SENATOBIA - Fans that attended Saturday's volleyball matches at Howard Coliseum were treated to a pair of special victories by the Northwest Lady Rangers.
After trailing by two sets in the opener against Chattanooga State, Northwest mounted a three-set comeback to stun the Lady Tigers by a 3-2 final, marking the first-ever season-opening win for the Lady Rangers. Later in the evening, Northwest took a 3-0 win against Champion Christian College, starting out the season at 2-0 for the first time in the program's young history.
"I am very pleased with our opening weekend against these two teams," Northwest coach
Allison Burchyett said. "We do have some things that need some fine tuning, but all in all, it was a great start to the season. I am proud of all of our players."
Next up for Northwest is a home battle against Williams Baptist University on Tuesday, August 23 at 6 P.M. From there, the Lady Rangers will prepare for a weekend tournament at Chattanooga State on August 26-27.
Tuesday's contest can be seen live on Ranger TV (nwccrangers.com/watch).
Northwest 3, Chattanooga State 2
(Set scores: 24-26, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-10)
With the first set being a back-and-forth battle, it was only fitting for the Lady Rangers' season-opening match to go down to the wire.
Northwest and Chattanooga State remained deadlocked throughout the entire opening set, with both teams constantly trading possessions. The Lady Tigers finally got a two-point, 19-17 advantage late in the set, only for the Lady Rangers to call timeout and rally back for a 22-21 advantage.
Tied up at 24-even, the Lady Tigers inched away for the first set victory after claiming the final two points. Chattanooga State would carry over the momentum into the second set as well, building a 5-1 lead.
With freshman
Caroline Howard on serve, the Lady Rangers began to rally back in the second set, tying the score at 6-6 before later pulling away for a 12-8 advantage. However, Chattanooga State came right back, restoring its lead to 15-14 midway through the set.
Although Northwest was able to tie the score at 17-all, back-to-back calls went in favor of Chattanooga State and the Lady Tigers were able to claim eight of the final nine points to build a two-set lead.
Determined not to be shutout on the home floor, the Lady Rangers stormed out to an 8-3 lead early in the third set and later built the margin to 11-4. Even though the Lady Tigers roared back, Northwest never relinquished its lead and held off a rally from Chattanooga State to claim the third set.
Chattanooga State was able to take a narrow lead in the opening stages of the fourth set, but after a solid kill from freshman
Micah Swift gave Northwest an 11-10 lead, the Lady Rangers never trailed the rest of the way, forcing a fifth and final set.
As expected, both teams went toe-to-toe in the final set. Chattanooga State led by three at the most, before the Lady Rangers rebounded for a 7-7 tie. From there, Northwest began to pull away down the stretch, taking a 15-10 decisive win in the fifth set.
Swift led the way with 10 kills and 10 blocks in her Northwest debut, while sophomore
Lia Ramos and freshman
Cristen Cleveland tallied 14 digs to lead the team, while Cleveland also posted seven kills.
Freshman
Kaley Rikard posted a strong debut as well, finishing the contest with 10 kills and nine digs. Ramos and Steed combined to lead the Lady Rangers in assists, posting 19 and 11, respectively.
Northwest 3, Champion Christian College 0
(Set scores: 25-18, 25-15, 25-12)
For as strong as the Lady Rangers' opening victory was, Northwest also made sure to take care of business in the finale.
Although a much-improved Champion Christian club fought back and forth with the Lady Rangers throughout the opening set, Northwest finally broke free from a 16-16 tie to take nine of the final 11 points, pulling away for a 25-18 decision.
After the Lady Tigers again took the lead to open the second set, Northwest flipped the script with a double block from Swift and
Kennedy Smith, pushing the Lady Rangers to an 11-9 advantage. The lead would then stretch to 14-9 and then 22-13, before Northwest closed out with a 25-15 win and a 2-0 match lead.
Trailing 4-2 in the opening moments of the third set, the Lady Rangers turned the deficit into a 10-4 lead and never looked back, earning a 25-12 decision to seal the win in straight sets.
Freshman
Jacia Hayes posted seven kills and six blocks in the nightcap, while Cleveland and Swift added seven kills apiece. Sophomore
Kayla Beal finished with 13 digs, followed by nine from
Brinley Steed, who also finished with 13 assists.
Ramos led the assists category with 14 in the winning effort, with freshman
Kailey Gooch adding in six kills.
