COLUMBUS - A Sunday slate of matches resulted in a pair of victories for the Northwest volleyball program, as the Lady Rangers delivered a thrilling 3-2 win against Rust College and a 3-0 shutout of tournament host MUW.
With the wins, Northwest collected their fourth and fifth straight victories and improved to 5-8 on the season.
Next up for the Lady Rangers is another Region 23 test at Itawamba on Friday, September 16. The Lady Indians hold a 5-1 series lead against Northwest and are currently 9-1 on the season, including a split against Pearl River.
Friday's match is scheduled for a 5 P.M. start time in Fulton and will be broadcasted on letsgoicctv.com.
Northwest 3, Rust College 2
(Set scores: 25-18, 28-30, 20-25, 25-15, 15-11)
After taking the opening set against Rust College, Northwest was forced to recover from dropping the middle two sets and complete a comeback against a scrappy Lady Bearcat squad.
Northwest took the early lead in the opening set and never looked back, claiming a 25-18 victory. At first, the Lady Rangers carried over the momentum into the second set, but Rust quickly tied the match at 8-8, setting up a back-and-forth battle throughout.
With the set entering multiple ties, it took several extra points to settle the score, with the Lady Bearcats coming out on top, 30-28. The two teams battled again in the third set, but Rust led for a majority of the set and took a 2-1 match lead, after a 25-20 victory.
After Rust jumped on top early in the fourth set, Northwest rallied back to regain a 15-13 advantage. The Lady Rangers were able to hang onto the lead the rest of the way, forcing a deciding fifth set.
With the match tied at 2-2, the Lady Rangers jumped on top early in the fifth and stayed ahead the rest of the way, claiming a 15-11 decision to preserve the comeback.
Freshman
Kennedy Smith led the charge with 18 kills and 14 digs, followed by 11 kills from fellow freshman
Jacia Hayes.
Micah Swift accounted for nine kills and a team-leading four blocks, while
Kayla Beal and
Lia Ramos combined for 32 digs.
Northwest 3, MUW 0
(Set scores: 30-28, 25-9, 25-13)
Although MUW started the match with all the momentum, Northwest was able to shake off the rust and win a barn-burning first set, setting up a 3-0 victory against the Lady Owls.
MUW led by as much as 12-6 midway through the opening set, before a Northwest timeout helped the Lady Rangers slowly chip away at the deficit. Northwest finally regained the lead late in the second set, 29-28, before taking the final point to secure a 30-28 win.
From there, the Lady Rangers hit the gas pedal and never slowed down. Northwest turned a 10-3 lead into a 19-6 advantage in the second set, eventually taking a convincing 25-9 margin over MUW. The Lady Owls fought back in the third set and tied things up early on, but Northwest pulled away after turning a 14-10 lead into a 25-13 rout.
Swift led Northwest with 11 kills, followed by eight apiece from Hayes and Smith. Hayes also compiled a team-leading three blocks, while Ramos and
Cristen Cleveland each finished with three service aces.
