SENATOBIA – It was a thrilling match on Wednesday night between the Northwest Mississippi Community College volleyball team (20-4, 8-2) and Jones College (15-1, 9-1) that had major implications on the postseason with the Bobcats taking it in straight sets, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 to move to the top spot in the MACCC standings just past the midway point of the conference season.
While Jones earned the sweep, NWCC held leads in every set leading as late as 23-21 in the first set, 18-17 in the second, and 19-18 in the third.
"I was pleased with the way our girls battled through adversity," Head Coach Allison Burchyett said. "Going into the second half of the season, you want to see growth and even though on the scoreboard it didn't necessarily look like we had anything going, we were right there with them and pushed them all the way to the end. There's a lot of positive takeaways from this experience."
The opening set began with the Rangers getting off to an early lead, going up 6-3 but Jones rallied back to tie the set at 7-all and from there, both teams became locked in a back-and-forth battle that featured 12 ties and three lead changes on the way to a 21-21 score.
Northwest took the lead at 23-21, forcing a timeout from the Bobcats which stalled the momentum and Jones took advantage, reeling off four straight points to close out the set 25-23, giving them an early 1-0 advantage in the match.
That momentum carried into the second set where Jones took the early lead at 4-1. It didn't last long as the Rangers answered with a 6-1 run of their own to take a 7-5 lead. That would be the trend for the early going as both teams went back and forth, trading leads at 11-9 for Jones and 14-12 for NWCC.
The break for Jones came after the match was tied at 18 and the Bobcats were able to gain separation for the first time, going up 22-19 and forcing a Northwest timeout. The Rangers won the next two points to make it 22-21, but Jones buckled down and held off the charge to take the set 25-21 and go up 2-0 in the match.
Both teams came out delivering haymakers in the third set knowing what was on the line. Northwest took their first lead going up 5-4 after a 3-0 run from Jones opened the set, and a pair of aces from Hassie Clare Thurman helped them to a 6-1 run that gave the Rangers their biggest lead of the match at 11-7.
After a timeout, Jones answered with a 4-0 run of their own to tie it at eleven and the seesaw action began with the two conference heavyweights duking it out. Ties followed at 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, and 21 when it was once again the Bobcats who found the break, reeling off three straight points to go up 24-21. Northwest picked up one more point to stave off the loss, but Jones closed it out with a 25-22 win to sweep the Rangers, handing them their second conference loss of the year.
"I didn't think that we finished when we had opportunities to and to Jones' credit, they stayed right there with us and put the pressure on us. We just didn't really execute at the end, but we will learn from that and going forward, I think our girls are going to want the pressure at end of set points, and that's what you want," Burchyett said.
Daylin Johnson led the way for the Rangers in kills with nine and was one of seven who recorded a kill in the match. Adalyn Callahan added seven and both Chloe Fesperman and Aven Mathis picked up five each.
Dallas White was the top setter for the Rangers, picking up 17 assists, while Chloe Rodgriguez added seven. Rodriguez also was a part of three blocks and the Rangers picked up one solo block and twelve block assists across the match.
Northwest will be back in action this weekend when they head to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for a four-pack of matches on Friday and Saturday. Action begins on Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM against #20 Lurleen B. Wallace Community College and Reid State Community College at 3:00 PM. Saturday will see the Rangers take on Snead State College and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
More information on the Rangers schedule can be found at nwccrangers.com or by following along with Northwest athletics on social media.
