FULTON – In what was one of the tightest battles for #20 Northwest Mississippi Community College all season long, the Rangers volleyball team rallied after dropping the first set to Itawamba Community College (12-11, 3-3) to take the match 3-1, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 to remain perfect on the year at 30-0 and 7-0 in MACCC play.
"Itawamba played really, really well," Head Coach Allison Burchyett said. "So, we want to give them credit. We know we have a target on our back at all times, and it kind of felt like we were going through the motions at times, but they were playing really well."
The Indians came out hot in the opening set, pushing their way to a 6-2 lead to put the Rangers on their heels, but Northwest rallied, going on an 11-4 run to take the lead and stretch it to 15-12, forcing an Itawamba timeout.
It became a very back-and-forth set after that until the Indians put the hammer down, winning seven straight points, keyed by strong blocking at the net to take a 24-21 lead. They would close the set two points later, and for the first time all season long, the Rangers would have to battle uphill after dropping an opening set.
In between sets, Burchyett said she just reminded the team of how they have played all year.
"We just took a deep breath, and I asked them to step up our play, minimize our errors, and do what we do well, and the girls responded well," she said.
Itawamba seemed to keep that momentum rolling in the early second set when they surged to a 3-0 lead, but the two teams kept in shouting distance as ties became the word of the day, appearing at 3, 4, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, and 20. Neither team would be able to get a lead larger than three until the final serve for Northwest, when they went on a 3-0 run to close out the set 25-21 and even the match at one set apiece.
"We just decided to play our game," Kylee Garcia said. "Obviously we knew Itawamba was going to bring their A game, and we needed to treat them with that same respect, and I think that's what we did at the end."
The close play continued in the third, and again it featured the Indians coming out hot early, building a 5-3 lead in the opening points. The seesaw flipped back to the Rangers on three kills from Valerie Hurdle and Adalyn Callahan to get the lead back and some separation at 10-8, and from there, Northwest wouldn't trail again, going up as much as 21-14 on a Sofia Gonzalez service run.
Garcia, who had the best game of her collegiate career, hitting .550 with 11 kills and no errors, came up big in the second and third sets in key moments to keep the momentum on their side.
"I think it's very important in those moments where it's tight to not be afraid," the freshman said. "I was just trying to swing and find open spaces. I didn't want to play scared because I know in tight games that isn't the way to go about it."
Itawamba did close the gap back to as little as two when they went on an 8-3 run, but by then, Northwest was on the verge of the set win and held on to take it 25-22 for the 2-1 lead.
With their backs to the wall, the Indians once again did what other teams have struggled to do, and that was to take an early lead on Northwest, being the first team all season to hold leads in the opening ten points in every set, going up 5-4 and eventually leading 9-7.
Jania Rose took the serve, and the momentum shifted on what was a 6-0 run from the Rangers that flipped the lead back to Northwest, going up 13-9. The story wasn't over, though. Itawamba rallied to tie the set again at 16, 17, and 19, and it seemed inevitable that the match was destined for a photo finish, but Northwest looked again to Rose, who let another 6-0 run, including two aces from the sophomore libero and four kills from four different Rangers, to close the set and match with the 25-19 win.
The win wrapped up a long stretch on the road, with six games away from home in the last six days, and Burchyett said the team handled it extremely well.
"We have just stayed mentally strong, and that is huge," she said. "The girls are really making the effort to do that. It's a tough thing to do to be on the road, not be in your own bed, and to come out and play the game that we love, so kudos to our ladies for buying in and staying strong, staying together as we continue to take each match one match at a time."
With their 30th win of the season, the Rangers tie the mark for most wins by a team in program history, set by the 2025 team in the quarterfinals of the Region 23 tournament last year.
"It's crazy," Garcia said. "This is an awesome team, and I'm so happy to be a part of it. We had crazy chemistry from the jump, and we all play with each other. We have something that no other team has, and we use that against every other team. Even in games like tonight, when some of our top players may not be having their best match, we know other players will step it up for them."
Dallas White had 25 assists in the match, becoming just the second Ranger ever to surpass the 1000 kill mark in a career, joining Layla Dyer in the feat, who did it during her time from 2023 to 2024. Chloe Rodriguez also put herself on the edge of the same feat as well and is just 10 away from joining White in that category with 25 assists herself.
On the attack, it was Sofia Gonzalez who led the way, improving her kill tally to 322 on the year with 18 more, while hitting at .345 along the way. Hurdle finished with 13 and Garcia's 11 rounded out the Rangers in double figures.
The outsides were where the hot hands were through the game, and Burchyett said not having to rely on just one or two positions is what makes them so successful on the attack.
"We were really working the outside and the right side; that was the most successful for us tonight, and kudos to the hitters for going to the outside hands and tooling the block and just reading the block better," she said. "It all helped us to be successful in the end."
Ariana Woods added eight kills, and Talley Taylor finished with four for the contributions from the two middles, who both added block assists as well, and Woods picked up a pair of aces.
Speaking of aces, the Rangers had three from Gonzalez, and two each from Reese McIntosh and Rose.
Rose added 22 digs from the back line in one of her better performances to lead the team. Gonzalez added 18 for a double-double, and Adalyn Callahan picked up 11. White also finished with a double-double, adding 10 digs of her own on a night when the back line was busy with the aggressive attacks from the Indians.
The Rangers will have their final match of the week, and their seventh match in a row away from home, on Thursday when they travel to Rust College to take on the JV team in Holly Springs.
You can find more information on that match and the full Ranger schedule at nwccrangers.com or by following along with Northwest social media accounts.
