By MIKE MONTFORT
Navarro's ranked no lower than fourth in service aces in any of Ariel Apolinario's seasons here. Individual and team service aces have been rising at the same pace of the excitement fpllowing the nationally ranked Bulldogs.
TEAM --
* Navarro's hit 1,342 service aces in four years, resetting the program record substantially each season.
* The 2023 Bulldogs hit 445 service aces in 38 matches.
* Navarro, the only NJCAA Division I Team to serve 400 or more, had a 62-ace lead over second-place Indian Hills CC, Ia. Even further, IHCC was one of only seven teams to swat 300 or more service aces during the year.
* The Bulldogs will carry an ongoing streak of 128 matches with a service ace into the 2024 season. That dates back to the interrupted Coronavirus Pandemic season of 2020-21. In their second match upon return Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, the Bulldogs did not hit an ace during a 3-0 loss to host Odessa in the Wrangler Classic.
* In a two-year span of 73 matches when the Bulldogs went 61-12, they hit double-figure service aces 44 times.
* In that same two-year span, they equaled or exceeded the program's single-match, service-ace record six times before establishing a new mark of 22 at Blinn on Oct. 26, 2023.
* NC's school-record 386 last season finished second to Monroe College of New Rochelle, NY. Monroe College (not to be confused with Monroe Community College of Rochester, NY) has been a D-I Service Ace winner four times (2014, 2015, 2021 and 2022).
* Apolinario's 2020 team served up D-I high 219 during its 20-6 NJCAA-qualifying season, but increased in 2021 by 73 aces to 292 through 31 matches and tied Butler Community College for fourth place nationally.
* The undefeated 2019 national champions? Just 120, good for 80th overall that year..
INDIVIDUAL –
* Tylska's team career record is 226 (116 as a sophomore and 110 as a freshman).
* Tylska went into the 2022 NJCAA Record Book as the fifth entry under the service-aces-per-set category with 1.06.
* Pylinska's team career record is second to Tylska (157), broken down as 85 as a sophomore and 72 as a freshman.
* Pylinska hit eight consecutive aces during a match here.
* The combined 383 service aces by Tylska and Pylinska represents 46 percent of the team's two-year total 831
* Sophomore transfer Alessandra Pantoja finished third among Navarro acers with 61. In any other season without Tylska or Pylinska, she would be fifth on Navarro's all-time single-season list behind a leader with 75.
* Alivia Sotoleo finished fourth at 45, with 23 aces in her final 11 matches.
* Alyssa Rojo hit 11 aces in 3 of her seven post-season matches. including a personal-best five in the third-place match against TVCC.
