At times this season, the No. 4-ranked Odessa College volleyball team has made it look too easy.
Now, the Lady Wranglers know what to expect from the rest of the teams in WJCAC as the team begins the second half of conference play this weekend.
Odessa College wrapped up the first part of WJCAC play with another dominating, sweeping win, this time against Midland College as the Lady Wranglers won by scores of 25-9, 25-12, 25-16 Wednesday at the OC Sports Center.
The team now sits at 21-2 overall and 6-1 in conference play with that one loss coming against No. 7-ranked New Mexico Military Institute in five sets back on Sept. 16 at home.
The Lady Wranglers will begin the second half of conference action with a 2 p.m. road game Saturday against Western Texas College (13-11, 2-4) in Snyder.
“It’s always exciting because we’ve already played everyone so they know what we can do and we know what they can do,” Odessa College head coach Dayana Acevedo-Rios said. “It’s being more familiar with what each other can do so it’s going to be a bigger battle but I’m excited. I think our girls have momentum and they’re staying confident and getting better every day. It’s awesome to see them show up for practice every day, willing to work hard.”
The Lady Wranglers will get a chance to avenge their first loss to New Mexico Military Institute in a 7 p.m. game Oct. 11 in Roswell, N.M.
However, Acevedo-Rios said it’s hard to avoid the temptation of looking too far ahead as the team tries to take it one game at a time.
“I think our girls are a little bit salty about that loss but I told them that they have to focus on themselves getting better because the reason that NMMI beat us were some things that we needed to work on ourselves,” Acevedo-Rios said. “They have been focusing on that. The next time we see them, we’ll be better than when they last saw us.”
There’s also the tough rematch against nationally-ranked New Mexico Junior College Oct. 18 in Hobbs, N.M.
NMMI sits in first place in the WJCAC standings at 19-4, 7-0.
But aside from the loss to New Mexico Military Institute, Odessa College has cruised through conference play, winning five of their games in straight sets. The one exception came in the team’s 3-1 win over No. 9 New Mexico Junior College (20-3, 5-2) last month.
The Lady Wranglers have posted sweeping victories over Clarendon College (winning by scores of 25-13, 25-10, 25-11), Frank Phillips College (25-19, 25-11, 25-10) Amarillo College (26-24, 27-25, 25-23) and Western Texas College (25-14, 25-12, 25-16).
Devyn Lewis has led the team with 281 total kills overall and 206 digs while Kayla Williams has 211 kills and 185 digs and Hanna Nemeth with 173 and 135 digs.
Dynasty Andrews and Liliana Mechura have been a strong force at the net as both have 35 blocks each.
“I think the girls are doing really well,” Acevedo-Rios said. “We have a very dynamic team. they’re very strong and very fast. I think New Mexico Junior College has a lot of offense in terms of fast attackers. I think both NMMI and New Mexico Junior College are a good matchup for our team. They’re going to challenge us and push us. I’m excited to see where this goes and going into the regional tournament, we’re going to take it one game at a time.”
The Lady Wranglers know they aren’t satisfied as they aim to get back to the NJCAA tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. after missing out last year.
With the second half of conference play and the Region V tournament coming up, the biggest concern for Acevedo-Rios is consistency.
“When we get ahead, we kind of start being careless with the ball so that’s one of the things that concerns me,” Acevedo-Rios said. “We have to control our side. But in terms of anything else, I think our girls are getting better every day. We have to work on the mental side of it.”
