SENATOBIA – A busy start to the final week of the regular season continued on Tuesday night for the #16 Northwest Mississippi Community College volleyball team (35-0) as they picked up a pair of wins over the Henderson State University and Rust College JV teams at Howard Coliseum, running to a pair of sweeps on the way to keeping their perfect season alive and rolling.
"I feel like we all played as a team today," sophomore setter Chloe Rodriguez said. "I feel like we went in and did our job and got the games overwith.
There were plenty of chances for some of the reserves for the Rangers to take to the court, and Rodriguez added that it really has been fun to watch them get opportunities down the stretch.
"Sometimes we get more excited for them to get the kill than the normal people, and I feel like it makes everyone feel good about themselves. It shows we really are a close team and we all love each other so much."
NWCC 3, Henderson JV 0 – 25-11, 25-13, 25-11
There wasn't much doubt in the opening match for the Rangers as they cruised to their second win over the Reddies this season, using everyone on the roster along the way and seeing the team hit .278 as a group on the way to the victory.
Ariana Woods led the team in kills with 13, adding a pair of block assists and a service ace for 15 points in the match to lead all attackers. Sofia Gonzalez finished with seven kills, and Ma'kayla Hill had her best game as a Ranger, picking up five kills and only one error in two sets of play.
Thirteen total players finished with a kill, and everyone had at least one attack in the match. Passing was led by Rodriguez, who had 20 assists, just ahead of Dallas White, who finished with 18. White added a pair of aces and had seven digs.
Jania Rose was the top back-line player for the Rangers, getting 15 digs in the match. As a team, Northwest had 49 digs.
NWCC 3, Rust JV 0 – 25-14, 25-12, 25-18
It was another chance to go deep into the bench for the Rangers in their second match with Rust in less than a week, and the Rangers took care of business, spreading the ball around with 44 kills distributed to 12 players and nobody picking up double digits along the way.
Woods was the top attacker again with nine kills, followed closely by Amaure'I Jones with eight for a new career high. Kylee Garcia finished with six, and both Valerie Hurdle and Gonzalez finished with five each.
Rodriguez had another strong game, setting the ball, picking up 23 assists, and White was just behind with 17 more.
It was another good day on the back line for Rose, who picked up another 14 digs, surpassing the 750 mark in her career and leading the Rangers to 47 total as a team.
Northwest didn't serve the ball particularly well, with only eight aces, but they did get three aces from White and another two from McIntosh, who made it past the 100-ace mark in a career as well, joining White and Rose in that category on the year.
The Rangers weren't looking for flashy numbers during the matches, though, as it was a chance to work on new things and get better in a non-practice environment.
"I feel like we can always improve our offense with different shots and different teams," Rodriguez said. "We have our weaker spots too, so we are always looking for ways to strengthen all of our spots while having to find their weaker spots. In a game, you have to be able to adjust against another team so it's good to play win new ways to attack.
The Rangers improved to 35-0 on the year with the wins and will now look to close out the regular season on Wednesday night against Coahoma (0-14, 0-9) at Howard Coliseum. Opening serve is scheduled for 6 p.m., and the match will be streamed on Ranger TV, with the pregame show beginning at 5:55.
Keep up with all Northwest athletics by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following along on Ranger social media accounts.
