ODESSA – Navarro Volleyball (2-0) joins nine other teams here Friday for the two-day Odessa Wrangler Invitational at The Sports Center.

 

The Bulldogs, coached by Ariel Apolinario, draw quite a daunting schedule after their six-hour bus ride. Consecutively they will face three of the Top 16 teams in the NJCAA Preseason Poll. Their opponents – New Mexico JC, Indian Hills and Snow – landed among the nation's Top 11 last year with their combined .830 winning percentage from exactly 100 total matches played.

Half of the Wrangler Invitational's field opens play Friday with preseason regard: Indian Hills (4), New Mexico Military Institute (8, New Mexico JC (15), Snow College (16) and Navarro (20).

Perhaps some of the unranked half should be: Odessa, Hill, Panola, Temple and Vernon. OC, Hill and Panola, coming off 20-plus win campaigns, all have multiple national tournament qualifications since 2019.

Navarro, with seven returners from a 27-8 club, opened its season Monday with a 3-0 sweep of North Central Texas and followed up Tuesday with a 3-1 victory over Vernon.

Here's the Bulldogs' weekend schedule:

FRIDAY, AUGUST 25 – Match 1 v New Mexico JC (4-0), Noon

Defending Region V Tournament finalist NMJC enjoyed its best season in school history, going 25-7 overall and finishing No. 10 in the NJCAA's Final Regular-Season Poll. NJCAA First-Team All-American outside hitter Iva Popovic leads eight returning sophomores on second-year coach Holli Reyn's Thunderbirds. The 5-foot-11 Popovic, from Belgrade, Serbia, was the Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) MVP with 497 kills (third-most in the NJCAA), 355 digs during the regular season and 554 points (fifth in the NJCAA).

The Thunderbirds knocked down North Central Texas, Western Texas, Coastal Bend and Wharton at the Midland Classic last weekend.

Navarro handed the T-Birds two of their seven losses last season. The Bulldogs secured 3-1 victories in invitationals to open the season at Midland, and in early October at Blinn.

 

The Indian Hills CC Warriors bring back seven from a 42-4 team that was ranked second to end the regular season and finished fourth in the NJCAA Tournament at West Plains, Mo. The core includes 5-foot-2 Paraguayan libero Sasha Vidal, middle blockers Maggie Paiva and Vitoria Dias Silva, plus bookend outside hitters in Kinga Michalska (Poland) and Larissa Barreiros Scatamburlo (Brazil).

Last season, Vidal finished second nationally in digs (933). Michalska's 429 kills ranked 10th.

Coach Lyndsey Michel's Warriors led the NJCAA in seven team statistics: kills, assists, points, and all four blocking categories. Gone from that squad are four All-Region XI First-Team players, including Player of the Year Hennesys Lalane and All-NJCAA Tournament middle blocker Erica Calderon Rosario.

The Warriors split four matches last weekend at The Reiver Classic in Council Bluffs, Ia., winning over Dodge City and sixth-ranked Western Nebraska and losing to Jefferson College and 17th-ranked Butler.

 

Coach Michael Daniel welcomes six returning sophomore from Snow's 16-6 club in 2022, headed by 5-foot-6 setter Corinne Taysom of Forney, Tx., and 6-foot outside hitter Kesa Makasini

Daniel, entering his third year, is 44-13 at Snow with a seventh-place finish at the 2021 NJCAA Tournament. While facing 11 ranked teams last year, Daniel's Badgers started the season 11-1 and spent five weeks among the NJCAA's top five.

Snow dropped 3-0 matches to No. 1 ranked Florida SouthWestern and No. 7 Trinity Valley at Salt Lake CC's UFirst Intermountain Invitational in Taylorsville, Ut, but rallied for 3-2 wins over Daytona State and third-ranked Missouri State-West Plains.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 – Match 2 v. Vernon (0-5), 1 pm

The teams will be meeting for the second time in five days. NC won 25-19, 15-25, 25-20, 25-15 Tuesday.

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ODESSA WRANGLER INVITATIONAL

NOTE: Only Court 1 Matches from the Main Gymnasium will be livestreamed: https://portal.stretchinternet.comodessacollege

Unfortunately, no Navarro matches will be streamed because the Bulldogs are playing all four of their matches on Court 2 of the ICA Community Gym.

DAY 1 | Friday, August 25

10 a.m. Matches

Ct 1 – NMMI v Snow

Ct 2 – Vernon v Panola

Noon Matches

Ct 1 – Odessa v Hill

Ct 2 – Navarro v New Mexico JC

2 p.m. Matches

Ct 1 – Panola v Temple

Ct 2 – Navarro v Indian Hills

4 p.m. Matches

Ct 1 – NMMI v Vernon

Ct 2 – Hill v Snow

6 p.m. Matches

Ct. 1 – Odessa v Indian Hills

Ct 2 – Temple v New Mexico JC

DAY 2 | Saturday, August 26

9 a.m. Matches

Ct. 1 – NMMI v Temple

Ct. 2 – Navarro v Snow

11 a.m. Matches

Ct 1 – Odessa v Snow

Ct. 2 – Hill v Indian Hills

1 pm Matches

Ct 1 – Panola v New Mexico JC

Ct 2 – Navarro v Vernon

3 pm Matches

Ct 1—NMMI v Indian Hills

Ct 2 – Temple v Hill

5 pm Matches

Ct 1 – Odessa v Panola

Ct 2 – Vernon v New Mexico JC