Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press
Despite not having any fans in the stands, student athletes at the New Mexico Military Institute got their chance to compete on the volleyball court for the first time in a year and three months.
It was a sight for sore eyes.
The Lady Colts battled hard on offense and defense, however they couldn’t quite come out on top as the Gateway Christian Warriors won in straight sets, 25-16, 25-20, 25-17, on Monday night at the Godfrey Athletic Center.
Each game will be a learning experience for NMMI as it tries to improve and work out the kinks.
“That’s why we have our first game and we get to match up with somebody besides our JV team, so we can see where our strengths our and some of the things we do need to work on. I’m proud of them,” said NMMI head coach Stephanie Schooley.
In the opening set, the Lady Colts (0-1) took an early 4-1 lead. The Warriors fought back to tie the set at 5-5 until Olive Amechi tallied an ace to put NMMI ahead.
Gateway tied up the set once more before the Lady Colts went on a 5-0 run.
With NMMI holding a 12-9 lead, the Warriors came back once again to tie the score twice more.
The Warriors (1-0) closed out the set with an 8-1 run to take win by nine points.
In the second set there were nine different lead changes in the score.
It was a back and forth affair between each team early in the set until JayCee Payne got an ace to put NMMI ahead by one.
Gateway tied the set at 7-7 before the Lady Colts surged ahead with a 5-1 run highlighted by another key kill from Amechi.
The set see-sawed to the very end when the Warriors broke an 18-18 tie to win by five.
To begin the final set, NMMI found itself in a hole early on, trailing 11-7 after Kamryn Ryan gave her team a point off a service ace.
NMMI had trailed by as much as eight points before they chiseled the deficit to five.
The Lady Colts showed a lot of grit but they fell short 25-17.
Of course, it’s an early start to a very condensed season. There’s still a lot of little things that need to be ironed out, but Schooley was pleased.
“I’m just really proud of my girls for stepping up and not just rolling over and not finishing the game,” she said. “We got some good swings. Olive (Amechi) had some great swings up at the net, running some faster tempo paces.
“I saw so many great things from every single player that was out there on the floor. We just need to figure out how to put it all together. I think it’s going to be a positive experience.”
>>JV WINS NAIL BITER: NMMI won in two sets over Gateway (25-18, 28-26)
>> UP NEXT: NMMI plays at Hondo Valley at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 2.