied back with strong efforts in the second and third sets, setting up what should become an exciting rivalry in the years to come.

Both teams traded points early in the first set but after a 10-10 tie, Itawamba took the next four points to prompt a Northwest timeout. From there, the Lady Indians pulled away with a 17-12 lead and an eventual 25-19 first set victory.

Northwest took a solid 10-4 advantage in the early goings of the second set, only for the Lady Indians to rally back and trim the lead to 13-10. Northwest remained close with Itawamba until the end as ICC widened the gap to a 25-21 second set win.

The third and final set proved to be the most intense moment of the day as the Lady Rangers fought to stave off elimination. Northwest led 21-20 late in the set as both teams traded points for the majority of the contest, but ICC gained a couple straight points as the deciding factor to solidify the sweep.

Manning and Mabry combined to lead the Lady Rangers with 13 kills, followed by five from Soto. Taylor Smith had 19 digs as Allison Greene posted 11 digs on the evening.

Sydney Sides also finished with 11 digs and two blocks in the loss.