NMJC Falls in Four Sets, Bounces Back in Match Two

NMJC struggled Saturday morning against Navarro losing in four sets. The T-Birds followed up the match one loss with a sweep over Victoria College to move to 8-4 on the season.

The Thunderbirds were unable to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the morning matchup versus Navarrro falling 3-1 in four sets (25-20, 25-18, 24-26, 26-24).

Iva Popovic led the attack for NMJC with 16 kills. Maggie Machado added 11 kills and 11 digs to her season total. Gaby Arias rounded out the attack for the T-Birds with eight kills. Setter Lacie Schooley chipped in with 28 assists and 13 digs. 

Libero Luiza Arsufi notched 12 digs and defensive specialist Milena Cernjanski posted nine digs in the loss.

The afternoon matchup for NMJC went much smoother. The Thunderbirds cruised through match two with a 3-0 win over Victoria College (25-12, 25-16, 25-9).

Freshman Iva Popovic had a match-high 13 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Maggie Machado chipped in 12 digs and 5 kills in the win. Gaby Arias finished the match with seven kills and middle blocker Karielys Maldonado added five kills in the sweep.

Setter Lacie Schooley finished with 28 assists and libero Luiza Arsufi posted a 10 dig performance to close out the Blinn Invitational. 

The Thunderbirds will play in the NMJC Classic Friday against Trinidad State at 12 p.m. MST and Tyler Junior College at 4 p.m. MST.