FULTON – It was a banner day for the Northwest Mississippi Community College volleyball team (4-0) as they cruised to a pair of big wins at the Davis Events Center as part of the Itawamba Cross Over Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
The Rangers would roll to a sweep of Bevill State Community College (5-1) before downing Dyersburg State Community College (0-5) in straight sets, running their sets-won streak to 12 and giving the program its best start since it was formed in 2020.
"It's good to see multiple lineups and the girls starting to mesh together at the start of our season," Head Coach Allison Burchyett said. "We have a lot of things to work on but I'm very proud of how we started our season."
NWCC – 3, BSCC 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-20)
Match one got off to a great start for the Rangers, surging ahead to a 10-6 lead after seeing it tied at five in the opening points. The Bears would cut it back to 10-8, but Northwest responded with an impressive run of offense and defense to build the lead to 18-8, only to see Bevill State rally back to 21-18 over the next 13 points.
Northwest would get a Talley Taylor kill to set up the win, 25-21, as they were able to extend their consecutive sets won streak to start the season to seven.
Set two had a similar flow to it with less dramatic swings, with both sides trading points in the early going to an 8-8 tie.
Northwest would double up Bevill State over the next 15 points, pushing a lead to 18-13 and forcing a timeout from the Bears to slow momentum. The timeout worked, and the Rangers only scored two points over the next nine serves, with Bevill State tying the set at 20-all.
A hitting error followed by a dump over the net from Dallas White would squash the Bears' run, and NWCC reeled off four straight points to bring it to set point, eventually winning 25-21 to go up 2-0 in the match.
Things got very tight in the third set, and for the first time, it seemed as though the Bears were starting to wrestle command of the match away from Northwest, with several long rallies going to Bevill State on the way to a 12-10 lead for the Bears midway through.
After tying the set at 12, another run would follow from Northwest after they were down 15-12, resulting in a 16-15 lead after an Ariana Woods kill. Woods and Adalyn Callahan kept the heat on the Bears with more aces and kills to make it a 6-1 run and force a timeout going into the final points of the third.
Woods was key in the final push to rally back in the set, and she said that is what she is hoping she can be for the Rangers this year.
"My role is to be the person that we can go to in a tough situation, or when we need that side-out ball. I know as a middle we are sometimes overlooked in that spot, so I'm happy to be in a spot where my setters trust me, my teammates trust me to send a good ball, and maybe I can put it down," Woods said.
The push to win gave Burchyett a lot of confidence in how much the team has been understanding in preseason.
"We have to control what we can control, and when we have chaos to be able to steady it and get back into system as much as we can, so it's good to see the maturity and growth this early in the season," Burchyett said.
A brief answer from Bevill State did tie the set up again at 19, but it only lasted for a blink before the Rangers rolled off five straight points and closed the set and match on a Sofia Gonzalez kill to take it 25-20.
Ariana Woods led the team with kills again, continuing her run of double-digit kills to open the season with ten. Sofia Gonzalez added nine, and Valerie Hurdle picked up another eight. Talley Taylor wrapped up the leaders with six.
The balance continued into the setting game, where Dallas White and Chloe Rodriguez teamed up for 30 assists, with 14 for White and 16 for Rodriguez.
The Rangers had a strong game on the back line too, with Jania Rose picking up 18, which was just four away from her career best. Gonzalez added 15 of her own with the team picking up 65 total digs.
Their net play was also strong, helped by five blocks from Woods, including a solo, and three blocks, all assists, from Rodriguez.
"I think we did a very good job, especially considering we had so many freshmen who stepped out onto the court today, and I know that we will just continue to keep growing as a team," Woods said.
NWCC - 3, DSCC – 0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-20)
The opening set went about the same way as it would be expected after the way the first three matches had gone for Northwest.
After an early push gave the Rangers an 8-2 advantage, they continued to press forward to a 15-5 lead and their first advantage of double digits in a set and would close it out with a 25-12 win.
The Eagles woke up and came out with a different intensity in the second set, leading early at 3-2 and 4-3 until NWCC was able to push in front at 6-5 for the first time. That wouldn't last, as Dyersburg went back up 10-8, only to see ties again at 11 and 12.
An ace by Woods and a kill from Gonzalez swung the game dramatically in the middle of the set, leading to a 9-2 run and a 21-14 lead to close the door on the second set and give the Rangers a massive advantage with a 25-14 win going to the third set.
Northwest would put their bench in for much of the final set, getting off to a slower start while they found their rhythm and trailing 6-3. They would tie the set at eight, though, and in that run would extend the lead to 13-8 with a return of the starters to the court for a few rotations.
Dyersburg wouldn't fade completely, but an answering run never developed, and Northwest would finish off the day 4-0 thanks to their fourth sweep to open the season.
Woods again led the Rangers in kills with 13, hitting .360 while adding in two aces and picking up three digs. Gonzalez and Valerie Hurdle both continued their impressive starts to the season with seven kills each, and Northwest picked up 39 assists, led by 18 from Rodriguez and 11 from White.
Defensively, the back line was in good form, earning 69 digs, led by 14 from McIntosh and another 11 from Gonzalez. Both White and Callahan finished with nine each.
"Our back row communicates very well," Woods said. "A lot of girls get to the right spots and positions, and I think that they just trust each other, and that is the most important thing. We worked a lot in preseason on that."
This is the best start in program history to a year and marks the first time the Rangers have had back-to-back days at any tournament where they have finished 12-0 in sets played.
"I'm excited to see the balance we have," Burchyett concluded. "We have balance on offence, good strong ball control on defense, both defensively and with free balls. There are some things to fine-tune, but I'm very proud of what we are starting with."
They will be back on the road again on Tuesday with a trip to face Williams Baptist University in a scrimmage before hosting Coahoma Community College on Wednesday night at home at Howard Coliseum. The opening serve of that match is set for 6:00 PM, with streaming available at nwccrangers.com/watch.
Keep up with updates from all Northwest athletics by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following along on Ranger social media accounts.
