SENATOBIA – The Northwest Mississippi Community College volleyball team (28-4, 12-2) matched a program record in wins on Monday night with a four-set victory over Itawamba Community College (15-13, 7-8), clinching a top two finish in the conference standings while they were at it with a 25-21, 25-14, 17-25, 25-11 win at Howard Coliseum.

The win didn't come easy despite an early start that saw the Rangers jump out to a 6-2 lead in the opening set. Itawamba came roaring back to take a lead of their own on a 7-1 run to push ahead 9-7.

Northwest tied the match at 9, 11, 12, and 17 before they finally were able to reclaim the lead amid a 10-4 run to close out the set that gave the Rangers the 25-21 win.

Freshman defensive specialist Reese McIntosh said the first set and the match showed their ability to persevere when things get tough.

"It shows that our character and our culture is coming through when we really need it most," the Southaven native said. "Especially this time of year, a lot of teams get down and tired, but I feel like this can really build us and make us stronger as a team and make us come closer together."

It seemed that go the ball rolling for the Rangers who ran away from the Indians in the opening serves of the second set, leading 7-2 before a timeout from ICC and again at 14-7 to force the second timeout by Itawamba.

The Indians did settle into a period where they were able to trade points with Northwest, but the Rangers closed out the set on a five-point service run from McIntosh including an ace to close the set.

It was the second time that McIntosh has closed a set on an ace in the last two matches, something that she admitted is a fun feat every time.  

"I kind of think when I get back there that it would be really cool if I got an ace right now for my team and for myself and for my coaches, but lot of the time it's just get it over and get it in for my team and just hope for the best. Everything I do is for them, especially on that back line."

Everything went sideways for Northwest in the third set at the start. After all of the momentum was on their side, the Rangers were put on their heels immediately on a 13-2 run by Itawamba to open the set. This was despite Head Coach Allison Burchyette calling both of her timeouts in the first six points to try to stop the bleeding, but nothing seemed to work.

The equilibrium was found late in the set when Chloe Fesperman was able to reel off five kills during a 6-2 run that brought the Indians run to a standstill and trimmed the lead to 14-8, but the hole was too big to dig out of and every Ranger rally was clipped by an ICC response on the way to Itawamba taking the set 25-17.

Northwest's response in the late part of the set was vital though according to McIntosh.

"I think it helped us build momentum for that last set," she said. "At that point in those kind of sets where you're already down big, I think we know we aren't going to come out with the win in that set, but it's about building momentum for the next set so we can pull out the win and finish the game."

The Rangers opened the fourth set with a massive run of their own. After a 2-2 tie, the Rangers went on a 16-2 run, including a five serve run by Jania Rose that featured a pair of aces that was almost three in a row if not for one being ruled just long that ended the run with NWCC up 18-5.

Itawamba closed the match back to 19-9, but much like the hole Northwest was in in the third set, the same was true in the fourth for the Indians who dropped the set 25-11 and the match 3-1.

Northwest was paced in the match by eleven kills from Fesperman and ten from Ariana Woods. Aven Mathis added nine on a night where nine Rangers picked up kills in the win. Adalyn Callahan moved into fifth all time in career kills with 285 in her career by adding six to her tally.

Chloe Rodriguez led the way in assists with 23 to go with three block assists and four kills and Dallas White improved to 517 assists in her career, which is third all-time in a single season, adding an ace and a kill to go with it.

The Rangers were particularly impressive at the net, picking up nine blocks as a team, including a five-block night from Woods who had one solo and four assisted blocks.

With the win, Northwest moves to 28-4 on the season and their 12-2 record is now two better than Pearl River Community College who fell to Jones College in a sweep to fall to 10-4 going into the final two matches of the season.

The Rangers will travel to East Central on Wednesday night with a chance to set the all-time record in wins with the opening serve from Decatur set for 6:00 pm. The record isn't something the team is shying away from, but it's about more than putting a mark in record books, it's about playing for more than themselves in the end.

"We just talked about it in the locker room," McIntosh said. "We are definitely going for the most wins ever in a season but it's more than that. We are just here to win for each other. Every single win is just a chance for us to get closer together, to build as a team and to win for our coaches and fans around us, everyone supporting us."

Information on Wednesday's match and the full Northwest schedule can be found at nwccrangers.com. You can keep up with all things Rangers by following along on social media accounts.