Badgers triumph in five-set nail biter vs. Midland College

In the midst of a lackluster showing during a pivotal conference clash, the Badgers' calling card surfaced with the season trajectory in the balance.

Amarillo College overcame a slow start and first set loss against Midland College at home on Sept. 24 behind a pair of season-best performances by freshmen Delany Galligan andLondon Baker.

Galligan put down a season-high 18 kills with a .325 hitting percentage and Baker dished out a career-best 38 assists during the five-set victory (23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 23-25, 15-13) for AC at the FirstBank Southwest Center.

"That tells me that even though it was an adverse night, the girls continued to battle and it'll be that way in this conference," AC head coach Scott Sandel said. "It's early, but it helps momentum wise going into the rest of our conference matches."

Baker's 38 assists tied her for the second-highest assist total in a single match in team history.

Galligan notched her 14th match with a double digit kill total against the Chaps and her 15th outing with a hitting percentage over .300.

After a first set defeat, AC responded, as they have done time and time again throughout their record-setting campaign.

The Badgers nearly hit a .300 percentage as a unit in the second set against the Chaps, led by Jaelynn Jackson's staggering .833 clip (five kills on six swings), en route to a 25-22 victory to tie the match at one set apiece.

AC seemingly gained full control of Wednesday's match with a 25-15 third set win. The Badgers' back row was spotless in the serve receive department during the frame, as four AC serve receivers combined for zero errors on 15 attempts.

Libero McCall Sims recorded a perfect 3 passer rating in the third set with a pair of 3-passes on her two serve receive attempts.

After dropping another hard-fought set in the fourth frame (25-23), AC displayed its offensive versatility in the match-deciding frame.

The Badgers had six players tally at least one kill, including three kills by Galligan and two by Franklin.

Emery Bryan, Yung NG, Sam Cardona, and Jackson had one kill apiece during the fifth frame.

AC took a commanding 9-5 lead in set five before the Chaps stormed back, tying the game at 10-10. With the score at 13-13, Jackson put down an emphatic kill, which was followed by a MC hitting error that ended the contest.

The win vaulted AC's conference record to 2-1 while the Chaps fell to 1-2 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.