GULF SHORES, AL – The Northwest Mississippi Community College volleyball team improved to 24-4 with a pair of wins to close out tournament play on Saturday, taking down Stead State Community College (15-5) and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (12-9) in a pair of sweeps.
The day opened with the Rangers jumping all over Snead State in the opening set, using a 6-0 run to break away from the Parsons to go up 11-4. Northwest finished the set off with an 8-2 run to close out a 25-15 win in the early morning match that opened at 8:00 AM EST.
Set two was much closer. The Parsons took the early advantage with a 5-2 lead forcing the Rangers to call an early timeout to settle the momentum down. After rallying to tie the match at eight, Northwest took their first lead at 10-9 but a 4-0 run from Snead State pt them back in control at 13-11.
That lead grew to as much as 18-14 but Northwest fought it back to 20-19 late in the set. The Parsons put the set on the brink six points later, taking a 24-21 advantage and were one point away from evening the match but the Rangers buckled in and won the next five points to take the set in extras 26-24.
Snead State took the punch and returned it in the third set, looking to avoid a sweep from Northwest and once again, took a lead after a five-point run gave them a 6-5 lead. The Rangers tied the set at 6 and again at eight, but it wasn't until they were down 10-8 that Northwest really took control.
An eight-point run that was powered by serving put the match and set firmly in the Rangers control, giving them a 16-10 lead that never was trimmed to closer than four points on the way to a 25-19 final set win and a 3-0 victory in the match for their third sweep at the tournament.
The set saw one of the more balanced attacks from the Rangers this season, with eight players combining for 37 kills, led by eight from Aven Mathis and Adalyn Callahan. Ariana Woods continued her strong tournament with another seven and Chloe Rodriguez had her best match of the tournament with four kills and a block assist to go with 12 assists.
Dallas White led the Rangers in assists in the match with 14 and had three aces to go with them.
Defensively, Hassie Clare Thurman lead the team with 13 digs in the back row being joined by Jania Rose with 11 digs. As a team, Northwest had 64 digs which was one of the highest totals for the team in a sweep this season.
The tournament closed with a battle with Gulf Coast that goes as a non-conference match for the two sides, but saw the Rangers repeat their previous performance against MGCCC with a second sweep of the Bulldogs this season.
Set one wasn't a sure thing by any means despite an early lead being built by Northwest to go up 16-11 midway through the set. A timeout by the Bulldogs resettled them and they began to march back into the set, closing to within two at 20-18 and later trimming the lead to one at 22-21 and 24-23. Northwest held off the charge to take the final point and the opening set.
Gulf Coast ran out to a 4-1 lead to start the second set, but Northwest took the lead back at 5-4. After it was tied at fives, the Rangers turned around to go on a 11-5 run on a slow build to get a cushion before closing the set with an impressive 6-2 run that gave them a 2-0 lead in the match after the 25-15 win.
The third set was much more balanced between the two sides. There were eight ties on the way to an 8-8 score and three lead changes on the way, but the Rangers again were able to wrestle control of the match from the Bulldogs in the middle points, slowly pulling away to make it 18-12 to force another Gulf Coast timeout.
The lead grew up to 24-14 and after a flurry of points from Gulf Coast closed it to 24-17, Northwest finished off the set and the match with a 25-17 win.
Northwest saw a pair of double digit matches in kills from Callahan (11) and Woods (10) and Mathis finished just shy of being a third with nine kills, but she was one of the more impressive of the match, committing no hitting errors and hitting .600.
White had 20 assists and was just ahead of Rodriguez who put up 18 to lead a passing game that helped the Rangers hit an impressive .329 as a team.
The Rangers moved to 20 games above .500 with the win as they head into a well-earned day off on Sunday after playing eight matches in six days, winning seven of them including knocking off a ranked opponent.
They return to action on Monday when they get a second shot at Gulf Coast in Perkinston in the second conference match against the Bulldogs this season. Opening tip of that match is scheduled for 5:00 pm and can be streamed at mgcccbulldogs.com/watch.
More information can be found on the Northwest schedule by visiting nwccrangers.com, or by following along on Ranger social media accounts.
