NMJC (VB) Begins 2025 Season at Midland Kick-off Classic

The Thunderbird volleyball team begins the 2025 season at the Midland Kick-off Classic in Midland, Texas Thursday, Aug. 21.

NMJC starts the tournament with a match against North Idaho College on Thursday at 5 p.m. CDT. The team will then have their second match on Friday, Aug. 22 against Lee College at 4:30 p.m. CDT. 

The third and fourth matches take place Saturday, Aug. 23 versus NCTC at 8 a.m. CDT and No. 3 Colby CC at 2 p.m. CDT.

All matches will be streamed on TSBN sports and can be found on the NMJC athletics website volleyball schedule under the video tab.  

The team has been together for a couple weeks now and is starting to come together as a unit according to NMJC women's volleyball head coach Holli Reyna.

"This group has a great attitude and work ethic," Coach Reyna said. "Putting together a cohesive team in two weeks is hard, but having athletes with a good attitude and work ethic really helps the process evolve faster." 

In 2024, the T-Birds posted an 18-15 record and made it to their fifth straight Region V Tournament. NMJC returns six sophomores to the lineup, led by 2024 WJCAC Newcomer of the Year Andjela Sojic. Sojic led the team in kills with 352 last season and kills per set at 2.77. The five other returners are WJCAC All-Conference middle Zaira Romero, WJCAC Honorable Mention middle Duda Tonella, Leticia Neves, Ava Kincaid, and Rebecca Rosculet.

"The returners have done an outstanding job for us," Reyna said. "Since the end of last season, we've worked really hard at molding them to take over leadership of this team. So far, they have all stepped up and shown more confidence, more leadership, and have matured so much athletically and mentally. I have been super proud of them since Day 1 this year."

The T-Birds left a hole in their lineup after the departure of sophomore libero Sofie Caballero but a standout has emerged in practice to shore up the spot on the court. 

"Freshman Zuzanna Zalewska has done a great job taking a leadership role on the floor as a libero," Reyna said. "She is vocal, she moves well and is not afraid to take charge. All things you want in a good libero! I am excited to see what she can do."

The T-Birds are knocking off some rust as they start the season. NMJC lost their two main setters from last year, Taina De Lima Nunes and Sude Omercikoglu, and are still building continuity with three freshmen on the court. 

"We've really been working a lot on building connections with our setters and hitters. We have three freshmen setters who have had to come in and learn our offense very quickly, so we just need consistency across the board this weekend to be successful. It's really hard to replicate the speed and power involved at this level, and I think once we have a few matches under our belt, it is going to help grow the connections and consistency we need."

T-Bird fans can find the livestreams for this weekend's action by clicking on the following links vs. North Idaho, vs. Lee College, vs. NCTC, and vs. Colby.