Lady T-Birds volleyball win home finale

Lady T-Birds volleyball win home finale

JASON FARMER NEWS-SUN
Sunday October 27, 2019

The New Mexico Junior College volleyball team strengthened its hold on the No. 4 spot in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference with a four-set win over Western Texas College Saturday in the Lady Thunderbirds final home game of the season. With the win, NMJC improves to 16-16 on the season and 6-5 in WJCAC play.

New Mexico Junior College dropped the first set, falling 25-18. The Lady T-Birds fell behind 5-0 and were never able to catch up. However, they did play manage to keep the score close after spotting Western Texas College an early 5-0 lead.

"We had a rough first set," NMJC coach Alex LeHocky said. "It takes our team at least 10 points to wake up, but this time it took a full set to wake up."

In the second set, the Lady T-Birds got a 25-19 win. They trailed as late as 16-13, but rallied to take an 18-16 lead. Then, behind the serving of Valeria Trevino, the Lady T-Birds pulled out the victory to knot the match at 1-1.

The third set was a back and forth affair. NMJC led and trailed, however, the Lady T-Birds were never down by more than two points. With NMJC leading 14-13, Andrea Spasojevic made her soccer play, keeping the ball in play. That spurred a rally that ended with NMJC taking the point.

"Kicking is allowed. You can use your head or basically any part of your body," LeHocky said. "This is why I always tell them to never give up on a ball and to go after every ball because you will be surprised with what happens."

The Lady T-Birds closed out the third set on a 7-2 run to get the win. Once again, Trevino was instrumental in the late run, registering five service points and an ace.

"Her serve is phenomenal," LeHocky said. "She really knows how to make her ball drop which is really hard to pass."

By the time the fourth set started, NMJC had seemingly worn the Lady Westerners out.

In the fourth set, the Lady T-Birds opened with a 5-0 run. It was their first set-opening lead of the match. Spasojevic recorded three aces during the run.

"In between the third and fourth set, (Spasojevic) said I am sorry, but I can not serve today. I cannot figure it out," the Lady T-Birds coach said. "I said just get it in the court, that is all I care about at this point and then she turns around and in the fourth set gets (three) aces. … When I took the pressure off of her, she really excelled."

Spasojevic had a big game for the Lady Thunderbirds. The freshman from Serbia had 10 kills and six aces. She also made a great kick to keep the ball in play during the third set.

"Offensively, she has found her rhythm again," LeHocky said. "She kind of lost it for a few games, but she found it again."

NMJC built its lead to 11-4 and eventually 18-8. The Lady T-Birds sputtered a bit late in the match, allowing Western Texas to think it was climbing back into the match. The Lady Westerners closed the gap to six points, but that was as close as the home team let the visitors get. NMJC won the set 25-17.

Kristine Teivane had eight kills and a block for the Lady T-Birds while Makenzie Gerlach had three kills and two aces.

New Mexico Junior College will close out its inaugural regular season with a match at Odessa College on Saturday at 5 p.m. (CDT).

"We are preparing for Odessa and Odessa is a very good team," LeHocky said. "We have all week to practice and watch film and prepare for them. I am definitely excited to see what this team can do next Saturday."

Lady T-Birds volleyball win home finale

JASON FARMER NEWS-SUN
Sunday October 27, 2019

The New Mexico Junior College volleyball team strengthened its hold on the No. 4 spot in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference with a four-set win over Western Texas College Saturday in the Lady Thunderbirds final home game of the season. With the win, NMJC improves to 16-16 on the season and 6-5 in WJCAC play.

New Mexico Junior College dropped the first set, falling 25-18. The Lady T-Birds fell behind 5-0 and were never able to catch up. However, they did play manage to keep the score close after spotting Western Texas College an early 5-0 lead.

"We had a rough first set," NMJC coach Alex LeHocky said. "It takes our team at least 10 points to wake up, but this time it took a full set to wake up."

In the second set, the Lady T-Birds got a 25-19 win. They trailed as late as 16-13, but rallied to take an 18-16 lead. Then, behind the serving of Valeria Trevino, the Lady T-Birds pulled out the victory to knot the match at 1-1.

The third set was a back and forth affair. NMJC led and trailed, however, the Lady T-Birds were never down by more than two points. With NMJC leading 14-13, Andrea Spasojevic made her soccer play, keeping the ball in play. That spurred a rally that ended with NMJC taking the point.

"Kicking is allowed. You can use your head or basically any part of your body," LeHocky said. "This is why I always tell them to never give up on a ball and to go after every ball because you will be surprised with what happens."

The Lady T-Birds closed out the third set on a 7-2 run to get the win. Once again, Trevino was instrumental in the late run, registering five service points and an ace.

"Her serve is phenomenal," LeHocky said. "She really knows how to make her ball drop which is really hard to pass."

By the time the fourth set started, NMJC had seemingly worn the Lady Westerners out.

In the fourth set, the Lady T-Birds opened with a 5-0 run. It was their first set-opening lead of the match. Spasojevic recorded three aces during the run.

"In between the third and fourth set, (Spasojevic) said I am sorry, but I can not serve today. I cannot figure it out," the Lady T-Birds coach said. "I said just get it in the court, that is all I care about at this point and then she turns around and in the fourth set gets (three) aces. … When I took the pressure off of her, she really excelled."

Spasojevic had a big game for the Lady Thunderbirds. The freshman from Serbia had 10 kills and six aces. She also made a great kick to keep the ball in play during the third set.

"Offensively, she has found her rhythm again," LeHocky said. "She kind of lost it for a few games, but she found it again."

NMJC built its lead to 11-4 and eventually 18-8. The Lady T-Birds sputtered a bit late in the match, allowing Western Texas to think it was climbing back into the match. The Lady Westerners closed the gap to six points, but that was as close as the home team let the visitors get. NMJC won the set 25-17.

Kristine Teivane had eight kills and a block for the Lady T-Birds while Makenzie Gerlach had three kills and two aces.

New Mexico Junior College will close out its inaugural regular season with a match at Odessa College on Saturday at 5 p.m. (CDT).

"We are preparing for Odessa and Odessa is a very good team," LeHocky said. "We have all week to practice and watch film and prepare for them. I am definitely excited to see what this team can do next Saturday."