SMCC Women's Volleyball Defeats Vernon College at NMMI Classic

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College women's volleyball team (1-3) defeated Vernon College 3-1 in the Cougars' fourth game at the NMMI Classic in Roswell, N.M., on Aug. 19 on the New Mexico Military Institute campus. SMCC also faced Tyler JC, Odessa College, and NMMI at the event to start its 2023 campaign. 

Vernon College Recap

The Cougars defeated Vernon College in four sets, rallying for three straight after dropping the opener: 17-25, 25-18, 25-18, and 25-21. 

SMCC hit .258 for the match, finishing with 51 kills and 17 errors on 132 attacks. After hitting .118 in the first set, the Cougars responded by hitting .299 over the next three with 41 kills and only 11 errors. 

Sophomore Rylee Pitts led SMCC with a career-high 21 kills. She hit .311 on 45 attacks and added an assist, five digs and two block assists. Pitts' previous game-high was 17 kills in a match with Glendale CC in 2022. 

Freshman Rylea Simonich was second on the squad with 12 kills, hitting .462 in 26 swings with zero errors. She added an assist, three service aces, one dig and three block assists over four sets in the victory. 

After her performance in the four matches, Simonich later earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team at the NMMI Classic. 

Freshman Lesjune Florance-Littles was third on the Cougars with seven kills in 29 attacks. She added three service aces and a dig over four sets. 

Sophomore Mariah Smith added five kills, a solo block, and a block assist, and sophomore Brynley Lynch had four kills and three digs. 

Sophomore Delicea McAuley recorded a team-high 45 assists in the win. She added 13 digs to post her sixth career double-double and added an assist, three service aces, and a block assist. 

Freshman Mikelle McAfee led SMCC with 19 digs and added two assists and a service ace, and sophomore Shayna Simmers had six digs and two assists.

New Mexico Military Institute Recap

Facing the host and nationally ranked Broncos, SMCC won the third set before falling in four: 25-12, 25-7, 22-25, 25-11. 

SMCC hit .054 over the four sets, totaling 18 kills and 13 errors on 93 attacks. The Cougars added 17 assists, five service aces, 31 digs, and 11 block assists. 

Freshman Lexi Wasil led the Cougars with five kills in 27 swings. She added two assists, a dig and two block assists over the four sets. 

Sophomores Hayden Rosales, Pitts and Smith each had three kills in defeat. Smith had a pair of block assists, and Rosales added two digs. Pitts finished with eight digs, an assist, a solo block and four block assists. 

McAfee added seven digs and two service aces, and freshman Kimberlee Eich added five digs. Simonich had two kills, two service aces and three block assists. 

Odessa College Recap

The Cougars suffered their only sweep of the weekend with a 3-0 loss to Odessa College: 25-17, 25-14, 25-12. 

SMCC hit .090 over the three sets, finishing with 18 kills and 11 errors on 78 swings. The Cougars had 18 assists, five service aces, 26 digs and four solo blocks in defeat. 

Simonich led SMCC with five kills on 14 swings to post a .286 hitting percentage, and she added a dig and a service ace. Florance-Little also had five kills and hit .200 on 20 attacks. 

Pitts finished with four kills on 20 swings and posted a team-best six digs with a service ace. McAuley led SMCC with 15 assists, a service ace and four digs. 

Tyler JC Recap

SMCC won the opening set in their match, but Tyler JC pulled out a pair of close victories in sets three and four to win: 26-28, 25-10, 27-25, 25-23. 

SMCC hit .394 with 16 kills on 33 attacks in the first set and finished with 35 kills in 129 swings for a .109 hitting percentage. The Cougars added 29 assists, five service aces, 50 digs, and six block assists. 

Wasil led SMCC with nine kills in 35 swings and added four digs, a solo block and a block assist. Pitts recorded seven kills on 25 attacks with a team-best 12 digs, two solo stuffs and a block assist. 

Simonich had six kills and two digs, while Smith added six kills and three block assists. 

McAuley produced 27 assists, two service aces, and seven digs, and McAfee added 12 digs, a service ace and an assist.