On Wednesday night Mexico Military Institute opened the Region V Volleyball tournament with a 3-0 win over Hill College at the Betty Jo Crumm Graber Athletic Center in Weatherford, TX. NMMI improved to 24-8 overall and earned a spot in the semifinal on Friday afternoon.
SET 1
Coming off four straight wins, NMMI used that momentum to open the 2025 Region V Volleyball championships with a 6-1 run to open the game, forcing a quick timeout by Hill College. However, the timeout did not stop any of the Bronco rhythm as they took a 16-9 advantage to force another timeout by the Rebels.
Like the first timeout, it did not impede the NMMI control. The Broncos closed out the first set with an impressive 9-1 run as they secured the first set 25-10.
SET 2
The middle set was slightly different as Hill College was able to keep it close through the first few points. They were able to take a slight 7-4 lead and continue to increase their advantage with the help of a couple attacking errors by the Broncos.
As the back and forth continued, Hill College enjoyed a 15-12 lead but it wouldn't last long. From that point NMMI conducted a 6-1 run as they took a 18-16 lead after being down since the start of the set.
With the help of great defense, NMMI came back to secure the middle set 25-19.
SET 3
With a 2-0 lead the Broncos did not allow Hill College back in the match. The Broncos opened the final set with a 10-2 run as the Rebels were forced to take a timeout and stop the NMMI momentum. Like the timeouts in the first set, they did not seem to work.
Following the timeout the Broncos went on a short 4-1 run to take a 14-3 advantage and force Hill College's final timeout of the year. Behind a .333 team hitting percentage, the Broncos secured the match with a dominant 25-14 win in the final set to advance to the Region V Volleyball semifinal.
Head Coach Shelby Forchtner on the opening round win, "we played similar to how we've been playing the end of the year with great intensity … I just hope we can come out tomorrow with that same effort and intensity," Forchtner said. "Our biggest thing is take one game at a time, we know we needed to play well in this one to get to the semifinal and that's what we did. We didn't have our focus on anything else but these three sets, Forchtner said.
UP NEXT
The Broncos return to action tomorrow, Friday November 7 when they take on host Weatherford College at the Betty Jo Crumm Graber Athletic Center. First serve is set for 2 p.m. CST.