The NCTC volleyball team traveled to Midland College for the annual Kick-Off Classic Tournament on August 21st-23rd. The lady lions took on Midland College and North Idaho in the first two days of the tournament, dropping them in close, competitive matchups that went to extra sets. With a large group of freshmen seeing the court, the coaching staff is excited to see the growth to come.
Freshmen standout Kate Walraven made her college volleyball debut, leading the kill count against Midland with 10, hitting .304. The outside hitter from Alvarado also added 7 digs and an ace to start off her collegiate career. Returning sophomore and NCTC kill leader in the 2024 season, Emily Metzler from Lindsay also put up 9 kills on the match with 8 digs and 3 blocks.
Against North Idaho College, the freshmen setter combo of Alayna Francis from Richards, and Alexis De Vries from El Paso led the team offensively. Francis added 14 assists and 3 aces and De Vries put up 15 assists. Francis also put up 15 digs and De Vries added 10 digs. Metzler led the kill count with 10, followed by returning opposite, Emarei Brandon who had 9 kills. Alison Figueroa, a freshman libero from Houston put up 17 digs in the match and 4 aces as well. The team went an exciting 5 sets, falling short in the 5th 12-15.
In the last day of the tournament, the team faced New Mexico Junior College, a region rival, and Lee College. Standouts against NMJC included a pair of middle blockers- sophomore Joy-Lece Bateman of Lancaster and freshman Isabel Gabbert of Whitesboro. These two each put up 4 kills, hitting .200. Gabbert also added 5 blocks on the match.
In the matchup with Lee College, Gabbert led the way in efficiency as she added 6 kills with no errors, hitting an impressive .462. Walraven and Metzler each added 10 more kills, followed by Bateman who put up 6 kills. De Vries increased her assists count by 16, followed by Francis with 9 more. In the libero jersey for the match was freshman Austin Henderson from Lindsay, who made her debut putting up 14 digs on the match.
The lady lions look ahead to play in an upcoming tournament at McCook Community College non August 29th and 30th, then start conference the following week!