Wallace State volleyball drops NJCAA Division I national tournament opener to Tyler (Texas) Junior College
CASPER, WYO.– Wallace State’s volleyball team dropped its National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I national tournament opener Thursday, losing to second-seeded Tyler (Texas) Junior College, 15-25, 12-25, 21-25, at the Events Center in Casper, Wyo.
Wallace State, the tournament’s No. 15 seed, entered the day making its state-best 14th national tournament appearance and fifth in a row. The Lions (30-16) fell behind Tyler early in the first two sets, never maintaining a lead, and the Apache pulled away in the third set after Wallace State had tied things at 21-21.
“Tyler College is ranked second in the nation for a reason. They are one of the better teams I’ve seen here since we’ve been advancing. They have a fantastic outside hitter and excellent setter,” said Wallace State coach Randy Daniel, who has led the Lions to their last five national tournament appearances. “We struggled with ball control and didn’t play well during the first two sets before finally playing harder in the third. With so many freshmen playing on this stage for the first time, maybe they were too nervous early on.”
Freshman Montana Clark led Wallace State with 13 digs and seven kills. Syretha Pride finished with six kills and three blocks for the Lions, Bethany Johnson had five kills and Kianna Delaney, the 2013 ACCC/Region 22 Player of the Year, added four kills and three digs. Taylor Traglia collected a team-high 12 assists, Nicole Penny had 10 assists and four digs and Payton Norris contributed seven digs.
Morgan Lewis led Tyler (32-4) with 16 kills and Hannah Robey had 13 digs.
Wallace State continues action in the double-elimination tournament on Friday, playing No. 7 Central Florida College at 11 a.m. CST.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit wallacestate.edu.
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Russell Moore
Staff Writer
Wallace State Community College
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Visit us online at www.wallacestate.edu