The No. 12-ranked Odessa College volleyball team recovered from last weekend’s loss by defeating Amarillo College in straight sets in a Western Junior College Athletic Conference matchup Wednesday at the OC Sports Center.
The Lady Wranglers won by scores of 25-14, 25-16, 25-15 to improve to 14-6 overall and 2-1 in conference.
Odessa College was coming off its first loss in WJCAC play, suffering a five-set defeat against No.3-ranked New Mexico Military Institute this past Saturday on the road.
“I think that’s just the conference that we’re in,” Odessa College head coach Dayana Acevedo-Rios said. “NMMI is a really good team. We’re very even and anything can happen. I think the girls bounced back and took care of business. They focused on our side instead of focusing on what Amarillo College was doing on their side.”
The Lady Badgers fell to 8-11, 1-2.
“I think the biggest thing was that we focused on was how we took care of things on our side,” Acevedo-Rios said. “It was ugly at times but we were able to bounce back pretty well.”
Amarillo College was coming off its first conference win, defeating Midland College in four sets this past Saturday at home.
“I thought Odessa College played well,” Amarillo College head coach Scott Sandel said. “I thought we had too many errors and allowed them to control the match.”
The Lady Wranglers built a 16-11 lead in the first set.
It was soon 23-13 after an error by the Lady Badgers.
The Lady Wranglers used a 2-1 run to close out the set and take a 1-0 lead.
Amarillo College used a 3-1 run to take an early lead in the second set.
Odessa College went on a quick 3-1 run of its own to tie things up at 4-4.
Both teams continued to keep the set close and a kill by Lauren Dale gave the Lady Wranglers an 8-7 lead.
Odessa College soon took a 13-9 advantage before a timeout was called.
It was 17-11 soon after.
An error by the Lady Wranglers made it a five-point set.
A kill by Alondra Villanueva helped Odessa College to a 22-15 lead.
The Lady Wranglers were able to close out the set and take a 2-0 advantage.
The Lady Badgers began the third set with a 3-0 lead.
Odessa College responded with a 5-0 run.
A kill by Hanna Nemeth helped the Lady Wranglers to an 11-7 lead before a timeout was called.
Odessa College soon had a 13-9 advantage.
The Lady Wranglers kept up their momentum and went on a 5-0 run.
It wasn’t long until the hosts had a 20-10 lead and soon completed the sweep.
Odessa College will next face No. 13 New Mexico Junior College on the road at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Caster Activity Center in Hobbs, N.M.
“I feel like we’re taking one game at a time,” Acevedo-Rios said. “Now that this game is done, we can look ahead and prepare for NMJC. We’ve seen them multiple times in a tournament in the preseason so we know what to expect. They’re a really good team. They’re really dynamic. It’ll be an interesting game.”
The Lady Wranglers’ next home game will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 2 against Frank Phillips College.
Amarillo College will next face Clarendon College at 2 p.m. Saturday at First Bank Southwest Center in Amarillo.
Both teams will face each other again on Oct. 19 in Amarillo.
“For us, we’re still a new program, we’re still trying to learn how to play at the level that we need to be playing at to compete in this conference,” Sandel said. “I feel like we just need to step up and compete and win matches like this.”
