Volleyball sweeps Clarendon at home in conference opener

AC waited nearly 11 months to remedy a controversial match at Clarendon College last October.

The Badgers responded with a decisive sweep of the Bulldogs (26-24, 25-22, 25-14) on Wednesday to open conference play at home, improving the team’s record to 8-1 all-time against Clarendon.

“We did what we were supposed to do, but there’s a lot we need to clean up,” AC head coach Scott Sandel said. “Our league is really tough and every team we lay in our conference will be tough.”

AC faced a 7-4 deficit in the early stages of set one, but rallied with an 8-0 run to take a 12-7 lead. After Clarendon tied the first frame at 15-15, the teams tied the set on four additional occasions before AC secured the victory.

With the first set tied at 24-24, freshman Emery Bryan put down a kill to take the lead and fellow rookie Delany Galligan blocked an attack attempt by Clarendon’s Luisa Santos on the outside pin to end the first frame.

AC took control of the match in the final two sets by elevating their level of play at the service line and with offensive efficiency.

The Badgers recorded a .258 hitting percentage in set two and a .281 percentage in set three compared a .095 mark during the first game. At the service line, AC tallied seven aces combined in the final two sets compared to one ace in the first frame.

Sophomore Jaelynn Jackson was a vital part of the Badgers’ efficient offensive attack. The Royse City native tied her second-highest hitting percentage mark (.636) of her career with at least 11 swings on Wednesday night

Jackson notched eight kills on 11 swings and recorded a team-high four blocks. The 5-foot-8 middle blocker has now tallied a hitting percentage higher than .600 in three matches this season.

Amarillo native Jayli Franklin had a team-high 10 kills and Galligan added nine.

Freshman London Baker put forth one of her top all-around performances of the season with a team-best 28 assists and four aces compared to zero errors at the service line.

Tyler Pool led the back row in passer rating on serve receive attempts with a 2.50 mark, followed by Franklin (2.35), and McCall Sims (2.08).

AC improved its overall record to 13-3 with the victory and 1-0 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.

Up next, the 19th ranked Badgers hit the road on Saturday for a matchup against New Mexico Junior College (9-8, 0-1). The contest is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. CDT, 2 p.m. local time.