Despite having some injuries, the Odessa College volleyball team still manages to consistently dominate on the court.  The Lady Wranglers (10-4) swept the Wrangler Classic with a 25-15, 25-17, 25-8 win against Eastfield College Saturday afternoon at the OC Sports Center.

As of late, Odessa College has been thriving off its high energy.  "We talked about consistency and energy. We've got to play more consistent and always bring energy to the table," Odessa College head coach Kristi Gray said. "That's something we spoke on after the first couple sets."

In the first set, the Lady Wranglers overcame a 5-5 tie after a kill by Alexis Parrish. From that point on the switch was flipped and Odessa College's offense found a rhythm.  Parrish added another kill to give her team a 15-8 lead. Parrish came into the clutch once more to extend Odessa College's lead to 10 points.

The Lady Wranglers kept up the consistency on offense to take the set and carried that momentum into the second set. After three ties in the score, the Lady Wranglers took the lead on a kill by Carly Evetts.  Odessa native Tristiana Abila delivered a kill to make the score 9-6.  Still riding the strong flow on offense, the Lady Wranglers took a six-point lead in the middle of the set.  Parrish tallied a kill to make the score 22-15. Odessa College held on to win the set, 25-17.

The Lady Wranglers showed their dominance in the final set.  After tallying three unanswered points, Odessa College held an 8-1 lead.  Evetts had another kill to extend Odessa's lead to eight points and the run continued until the Lady Wranglers held a 20-6 lead.  Odessa College finished off the Lady Harvesters with a 25-8 victory in the third set to earn the sweep.

The Lady Wranglers went undefeated at their own tournament, defeating beat Laredo Community College, Garden City Community College and Blinn College before Saturday's finale.

Parrish led the way with 12 kills while Rashai Kailiwai and Evetts each had six kills.  Amanda Oliveira tallied 20 assists while Summer Ah Choy added 10. Faith Sanchez had a busy day on defense with 11 digs and Kailiwai had 12.

 "From the beginning of the season we've all had a good connection together, and bringing the energy to the court really brings the momentum," Sanchez said. "We have a fast pace, and once we get it going we keep the energy and it wins games."

Odessa College takes on New Mexico Military Institute at 8 p.m. Wednesday for a WJCAC match before competing in the Cedar-Valley Tri Meet on Saturday.

"I think for us it was just being consistent," Parrish said. "We would hit a few balls out of bounds and then we would get a few kills. So it was just finding that balance to just get the ball in the court and not missing too many.

"Our bench is really deep and we could put anybody on the court, anytime."

Article By Peter Dindinger: Odessa American
Photo Mark Rogers: Odessa American