AC volleyball ends first cycle of WJCAC slate with 4-set defeat to No. 9 NMJC

For the first time in 2023, the Badger volleyball team took a set against a top-10 ranked opponent and did so in convincing fashion on Wednesday against No. 9 New Mexico Junior College.

Amarillo College secured a second-set win, but fell in four sets (25-15, 17-25, 25-18, 25-18) to the ninth-ranked Thunderbirds on the road to conclude their first cycle of conference play.

Three Badgers recorded a hitting percentage over .300 in the second set, including Madison Kellogg, Jaron McAden, and D'Leah Hill.

McAden, a sophomore from Abilene, led AC in set two with five kills and ended the match with a team-best 14 kills via a .333 hitting percentage.

The returning Amarillo College Volleyball Athlete of the Year recorded four kills in the early stages of the second set to propel the Badgers to a 9-3 lead.

The Badgers' lead grew as large as nine points (23-14) before fending off a late Thunderbird rally to secure a victory in the second frame.

Amarillo College hit a .324 hitting percentage in the second set and nearly totaled the same rate in the fourth set at .316. New Mexico Junior College closed the match out with a .600 hitting percentage – 16 kills and one attack error on 25 swings – in the fourth frame.

The mark is the highest rate any opponent has hit in a single set against the Badgers this season.

Iva Popovic, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter from Serbia, tallied a game-high 15 kills via a .355 hitting percentage and Gaby Arias, a sophomore from Mexico, ended the match with 11 kills.

The Thunderbirds outhit the Badgers .373 to .157 and tallied a combined 13 blocks compared to AC's three.

With the loss Amarillo College is in sixth place in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference with a 2-5 record against WJCAC opponents. The Badgers are one game back of Western Texas College and Midland College for the final playoff spot in the conference.

AC starts their second round of their WJCAC slate on Saturday, Oct. 7 at home against New Mexico Military Institute. The contest is set to begin at 2 p.m. at the FirstBank Southwest Center.