In three straight sets, the 17th-ranked Odessa College volleyball team used a certain formula.

The Lady Wranglers would trade points with Western Texas College, then midway through the set they went on a long rally and finally all they needed to do was hang on.

Odessa College recreated that formula for a 25-21, 25-18, 25-12 sweep against the Lady Westerners in a WJCAC match Wednesday at the OC Sports Center.

"Those runs are really nice to go on, because we feel like we take the other team's energy and we just feed off of that," said Odessa College sophomore outside hitter Alison Fuata, who ended with 11 digs, eight kills and two aces. "Even at away games, we feed off the crowd. It keeps us going."

With the win, the Lady Wranglers moved to 23-4 overall, 7-0 in conference play. The Lady Westerners dropped to 20-10, 3-4. The win also marked the fifth time the Lady Wranglers finished with a sweep over a conference opponent.

Odessa College sophomore libero Amanda Santos said the team opened the season with aspirations of making the NJCAA National Tournament. The Lady Wranglers reached the championship game of the Region V Tournament a year ago, but lost to Frank Phillips College.

"We have to work hard and be focused," Santos said. "Our team is like a family. We have each other's backs. Sometimes we have bad games, but that happens. We had a bad game on Monday and we came back to have a great one."

In the first set, the Lady Wranglers made their move at 10-10.

Odessa College went on a 6-2 run to create its four-point advantage. Western Texas College came within one point, 20-19, but Makenzie Rainone knocked down one of her team-high 13 kills to put the Lady Wranglers back out to a two-point advantage. Fuata supplied two of final three points for the first-set win.

"We practice to not let other teams go on more than two or three point runs," Odessa College head coach Kristi Gray said. "We work on that a lot."

That trend continued as Odessa College went on 8-1 and 10-0 runs midway through the second and third sets, respectively, that helped the team take commanding leads. Raevyn Kaupu and Halley McKnight supplied 19 and 12 assists, respectively, while Santos ended with 10 digs and two aces. Anna Rupertova and Chandler Lippincott each had five kills.

Western Texas College head coach Whitney Estes said after the match that it was tough to slow down Odessa College. The Lady Westerners held 10 ties throughout three matches, but all came before the Lady Wranglers went on runs.

"Odessa College just did a really good job of finishing long rallies," Estes said. "Both sides played really good defense, but they were able to finish. We had a hard time with that. They served tough. Everybody struggles when you can't pass the ball in serve-receive."

During the first practice, Fuata — who transferred from Minot State (N.D.) — saw team's potential.

Odessa College hasn't had many problems this season, especially over the last four weeks. The Lady Wranglers held a 12-match win streak, but that came to end in Monday's 3-1 loss to Ranger College. Fuata said Monday's match was a reminder the team needs to continue to improve.

 "When we have (bad) games, we usually have one or two people that get down," Fuata said. "It has never been the whole team, so it was a different environment for us. We didn't really know how to come back from that. The next day we put that in the past and looked to the new day. That was a good learning experience for us. To have all those wins and then to have that loss kind of humbled us in a way."

The Lady Wranglers continue their season traveling to Midland College at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Odessa College defeated the Lady Chaps in their first meeting, but Gray knows it won't be easy to pick up a second win.

"Midland is always a tough match," Gray said. "The girls have been working and I'm excited, because I know it's going to be a good, tough match."

Article by Royal McGregor OA