PREVIEW: No. 6 NMMI set to clash with Apaches in first round of nationals

PREVIEW: No. 6 NMMI set to clash with Apaches in first round of nationals
Posted: Nov 16, 2021

Peter Dindinger – NMMI Sports Press

No matter the size of the obstacle, the New Mexico Military Institute Bronco volleyball team has been determined to rise to the occasion day in and day out.

Sporting a 30-4 overall record, the Broncos are heading back to the NJCAA Division I Championship for the first time since 2019.

NMMI received the sixth overall seed at nationals and will take on No. 11 Tyler Junior College at 8 a.m. MST Thursday in Hutchinson, Kan., for the opening round.

The Broncos were the final team to earn an automatic bid to the tournament after sweeping Arizona Western in the Southwest District B title match.

Riding a 17-game win streak, NMMI captured its first Region V West title since 2018 with a sweep of New Mexico Junior College on Nov. 6 in Odessa, Texas.

NMMI has an impressive resume with quality wins over Monroe College, Iowa Western, Central Wyoming and Hill College, which are all in the field of 16 for the Division I tourney.

The Broncos also swept Johnson County, the fourth overall seed in Division II.

NMMI's last appearance at nationals resulted in a top 10 finish as the ninth-best team in the nation.

This marks the seventh appearance at nationals for the Broncos since 2013. NMMI qualified for the tournament four years in a row from 2016-2019.

Tyler enters the match 26-11 as the Mid-South District B champ out of Region XIV. The Apaches have won nine of their last 11 games.

This will be the first meeting between both squads since Oct. 20, 2019.

>>TOP LIBERO: Mio Yamamoto ranks fourth in NJCAA Division I in digs with 719 … Her 5.9 digs a set is sixth-best … The freshman tallied a season-high 45 digs during a five-set win over Iowa Western on Oct. 16.

>>THIS AND THAT: Katarzyna Niderla has the second-best hitting percentage (.381) in the nation, just seven points behind the leader … Niderla also ranks fifth in both block assists (124) and block total (151) … Marian Ovalle's 452 kills are eighth-best … Her 544 total points rank eighth while she is fourth in points per set (4.6).

>>SOLID UNIT: The Broncos rank in the top 10 in five different categories … NMMI's team hitting percentage of .255 is sixth-best in the nation … The Broncos have tallied 2,308 digs on the year, which is 10th-best … The 19.2 digs per set ranks ninth … At the net, they have 302 blocks that ranks ninth … NMMI averages 16.8 points per set which is sixth-best.

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