ELLISVILLE - In one of the biggest tests of the season to date, the Northwest Mississippi Community College Volleyball team (16-2, 7-0) took down the defending Region 23 champions on the road at Jones College (10-1, 6-1), handing the Bobcats their first loss of the season in a four-set thriller, 25-21, 25-16, 21-25, 25-18. 

"I'm so proud of how our team came together to beat a good Jones team," Head Volleyball Coach Allison Burchyett said. "Keys for success continue to be our balance offense, tough defense, and aggressive serving. These girls kept their composure and recovered from our own errors and I'm super proud."

The Rangers got off to a brilliant start in the opening set when Jamia Rose and Dallas White led service runs that built up a 15-8 lead over the Bobcats. Jones did closed the gap several times to as little as two points, but Northwest never surrendered the lead or gave up a tie on the way to a 25-21 win to set the tone early. 

Northwest got off to an even better start in the second set with a pair of 3-0 runs that helped them to a 9-4 advantage over the Bobcats. That lead was whittled away and Jones eventually tied the set at 12-all forcing a timeout by the Rangers that was perfectly placed. From there NWCC kept the Bobcats off balance with tough serves that kept them out of system and finished on a 12-4 run, taking the set 25-16 to go up 2-0 in the match.

As was expected, Jones came out swinging in the third in front of their home fans. The Bobcats took the lead early, however the first 30 points didn't see either side get the advantage. It featured 12 ties and five lead changes before Jones was able to break the serve at 16-14, going on a run to build a 20-15 lead. Northwest still almost rallied back, closing to 22-19, forcing Jones to take a timeout and while the Bobcats did take the set 25-21, the Rangers had recovered their swagger heading into the fourth. 

Chloe Fesperman led a 4-0 service run to recapture momentum for the Rangers and the lead grew to as much as five. A stumble by NWCC in the middle of the set where four hitting errors came in quick succession nearly gave Jones the push they needed, but a pair of timeouts by the Rangers helped to settle the nerves and Adalyn Callahan ended the run with a kill to keep the Bobcats within striking distance of the Rangers who were only down 14-11. NWCC turned the set on it's ear from there, spreading the attack around and tying the set on a Ariana Woods kill before an Avin Mathis ace gave them the lead at 18-17. It was all part of a 14-3 run to close out the set with the Rangers taking it 25-18 and with it a 3-1 match victory on a Fesperman service run and ace to close it out. 

Fesperman was clutch throughout with ten kills and an ace to lead the effort and was joined in double figures by Woods who picked up ten kills of her own. Mathis added seven kills and three aces. Nine Rangers recorded a kill in the match and both White and Chloe Rodriguez had strong games setting the ball with 17 and 18 assists respectively. The NWCC defense was also good at the net, picking up four solo blocks while their serving game added nine aces in the match. 

The Rangers didn't have a single set where the team hit below .100 and as a group tallied 16 kills to only four errors in their dominant win in the second set. 

The Rangers will take their 13-match winning streak home with them where they face off against Pearl River on Wednesday night. Action begins against the 12-6 (6-1) Bobcats at 5:00 pm from Howard Coliseum. The match can be streamed online at RangerTV with the stream going live at 4:50 pm. You can also follow along on Ranger social media accounts.