Inconsistency, errors lead to Lady T-Birds home defeat
October 17, 2019

Inconsistency, errors lead to Lady T-Birds home defeat

Too many errors

Inconsistency, errors lead to Lady T-Birds home defeat

EDUARDO MIRANDA  NEWS-SUN

October 17, 2019

 

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EDUARDO MIRANDA/NEWS-SUN

Lady T-Birds' Makenzie Gerlach goes for a kill against two New Mexico Military Institute blockers in the first set. The Lady Broncos swept the Lady T-Birds 25-22, 25-19, 25-16 Thursday night at Caster Activity Center.

Consistency is one of the hardest concepts to put into practice in any sport.

The New Mexico Junior College volleyball team has been inconsistent in its inaugural season, and Wednesday night the Lady T-Birds got a lesson on why consistency is preached. The Lady T-Birds hosted the New Mexico Military Institute Lady Broncos — the No. 1-ranked team in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference — at Caster Activity Center. The Lady Broncos swept the Lady T-Birds 25-22, 25-19, 25-16.

"NMMI is a very consistent good team," Lady T-Bird head coach Alexandra LeHocky said after the loss. "We made too many errors and that really adds up against a team like NMMI. We tried a different rotation and I thought it would open up our main hitters. It did for the first two sets, the third we couldn't get past our errors."

The Lady T-Birds committed 18 errors with six serving errors, two double-hit errors, and one error apiece in four hits, a net violation, and line violation in the loss. Many of the errors were committed when the Lady T-Birds attempted a comeback against the Lady Broncos.

NMMI showed a consistently strong defensive play against the Lady T-Birds. The Lady Broncos used a one and two blocker approach and the back row showed impressive footwork and speed to reach hits from NMJC. On multiple occasions, strong hits from Lady T-Birds Makenzie Gerlach, Andrea Spasojevic, and Kristine Teivane were met by a NMMI player who popped the ball up for the server to place at the net for Lady Bronco hitters.

The Lady T-Birds watched on multiple occasions the NMMI players save what should have been a NMJC point. The Lady Broncos players were moving all around the court and it made it difficult for the home team to find an open spot for an easy point.

NMJC had moments where its defense was just as good, but that came in spurts. On too many occasions, especially in the third set, the Lady T-Birds found themselves flat-footed and unable to make an attempt to stop a hit. The late errors hurt any chance the Lady T-Birds had at making a comeback against NMMI. The Lady T-Birds had shown they can weather their errors and still make a push to win a set they were losing, but against NMMI, they could not find a way back in.

"Their consistency," LeHocky said on what her team can learn from the loss. "I will preach that all day, that team does not make errors and always plays at the same level. We are a team that is very up and down."

NMJC (13-16, 3-5) is fourth in the WJCAC with conference games on the road against Frank Phillips College on Saturday and Clarendon College Wednesday, Oct. 26. The Lady T-Birds' final home game will be against Western Texas College Saturday, Oct. 29.

The first set NMJC held a 14-13 lead but could not hold on to win the set. The Lady T-Birds committed five errors, had a block attempt go out of bounds, and had one kill attempt go long. NMMI used a 5-0 run to take control and eventually won 25-22.

NMJC kept the second set close with the Lady Broncos with both tied at 18-18 on a kill from Teivane. The Lady Bron cos scored the next four points from strong defensive plays that resulted in opportunities at the net. Teivane scored the final NMJC point on a kill and NMMI went on to win 25-19.

NMMI hit NMJC hard and fast in the final set, turning a 6-6 tie into a 12-6 lead. The Lady T-Birds committed two errors including a miscommunication that led to the ball dropping between a few players. From there the Lady Broncos took control and never let NMJC get into any rhythm to get the win In that span the Lady T-Birds scored on a Spasojevic block and kills from Spasojevic Teivane, and Cheyenne Mar tinez.