SENATOBIA - Northwest seemingly did not miss a beat in its home-opener on Monday evening, as the Lady Rangers picked up the shutout of Freed-Hardeman JV, 3-0.
Northwest controlled the pace of the match from the early moments. After Freed-Hardeman JV picked up the first point, the Lady Rangers scored five straight points with
Rachel Stegall on serve, eventually pushing out to an 8-2 lead.
Freshman
Maddie Smith continued the Lady Rangers' rally, as back-to-back points from the Jonesboro, Ark. native made it an 11-4 lead midway through the opening set. Later, Stegall helped Northwest close out a 25-13 first set score by earning three straight kills down the stretch.
Freed-Hardeman JV kept things close early in the second set, before Northwest took a 5-4 lead. The Lady Rangers eventually stretched their lead to 12-5 with
Kaya Coleman on serve, before taking a 2-0 match lead after taking a 25-14 decision in the second set.
In the third and final set, it was all Northwest, as the duo of
Anna Lott and
Ava Robbins earned several huge blocks. The Lady Rangers led 11-3, before the lead was stretched to 18-8 and eventually to the 25-12 final.
Smith led the Lady Rangers with nine kills, while
Layla Dyer led Northwest with 24 assists and eight digs. Stegall also collected five service aces in the winning effort.
With the win, Northwest improved to 1-2 on the season. The Lady Rangers will turn their sights to a long road trip that stretches well into September, kicking things off with a pair of matches on Friday at Shawnee at 11 A.M. and East Central College at 1 P.M., both scheduled to be held at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Ill.
