Peter Dindinger – NMMI Sports Press
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Butler brought in an impressive 33-game winning streak as the No. 2 seeded team in NJCAA Division I volleyball.
Located an hour and 11 minutes away in El Dorado, Kan., the Grizzlies brought a large fan base with high hopes of winning.
The sixth-seeded New Mexico Military Institute Broncos took down Butler in four sets, 21-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-19, Friday night during the semifinal round.
Butler had not lost a match since Aug. 27.
NMMI (33-4) has won 20 in a row as it takes on No. 8 Iowa Western for the national title match at 6:30 p.m. CST Saturday. This marks the Broncos' first-ever appearance in the national championship. NMMI's best finish at nationals came in 2017 with a third-place title as the 13th-seed.
The Broncos took a 2-0 lead early in the first set before the Grizzlies tied up the set at two-all.
NMMI then went on a 3-0 run that included a service ace by Jalen Baca. The Broncos held a 7-5 lead after a kill by Dana Manu.
The score was tied up twice more before Butler took a 9-8 lead that fueled a 5-0 run. The Grizzlies did not trail from that point on as they gained a five-point lead.
NMMI battled back to trail by three late in the set, but Butler held on for the 25-21 win.
There were four different lead changes to start the second game.
A service ace by Mio Yamamoto and a clutch kill from Marian Ovalle helped start a 5-0 run. Darcy Dodd and Katarzyna Niderla also had a pair of big kills to highlight the run.
The momentum had shifted over to the Broncos as they extended their lead to seven after another kill by Niderla.
Niderla added a service ace later on to extend NMMI's lead to eight.
Butler had cut the deficit down to four, but the Broncos prevailed to tie up the match.
To start the third set, NMMI overcame one tie in the score to take a 9-3 lead after a kill by Manu.
The intensity turned up several notches as the Broncos kept their foot on the accelerator, taking a 10-point lead.
Another kill by Manu extended NMMI's lead to 12 late in the set. Butler wasn't able to cut the deficit down as it lost eventually by 10 to give the Broncos a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set included four different lead changes at the start.
NMMI overcame a 4-4 tie with a 2-0 run that included a crucial tandem block by Barbara Guedes Rezende and Karya Suvariouglu and a service ace by Manu.
The Broncos silenced the home court advantage by increasing their deficit to seven and then to eight with another kill by Manu.
NMMI didn't quit.
Ovalle slammed down a ball that found the floor to send the Broncos into a massive celebration. Ovalle tallied 16 kills, 25 digs and two block assists.
Niderla added with 13 kills.
Yamamoto came away with 24 digs. The Broncos finished 95 digs and seven service aces.
Suvariouglu had 23 assists while Megan Waghorn chipped in with 18 assists and seven digs.