Badgers flash potential to begin Sandel era

Potential and expectations were largely an unknown for the Amarillo College volleyball team heading into their season-opening tournament in Weatherford, Aug. 18-19.

If early indicators hold true, the second-year program has the ability to take a significant step forward this fall under the direction of first-year Badger head coach Scott Sandel.

Amarillo College tallied a 2-2 record at the two-day event and were the only squad that took a set from Weatherford College, the defending NTJCAC champion who swept the 11th ranked team in NJCAA DI, Blinn Community College, the day prior.

"That set showed we can play at that level, it's just a matter of maintaining it. Weatherford is a playoff team so they showed us what that level is like," Sandel said of his team's match against the Coyotes. "This first tournament showed me that we can get there but we need to maintain a great focus to be a dominate team or win at a high percentage."

Amarillo College recorded a pair of dominant victories against Dallas College-Richland and Dallas College-North Lake during the tournament while suffering setbacks against Panola College and the host.

Sophomore outside hitter Maddie Kellogg recorded a team-high 31 kills over four matches, adding four aces and four blocks to her season-opening stanza.

The Badgers were lethal at the service line as Sandel's unit tallied 39 aces, led by freshman Ellie Okikawa and sophomore Taylor Irving, who recorded eight apiece.

Sophomore D'Leah Hill led the team in blocks with seven stuffs to average just under two block per game.

Amarillo College split reps between setters and were paced by returning starter, Carli Colbert, who tallied 92 assists over the tourney. Okikawa dished out 73 assists.

Irving was the pack leader in the Badgers back row. The Randall High graduate average just over 14 digs per match (57) during the tournament.

Panola College 3 Amarillo College 2

On Friday, Amarillo College began their season with a hard-fought defeat in a five-set thriller against returning postseason qualifier Panola College. The Badgers took the first two sets of the 2 hour and 15 minute match before a reverse sweep ensued (23-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 24-22).

Sophomore Skylar Rivers tied her career-high kill total at 10 and added a career-best three aces in the five-set loss.

Kellogg added a team-best 11 kills against Panola.

Irving and Okikawa tied Rivers in the serving department with three aces each. Team-high totals for blocking were also tied between a trio of athletes as Rivers, Colbert, and freshman KayleeJo Underwood had two stuffs apiece.

Amarillo College 3 North Lake 1

The Badgers had complete control throughout the match in their first win of the season to conclude play on Friday in Weatherford against Dallas College-North Lake.

Amarillo College defeated the Blazers in four sets (25-10, 23-25, 25-15, 25-19) to improve their record to 1-1 on the day. After a dominant first set with primarily the starting unit, all 15 Badger volleyball players received playing time in the final three sets.

Jorja Wilson, a 6-foot-2 freshman, tallied 13 kills while former Dumas High standout and Northwestern Oklahoma State University transfer Abree Elsheimer ended the match with a team-best 14 kills.

Hill put forth the best blocking performance of the tournament for the Badgers in the match with four stuffs and Okikawa led the team in aces (2).

Amarillo College 3 Dallas College-Richland 0

To start the tournament on Saturday morning, Amarillo College secured their first sweep of the season against Richland (25-16, 25-13, 25-11), who finished the 2022 season with a 10-28 record.

The Badgers deployed a majority of their roster during the match and won with relative ease as the four team digs in the entire match suggested.

Bushland two-time state champion Rachel Russell dished out a tourney-best five aces – the top serving performance of any Badger over the weekend.

Hill had a team-best seven kills and Elsheimer followed with six.

2022 Amarillo College Volleyball Athlete of the Year Jaron McAden and freshman Zaiah Buchanan tied for a team-best block total (2).

Weatherford College 3 Amarillo College 1

The Badgers fired on all cylinders in set one and put the Coyotes in a 1-0 deficit in front of their home fans via a 25-19 victory in set one.

Amarillo College tallied a match-best .360 hitting percentage in the first – paced by Wilson's seven kills.

The Badgers followed by committing the same amount of hitting errors (24) as kills in the final three sets against the defending conference champions in a four-set affair (19-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-19)

Kellogg had a team-best kill total (9) and tied with Underwood for the most blocks (3).

Irving led all liberos and defensive specialists with eight digs.