PENSACOLA, FL – The Northwest Mississippi Community College volleyball team kept up their torrid start to the season with two more straight-set victories over Highland Community College (KS) (5-4) and Snead State Community College (2-5, 1-1) to improve to 8-0 on the season with a still spotless set record of 24-0.
It was all part of a quick trip to Florida for the Pensacola State Invitational and the second of four tournaments the Rangers have on the schedule this season.
NWCC 3, HCC 0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-21)
Northwest was able to pull ahead early in their match with the Scotties, pushing to a 15-11 advantage in the opening set before finally breaking loose after winning a long rally to go up 18-13. That turned into an 8-4 run to close out the set for the 25-17 win.
It was the Scotties who came out charging early in the second set, bashing their way to an 8-5 lead before a timeout was taken by Burchett. After the conversation in the huddle, the Rangers rallied back to even the score at 9-9 and went on a 4-1 run after the tie to establish a 13-10 lead thanks to some impressive play at the net.
The Rangers tried to put the set away with a service run from Ariana Woods that gave them a 17-11 lead, but once again Highland wouldn't go away, fighting back to a 19-19 score until a Sofia Gonzalez kill would close the run and give Northwest the lead for good. They would go on to win the set 25-20 for a commanding 2-0 lead.
Both sides traded scores and leads in the opening of the third set as the Scotties found their backs against the wall, but again, the Rangers would be the first to break loose, going up 12-7, and this time the gap would hold. Highland got as close as 21-18 and 23-21, but Gonzalez would close out the set with an ace, and the Rangers picked up the win 25-21 for their seventh consecutive sweep to open the season.
Northwest finished the game with a familiar two faces with double-digit kills, paced by Gonzalez with 13 and Woods with 11. Valerie Hurdle picked up a career-best nine kills with just one error on 18 chances to lead the Rangers in hitting percentage with a .444.
The attack was fed by the duo of Chloe Rodriguez (17 assists) and Dallas White (15 assists) and four other Rangers were able to help as well, including another four assists from Jania Rose.
Rose was also big on the defensive end with a stellar showing on the back line, racking up 24 digs for her best performance of the young season to date, compiling over two-thirds of the Northwest digs and being the only player who reached double figures.
Blocking was another strong point for Northwest, with eight total blocks, including a solo and four assists from Woods and three assists from Rodriguez.
As a team, the Rangers earned 56 of the 75 points they scored as a team.
NWCC 3, Snead State 0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-15)
Consistency was the key for the Rangers in their straight-set win over Snead State to close out their weekend in Pensacola, rolling over the Parsons in a sweep thanks to another pair of big games from Woods, who finished with 14 kills and was a part of seven blocks, including one solo, and Gonzalez, who added 10 kills on 18 attacks while hitting .500 in the match.
As a team, the Rangers hit .320, only committing eleven errors in the match, and piling up 42 kills, which marks the fourth time the team has breached the 40-kill mark in a sweep this year.
Rodriguez and White were strong again, with both picking up 16 assists, and six other players picked up assists along the way, showing the squad's ability to still score when out of system.
Northwest was also very aggressive in the serving game, getting three aces each from Adalyn Callahan and Gonzalez on the way to eleven total aces.
The Parsons didn't mount much of an attacking presence against Northwest, only forcing the Rangers to make 40 digs in the match, with Gonzalez and Rose both picking up nine each.
Northwest will move back into MACCC play next with a pair of matches against fellow Region 23 foes, with a road trip to East Central Community College (0-3) on Monday night at 6:00 PM before returning home to take on Itawamba Community College (4-1) on Wednesday night at 6:00 PM at Howard Coliseum.
Find streaming information and stay up to date with all of your Ranger volleyball news at nwccrangers.com or by following Northwest social media accounts.
