MC Volleyball Wins Tough Match at WTC, Faces Lady Wranglers

By Forrest Allen
Midland College Athletic Director

Coach Tammie Jimenez felt strongly that the Midland College Lady Chaparral volleyball team's match at Western Texas College would be a five set contest. In fact, she expressed that very sentiment in a local newspaper interview prior to last Saturday's match against the Lady Westerners in Snyder. Entering the match Midland College had won four consecutive matches, including two straight in the WJCAC. That conference win streak included a five set thriller against WTC, in Midland on October 10th.

Midland College (20-6, 7-1) came out in impressive fashion in the first two sets versus Western Texas (19-7, 4-4). The Lady Chaps were dominant in the first (25-18) and strong throughout the second set (25-21) to spurt to a two games to none lead in the match. In the third and fourth sets, the Lady Westerners showed a determination and fortitude that eroded Midland's two set lead. WTC won the third by a score of 25-18 and fourth, 25-20, to level the match at two game apiece. In the fifth MC jumped out to an early lead and reasserted themselves to close out the match 15-12.

The Lady Chaps are currently alone in first place in the conference standings, 1.5 matches ahead of second place Odessa College. The Lady Chaparrals will travel to Odessa on Wednesday, October 24th for a 7:00 p.m. match with the Lady Wranglers. A Midland College victory will cement the 2012 WJCAC title (third consecutive), and more importantly, will give the Lady Chap's the #1 seed in next week's NJCAA Region V Tournament (October 31-November 1) in Lubbock, TX at the Rip Griffin Center located on the campus of Lubbock Christian University.

MC was led by the freshman tandem of Raiza Kochhann and Gaby Nieto who recorded 16 and 14 kills respectively. Lady Chap sophomore Victoria Smith also contributed seven kills in the contest. Freshman setter Kristina Gafford led everyone with 44 assists, while sophomore mainstay Dragana Cvoric chipped in 11 digs to lead the Lady Chaps in that category. Cvoric was followed by Sarah Allen, Marina Salazar and Gafford who each recorded eight digs. As a team, the Lady Chaps blocked a total of 15 WTC attacks, led by Nieto's five (two solo, six assists).

Next Matches: Wednesday, October 24 @ 7:00 p.m. Midland College @ Odessa College at the OC Sports Center; Saturday, October 27 @ 2:00 p.m. New Mexico Military Institute @ Midland College (Sophomore Day) at the Al G. Langford Chaparral Center.