The New Mexico Military Institute Bronco volleyball team closed out their regular season with a convincing three-set win against visiting New Mexico Junior College: 25-15, 25-14, 25-18.
11 kills by freshman outside hitter Annistin Lustig led the Bronco offensive charge, with a very solid .409 hitting percentage. Sophomore Michelle Mlikan knocked down 7 kills; and freshman Leila Ayala had six.
NMMI middles, sophomore Drianyeliz Ramos Cora and freshman Maria Konwerska tied for the block title, each with four assisted blocks.
The Broncos also served up seven aces against the Thunderbirds - two each by Cora and freshman Kae Sato and sophomore – while only committing one service error.
Three players had double-digits in digs, topped by Sato's 18; Mlikan had 15; and 14 more for sophomore setter Eduarda Bicahlo.
"This was a very good win for us," said NMMI head coach Shelby Forchtner. "We've actually been playing pretty good these last couple of matches, and it's nice to see at the end of the season all the work that we've put in come full circle."
NMMI finished up conference play with four straight wins to give them a 11-3 mark in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference, tied with Frank Philiips College.
The first tiebreaker under conference rules is head-to-head competition in conference play. NMMI won 3-2 vs. FPC in their first match-up on Sept. 24, but the Plainswomen won 3-2 on Oct. 18.
The second tiebreaker was also in a knot, since both matches went five sets, with each team winning five total sets in the two matches.
NMMI won the third tiebreaker, which moves on to total points scored in all the head-to-head matches: The Broncos scored 227 total points across those 10 sets played, with FPC tallying 210.
This makes the Broncos the WJCAC's No. 2 seed in the 2025 NJCAA Region V Championships, held next week in Weatherford, TX beginning Thursday, Nov. 4.
This year the bracket for the Region V Tournament changed from double-elimination to single-elimination. Region V still gets two 'automatic' bids to the NJCAA National Championships - that means that the two teams that advance to the regional title tilt will punch their ticket to Clarksville, TN.
With the two-seed, NMMI will take on the North's No. 3 seed, Vernon College in the first round of play.
We will soon post more information about regionals, such as match times, a complete bracket, and live-stream links, on our nmmiathletics.com website and/or our NMMI Athletics social media pages (Facebook, X, Instagram).