SENATOBIA – The Northwest Mississippi Community College (10-0) survived their second test from a fellow Mississippi program, taking down Itawamba Community College (5-2) in a non-conference battle at Howard Coliseum, sweeping the Indians 25-15, 25-10, 25-22 as they continued their spotless start to the season, improving to 30-0 in sets played.
"It's really impressive, but with the team we have, this is what we should be doing," freshman outside hitter Sofia Gonzalez said about the impressive start to the year. "We work for it, and it's what we should be doing as a team."
The opening set was tense early, with Itawamba tying the match at 3 after an early surge from the Rangers, but another 3-0 run by NWCC gave them the lead in the set for good. ICC stayed close through 20 points, with the score at 11-9, before an eight-point run on the serve of Laney Wier gave the Rangers the cushion they needed at 19-9, finishing the set with the same ten-point edge at 25-15.
Set two started similarly, but a steady parade of miscues and hitting errors by the Indians would doom them early, and a blistering attack from the Rangers saw them make no errors on 17 attacks and tally seven kills on the way to a dominant 25-10 win.
Itawamba responded in the final set, digging in to take the lead and hold it through the first seven points until an attack from Gonzalez tied the set at four, and they would take the lead for good when ICC made back-to-back errors, giving NWCC a 7-5 advantage.
This time, Itawamba didn't back away from the challenge, fighting back to tie the set at 11, 13, before taking a lead they would grow to three at 18-15, giving the Rangers some adversity for the first time on the home court.
Northwest responded well, rolling off another long service run thanks to Wier, who led a charge to a 22-18 lead that would be more than enough on the way to a 25-22 victory for the tenth sweep of the year for the Rangers.
The attack was led by Ariana Woods, who finished the match with eleven kills while hitting .318 on 22 attacks. Gonzalez was strong as well, finishing with nine kills, and Valerie Hurdle was the third option with seven kills on just 15 attacks.
The attack has continued to go through Woods, and that has opened the court for other hitters to see more success on their attacks.
"It's really nice because, if it's a really good pass, they know it's going to Ari, so she takes the block on one side, and over here we just have an open net. She may not get the credit for the kill, but it's a team thing, and we all benefit," Gonzalez said.
Both setters finished with 12 assists each from Chloe Rodriguez and Dallas White, and Wier was also key with five assists in out-of-system plays.
The Rangers were also strong defensively on the back line, where six Rangers were able to get five or more digs, led by Wier with nine, followed by Gonzalez with eight and White with seven.
"Everyone talks a lot," Gonzalez said. "It's a different level, and they are always uplifting. It's really encouraging because you get to see a different side of people on the court."
Northwest has a well-deserved week off after a busy start to the season and will be returning home on Tuesday, September 8th, when they host the Williams Baptist University JV team at 6:00 PM at Howard Coliseum. The match will be streamed on Ranger TV.
Keep up with the Northwest volleyball team by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following Ranger social media accounts.
