Northwest Mississippi Community College opened the Region 23 volleyball tournament with a three-set victory over Meridian, winning 25-9, 25-12, 25-17 Wednesday night at Howard Coliseum in Senatobia.
The No. 16 Rangers improved to 37-0 overall and 10-0 in conference play, while Meridian finished 16-17 and 2-8. Northwest seized control early in the first set, using four Adalyn Callahan aces during an 8-0 opening run. The Rangers later built an 18-1 lead and closed the set when Callahan’s serve set up a Valerie Hurdle kill.
A six-point service run by Ariana Woods helped Northwest take a 7-1 lead in the second set. The Rangers maintained the advantage for a 25-12 win. Meridian briefly moved ahead 2-1 in the third, but Reese McIntosh’s two aces helped fuel a five-point run that put Northwest in front 6-3. Sofia Gonzalez later helped spark another five straight points as the Rangers pulled away for the 25-17 finish.
Woods paced the offense with 10 kills, two aces and four blocks, including a solo block, for 14.5 points. Hurdle had eight kills without an error, while Gonzalez added seven kills and also finished without an error. Kylee Garcia contributed five kills. All but one Northwest player recorded a kill.
Dallas White had 15 assists and one kill, and Chloe Rodriguez recorded 19 assists, two kills and three block assists. Callahan led the Rangers with nine digs. Hurdle and Rose had six apiece, while McIntosh and Gonzalez each had five.
Northwest was scheduled to host the Region 23 semifinals and championship Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. The Rangers’ semifinal against Jones College was listed for 2 p.m. Saturday. Pearl River Community College and Itawamba Community College were scheduled to play the other semifinal at 5 p.m. The championship was listed for 2 p.m. Sunday, with the matches set to stream on RangerTV.
