SENATOBIA - After garnering 30 wins for the first time in program history, and becoming the first team from Mississippi to eclipse that mark, the Northwest Mississippi Community College volleyball team will look to build upon a highly successful 2025 season.
After a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Pearl River in the second round of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament, NWCC ended their 2025 season with a 30-6 record, and Northwest expects to be right back in the mix for a conference and region championship.
"My expectations are high for this group," Head Coach Allison Burchyett said. "We want to make a strong post-season run."
With eight freshmen and eight sophomores making up the 2026 Northwest volleyball roster, the Rangers will hope to use both experience and raw talent to their advantage.
NWCC will see their top two offensive players return in outside Adalyn Callahan and middle Ariana Woods. An undersized front row player, Callahan led the team with 336 kills. Callahan also came in second on the team leaderboard for digs with 315.
Following right behind Callahan on the kills leaderboard, Woods accumulated 323 kills throughout the 2025 season. Woods also led the team in total blocks with 13 solo blocks and 67 assisted blocks.
Additionally, Woods and Callahan were given All-MACCC honors at the end of the season with Woods being named to the first team and Callahan being named to the second team.
The Rangers will also see a staunch defensive force return in All-MACCC second team honoree defensive specialist Jania Rose. Rose led the team with 385 digs, 67 aces, and accumulated a 0.973 serve receive percentage on 291 serve receptions.
Planning to run a two-setter system once again, the Rangers will return both Dallas White and Chloe Rodriguez. After the 2025 season, both White and Rodriguez already find themselves on both the career and single-season all-time assists leaderboard with 593 and 475 assists, respectively.
"Our sophomores bring both experience and mental toughness to our team," Burchyett said. "They lead offensively and defensively with a team first mindset."
Not only does Northwest have a strong sophomore contingent, they have several exciting freshmen looking to make an impact.
The four-time state champion and three-time 6A Miss Volleyball, Sofia Gonzalez, will reunite with her setter from high school in White and look to contribute immediately as an outside hitter. Another exciting freshman, Valarie Hurdle, also brings a state championship pedigree to the Rangers.
"The freshmen will bring a lot of skill and depth, and I look forward to watching them grow and develop throughout the season," Burchyett said.
NWCC has already gotten their season off to a phenomenal start, going 4-0 at the Alabama/Mississippi Crossover Battle while not dropping a set and beating #22 Pellissippi State Community College along the way.
The Rangers' season continues when they travel to Walnut Ridge, Ark. on August 25 to take on Williams Baptist University in an exhibition match before returning home to welcome a first-year program in Coahoma Community College for their home opener Wednesday, August 26.
NWCC will then travel to Pensacola, Fla., on August 28 to participate in the Pensacola State Invitational. This will be the team's second tournament of the year.
After traveling to East Central Community College on August 31, the Rangers will have a two-game homestand when they welcome both Itawamba Community College and Williams Baptist to town on September 2 and September 8, respectively.
Once again hitting the road, Northwest takes on the Meridian Community College Eagles on September 9.
In their last non-conference matchup, NWCC will welcome Northeast Mississippi Community College to town on September 14.
The Rangers will hit the road on September 16 for a matchup against Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in their first MACCC contest.
On September 18 and September 19, the team will travel to Cullman, Ala., to participate in the Wallace State Tournament. While in Cullman, they will take on Lawson State Community College, Northwest-Shoals Community College, Roane State Community College, and Wallace State-Hanceville Community College.
Northwest then welcomes perennial MACCC powerhouse Jones College to Howard Coliseum on September 21.
Then, the Rangers will have three consecutive road games. After traveling to Northeast for MACCC play on September 23, the Rangers will then travel to Arkadelphia, Ark., on September 25 to take on Henderson State University's JV squad and Champion Christian College.
NWCC will then have two crucial conference matchups at home with Pearl River Community College coming to town on September 28 and East Central coming to town on September 30.
On October 3 and October 4, Northwest will participate in the Alabama Gulf Coast Classic. During this tournament, the team will face Bishop State Community College, Lurleen B. Wallace Community College, Snead State Community College, and Enterprise State Community College.
To begin the last month of the season, the Rangers will travel to Copiah-Lincoln Community College on October 5 before traveling to Itawamba on October 7. On October 8, NWCC will travel down the road to Holly Springs to take on Rust College's JV squad.
The Rangers will host the Meridian Eagles on October 12. Then, the team will travel to Summit to take on Southwest Community College in their last road conference matchup.
To wrap up the season, Northwest will host both Henderson State's JV squad and Rust's JV squad on October 20 before closing out the regular season with a home matchup against Coahoma.
"This is such a fun group to coach, not only because of their talent but also the unique personalities they bring to our team," Burchyett said. "It's hard to not have fun when everyone is bringing their best all of the time."
To stay up to date on the NWCC volleyball team, follow the Ranger social media accounts or go to nwccrangers.com. Coverage of home games can be found on Ranger TV.
