Volleyball sweeps Western Texas in Straight Sets

Volleyball sweeps Western Texas in Straight Sets

ARTICLE BY: MICHAEL BAUER | ODESSA AMERICAN

 

The Odessa College volleyball team wanted to take care of business again and was able to make some history in the process.

The No. 8 Lady Wranglers kept their winning ways going with a sweep, 25-19, 25-16, 25-16, over Western Texas College Wednesday at the OC Sports Center.

The win kept Odessa College (26-1 overall, 8-1 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference) tied for first place with New Mexico Military Institute in the WJCAC and also set a new program record for most wins in a single season.

"Tonight was a big win for us," Odessa College head coach Kristi Gray said. "We do a lot of reflections and setting goals every Monday. This team has done a good job of reaching the goals that they set for themselves so far this year."

Emery Judkins led the way for the Lady Wranglers with 16 kills while Lyric Love added 10 and Savannah Marenco had eight. Kensi Christian and Keyla Lara each had seven kills to lead the Westerners (6-18, 1-8).

The Lady Wranglers began the match on a promising note, taking a 6-3 lead in the first set. A kill by Lexi Parrish built the lead up to 10-5. The Westerners didn't quite go away, however, and kept their distance and eventually cut the deficit down to 21-18. The Lady Wranglers had enough left in them, however, to finish the first set.

Odessa College got off to a bit of a slow start in the second set but an early 5-0 run turned a 4-3 deficit into an 8-4 advantage.

It wasn't long before Odessa College used another run to take a 16-10 lead before Western Texas College called a timeout.

The stoppage in play helped the Westerners find some time to regroup for the moment earning two of the next three points. It mattered little; however, later on as an error from Western Texas College gave Odessa College a 19-13 lead and the Lady Wranglers were able to close out the second set from there.

The Lady Wranglers wasted no time trying to make sure the match ended in three sets and came out firing on all cylinders to take a 7-1 to start things off. A Western Texas College timeout stopped the surge briefly as the Lady Westerners added a couple points to cut the deficit.

It only lasted momentarily, though, as the Lady Wranglers responded with a 5-1 surge to take a 12-4 lead and another kill from Love later to build a 16-5 advantage.

A kill by Lyric Love extended Odessa College's lead to 16-5. The Westerner had a 3-0 run to try and rally but Odessa College eventually pulled away for the sweep.