The lady lions volleyball team took three wins after a week of conference and tournament play. On September 2nd, the team played their conference opener vs Weatherford College at home. Fighting hard, the team took a set off the #2 nationally ranked team, but dropped the match in 4. Bouncing back, the team took their first conference win vs SWCC in Terrell on September 3rd. Standouts for the match included Alexis de Vries, the freshman setter from El Paso who earned 18 assists, 8 digs, 3 aces and a kill. Sophomore Kassidy Paul of Edgewood, TX took over the match offensively with 7 kills, hitting .375, followed by the freshman from Whtiesboro, Isabel Gabbert who put up 6 kills hitting .400.
As NCTC hosted their annual invitational tournament, the lady lions earned two big wins on day 1. Taking down Western Texas College, region rivals, in 3 sets, the team showed great depth. Leading the way offensively was the freshman outside hitter from Caddo Mills, Denim Crow, who earned 8 kills, 3 aces, and 11 digs. Kyla Williams, a middle blocker from Godley also made her debut earning 5 kills and hitting .571. Sophomore rightside hitter, Jamey Darwin, from Benson, AZ also added 4 kills on 8 attempts for a .500 performance.
In game two, the lady lions took a win against Wharton in a 5 set thriller, taking the last set 16-14. Kate Walraven of Alvarado had an impressive match, putting up 14 kills and hitting .250, along with earning 2 blocks and 2 digs. Additionally, Paul added 12 more kills hitting .281, and adding 3 blocks and 2 digs. Alison Figueroa, the freshman libero from Houston had her match high of 20 digs, aalong with 4 assists.
On day 2 of the tournament, the team dropped the first match to Dodge City Community College. For the second match, the team took the first two sets vs Panola College, but fell in a competitive five-set match. Paul and Gabbert each added 10 kills, followed by sophomores Joy-Lece Bateman, Emily Metzler, and Marlee Howard who added 6 each. Figueroa put up another 20 digs on the match, followed by de Vries who earned 14 digs and 17 assists. Alayna Francis, the freshman out of Richards also put up 17 assists and 8 digs.
Next up for the team is two more conference matches. The lady lions travel to Vernon College on Wednesday, September 10th for a 6pm game, then look to host Temple College on Saturday, September 13th at 1pm.