By MIKE MONTFORT
The Wolens SEC is the place to be Tuesday.
Top 10 nationally ranked Region XIV volleyball leaders Navarro (19-1/6-0) and Blinn (26-1/5-0), equipped with stunning resumes, clash for the first time this season here at 6 p.m.
Fourth-ranked Navarro, unbeaten at home, brings a modest four-match winning streak and six in league play into the contest. The Bulldogs have 15 sweeps among their 20 matches and have yielded only seven games this season. Meanwhile, ninth-ranked Blinn's won 25 matches in a row, 19 by sweep during the course of the season and yielded 10 games.
Bulldog fans need to be at the first "do-not-miss' match between national heavyweights at the SEC since Navarro-TVCC created a battle of Nos. 3 and 7 between the neightboring-county rivals three weeks ago.
Tuesday's match between coach Ariel Apolinario's Bulldogs and coach Terry Gamble's ninth-Buccaneers showcases the best of competitive junior college volleyball.
As of Sunday morning, the teams were Top-20 ranked in 12 NJCAA Division I statistical categories.
Further, they were Top-10 in seven of them.
And, finally, they were Top-5 in four of them.
Individual star power? They've got it.
Each team has five players with multiple NJCAA Top-20 statistical category rankings. The use of 'multiple,' means at least two or three. But 'multiple' has other meanings for Navarro's Hanna Tylska (8) and Karina Pylinska (7) and for Blinn's Kellen Dorotik and Brooke Pattschull (6 each)
For Navarro, the multiples beyond Tylska and Pylinska are owned by Khaya Gordon, Gabriela Smolenska and setter Alessandra Pantoja. For Blinn, beyond Dorotik and Pattschull, it's Taylor Glendening, Elizaeth Tyner and Cierra Pesak.
Talent overload comes from deep benches and flows onto the floor.
Plan to make an early run on seating Tuesday for all the kills, assists, aces, digs and blocks you can watch.
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REGION XIV VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS
TEAM…………..ALL…….CONF
Navarro……….19-1……..6-0
Blinn…………….26-1…….5-0
TVCC…………….16-4…….4-2
Panola………….10-5….….3-2
Tyler………………7-9………2-3
Wharton………..4-11……2-3
Lee…………………5-9………2-4
CBC………………..2-16…….0-5
Victoria…………...1-10……0-5
MATCHES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
Blinn at Navarro, 6 pm
Victoria at Panola, 6 pm
Wharton at Tyler, 6 pm
MATHCES THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Panola at Blinn, 6 pm
Lee at Wharton, 6 pm
Coastal Bend at Tyler, 6 pm
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CROSSCOURT KILLS: Eighth-ranked Weatherford tagged Navarro and Blinn with 3-0 losses to sully perfect records….The Bulldogs hit 21 aces in last Thursday's sweep over Victoria, matching a mark recorded September 16-17, 2022 against College of Southern Idaho and St. Johns River State at Baytown…..Again, Navarro leads NJCAA D-I Volleyball Teams in service aces with 229 behind individual leadere Hanna Tylska (61) and third-place Kalina Pylinska (59)…..Unbeaten Florida SouthWestern State defeated its third straight Top 20 opponent Saturday and ran its record to 14-0. FSW's opponent, 18th-ranked Polk State, broke through by winning a game and snapped the Buccaneers' run of consecutive sweeps at 13….. Alessandra Pantoja's 31 assists against Victoria marked her fourth match of 30-plus tis season,….For the fourth time in her last six matches, Gabriela Smolenska totaled seven or more kills…..Pantoja had a personal-high six aces against Coastal Bend…..Khaya Gordon (52) and Smolenska (50) lead the Bulldogs in total blocks….Pylinska has a team-high 12 kill-dig double-doubles…….Tylska has nine, with five from her last six matches……
