T-Bird Volleyball Starts Season 3-1 at Midland Kick-off Classic

No. 10 NMJC volleyball went 3-1 this weekend at the Midland Kick-off Classic with wins over North Central Texas College, Panola College, Lee College, and a dropped game against No. 18 Colby CC. 

Match 1: NMJC Vs. NCTC 

The Thunderbirds began the year with a win over North Central Texas in straight sets on Thursday evening.  

The T-Birds were in a tight one toward the end of the first set with NMJC clinging to a two-point lead 23-21. A block by Suncica Lekic and Leticia Neves gave NMJC set point. NCTC had a hitting error the next point giving the T-Birds a 25-21 win in the first set.

The T-Birds cruised the next two sets winning 25-18 and 25-17 for a three-set sweep.

Outside hitter Ava Kincaid led the way with eight kills and Leticia Neves added six kills in the win over North Central Texas College. Suncica Lekic recorded six blocks as the T-Birds finished with 22 blocks on the evening.

Sude Omerickoglu recorded a double-double with 13 assists and 10 digs. The Thunderbirds as a team had seven service aces in the first match of the year.

Match 2: NMJC vs Panola 

Friday afternoon the T-Birds competed in their second match of the Midland Kick-off Classic against Panola College.

The T-Birds won in four sets over the Ponies to move to 2-0 on the season. 

The Thunderbirds won the first set without any hiccups 25-18. The T-Birds were battling in the second set as they were knotted up at 22 apiece. The T-Birds won the second set 25-22 following a hitting error by Panola, an ace by defensive specialist Izabella Rabelo, and a tip kill by Iza Caroline da Silva to take a two set to none lead.

The T-Birds trailed Panola 19-18 in the third set. The Ponies outscored NMJC 6-3 over the next nine points to avoid the sweep and win the third set 25-21. The Thunderbirds were up 14-11 in the second set and then went on a tear with an 11-4 run to close the match and win 25-15.

Outside hitter Ava Kincaid finished with a career-high 10 kills and six digs. Iza Caroline da Silva had a career-high 13 kills. Duda Tonella added 10 blocks and six kills.

Andjela Sojic finished with 10 kills and eight blocks. Sude Omerickoglu recorded her second straight double-double with 23 assists and 10 digs. Sofie Caballero notched a team-high 13 digs in the match. 

Match 3: NMJC vs. Colby CC

The No. 10 T-Birds had an early wakeup call Saturday morning when they faced No. 18 Colby CC at 8 a.m CDT. NMJC suffered their first loss of the year falling to the Trojans in straight sets.

The Thunderbirds dropped the first set 25-18. The second set was a back-and-forth affair with the Thunderbirds clinging to a 23-22 lead. The Trojans tied the score at 23-23 with a kill and took the lead 24-23 after a hitting error from Iza Caroline da Silva. 

Controversy arose during set point. A tip by Leticia Neves was blocked, but the blocker for Colby touched the antenna. Confusion arose and the referees could not come to a decision, so the point was replayed. The replaying of the point went the way of Colby as the T-Birds overpassed the ball and it was promptly killed by the Trojans to win the set 25-23. 

The T-Birds lost their steam and were overpowered in the third set losing 25-12. NMJC acquired their first loss of the season falling to 2-1 on the season.

Andjela Sojic finished with a team-high seven kills and three blocks. Outside hitter Ava Kincaid added five kills and libero Sofie Caballero recorded nine digs. Sude Omerickoglu finished the morning with 12 assists.

Match 4: NMJC vs. Lee College

The T-Birds looked to get back on track when NMJC took to the court Saturday afternoon against Lee College in the final match of the Midland College Kick-off. The T-Birds overcame a 2-1 deficit to rally back and win in five sets over the Navigators.

Lee College entered the final day of the tournament 0-3, but they sure did not look defeated Saturday afternoon.  

The first set was as competitive as a fan could've asked for with the Navigators and Thunderbirds experiencing 17 lead changes.

The T-Birds had set point, 24-23, following an ace by setter Taina de Lima Nunes. Lee punched back scoring three points in a row to win the first set 26-24.

The Thunderbirds woke up in the second set and handled Lee 25-16. The Navigators once again played well in the third set and led 24-20 as the T-Birds tried to rally. NMJC could only muster two points before being dispatched in the third set 25-22. 

The fourth set was a grind as well. NMJC was leading by only two late in the fourth, 20-18. The T-Birds scored five straight points via an Iza Caroline da Silva kill, Zaira Romero kill, da Silva ace, Milka Krajisnik overpass kill, and a Leticia Neves kill to win the set 25-18.

NMJC trailed 7-5 in the deciding fifth set, but then rattled off four straight points to take a 9-7 lead. The T-Birds were up 14-12 and had match point when Andjela Sojic finished off the Navigators with a kill down the line that touched the floor following a block attempt.  

Libero Izabella Rabelo finished the five-set thriller with a career-high 22 digs. Outside hitter Leticia Neves recorded a career-high 16 kills and nine digs. Outside hitter Ava Kincaid finished with a career-high in digs with 13, while tallying six kills.   

Andjela Sojic, Iza Caroline da Silva, and Zaira Romero notched 10 kills apiece in the win over the Trojans. Setter Sude Omerickoglu finished with 23 assists and Taina de Lima Nunes added 22 assists.   

T-Bird volleyball head coach Holli Reyna was intrigued with what her team was able to do in the first weekend of the season.  

"I think this weekend reinforced everything we have been working on and why it is important," Reyna said. "We definitely have the ability and talent, now moving forward there is a better understanding of where our strengths and weaknesses lie and where we can improve."

The Thunderbirds are head and shoulders above much of the competition when it comes to size and this year it's a noticeable benefit when it comes to stopping the attack of their opponents.  

"We definitely have a size advantage over most teams at this level," Reyna said. "After attending the national tournament last season, I knew we needed to be bigger and that was a recruiting focus. We still need work on how to use our size at the net, but I am excited to see it come together as we've definitely been having some great 'AHA' moments."

Coach Reyna has a lot to look forward to next weekend when NMJC plays in the Blinn College Labor Day Tournament.  

"Our biggest focus is to be more aggressive in all aspects of the game as well as constantly improving our volleyball IQ," Reyna said. "Now that we have a weekend under our belt, I think this young team understands where we need to go and how competitive we need to be to get there."

The Thunderbirds (3-1) will play four matches this weekend in the Blinn College Labor Day Tournament split between Aug. 30-31.

NMJC will play Navarro College at 9 a.m. CDT and Blinn College Aug. 30 at 1 p.m. CDT. The T-Birds play Trinity Valley CC at 9 a.m. CDT and Tyler JC at 3 p.m. CDT. The match livestreams can be found by clicking here.