Women's Volleyball | 8/21/2024 11:37:00 AM

The Cloud County Community College volleyball team will officially open the 2024 season at the Dallas College Eastfield Invitational on August 23 and August 24. The T-Birds will face Ranger College on Friday, August 23 at 6 pm. Saturday, August 24, Cloud County will take on Independence Community College at 12 pm, before matching up with the host school, Dallas College Eastfield, slated for 2 pm. Dallas College Eastfield is ranked No. 1 in the 2024 NJCAA Division III preseason poll.

Cloud County's most recent outing, although an exhibition, resulted in a 3-1 victory against the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes in Arley Bryant Gymnasium on August 20. The T-Birds struggled in the first set, 23-25, before taking the next three sets by final scores of 25-23, 25-16, 25-20.

Four familiar faces will return to the Cloud County lineup this year, while twelve newcomers are set to make their T-Birds debuts this season. One of the newcomers is sophomore transfer Tara Rajkovic, an outside hitter from Belgrade, Serbia. Rajkovic played last season at Monroe College in New Rochelle, New York.

"We're very excited to have her here," T-Birds head volleyball coach Hilta Ramos said of Rajkovic. "Not just to have her bring her skills to the team, but also her experience."

Also joining the team this year are in-state recruits Carlie Carlgren from Concordia, Addyson Ogle from Claflin, Grace Rowland from Andale, and Karoline Schroeder from Grinnell. Reachert Chiquin from Houston, Texas, Berkleigh Curtis from Port Neches, Texas, Beatrice Giusti from Rome, Italy, Savana Krupicka from Milligan, Nebraska, Maria Clara Lopes Miranda from Minas Gerais, Brazil, Tori Sanders from Kirbyville, Texas, and Julieanne Sandoval from Corpus Christi, Texas have also joined the program this fall, making this one of the largest freshman classes for the T-Birds in many years.

Coach Ramos says the transition from high school to college is a pretty big jump, but her freshman players have learned so much in such a short amount of time.

"This group, so far, has been awesome. They're very nice to each other. I don't see any bad body language or anything like that. It's just really a matter of connecting like tempo of balls and stuff like that," Ramos said. "I am focusing on getting them to a place where we're all on the same page. They all know what they need to be doing. We need to get prepared first. I always preach to them that practice is something we need to focus on. Every touch matters. So for those first few games, I want them to just be confident enough in their skills because they know they practice for it. We just need to make sure everybody's on the same page and they can start playing and having fun."

Emery May and Bradie Medina will be among the key returners taking the court once again for the T-Birds. Both were named as honorable mention selections to the 2023 All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference West Division Volleyball team.

May, a 5-foot-11 middle hitter from Andale, played in 34 of 35 matches in 2023 and led the team with 91 blocks, including 10 solo stuffs. May finished seventh among KJCCC Division I players in total blocks last season. She also tallied 123 kills, 111 digs, and 35 service aces, while ranking fifth on the team in hitting percentage at .181.

Medina, a 5-foot-8 outside hitter from Holdrege, Nebraska, made 30 starts last year, ranking second on the team with 255 kills. Medina posted a career-best 25 kills against Ottawa University JV on Sept. 23, 2023. She finished second on the team in serve receptions with 502 and fourth on the team with 337 digs, while adding 33 service aces and 30 total blocks.

Cloud County also expects to see more action from returners Ashley Suter from Strafford, Missouri, and Kloë Waymel from Mulhouse, France. Suter, an NJCAA All-Academic First Team honoree, led Cloud County with 43 service aces and ranked second on the team with 256 assists. Waymel ranked third on the team in hitting percentage at .224, and she notched 83 total kills, 109 digs, 55 blocks and 12 service aces in 87 sets played.

Ramos says beyond their on-court play, it's the leadership style of her returning sophomores that will play a significant role this season.

"They're understanding it's all for the team, it's not about themselves. I feel like that's the biggest thing about them," Ramos said.

Ramos is entering her second season directing the program in 2024. Last year, Ramos guided the T-Birds to a 22-13 overall record, including 8-8 in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play.

"Overall, it was a good season. We had a lot of bumps in the road. We ended up having most of our season with ten players only. And it's kind of hard because we play 30-plus games every year, so it was a lot," Ramos said about the 2023 season. "I feel like we played really well. We had really good games against Barton, who won the regular season conference championship, and we actually won our home game against Colby, who ended up going to the national tournament, so I feel like overall we had a lot of great moments. I feel like we had a good season."

Ranger College posted a 16-15 overall record in 2023, including a 7-7 mark in the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference. A year ago, the Lady Rangers finished 1-5 against Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference schools, recording their lone win in four-sets over Coffeyville Community College at the annual Wrangler/Ranger Round-Up Volleyball Invitational last August. The team is coached by Nicole Smith, who is in her ninth year with the program, and has been picked to finish fifth in their conference preseason coaches poll.

The Independence Pirates enter the 2024 season under new head coach, Alex Lehocky. Lehocky joins Independence after two seasons as the head coach at Minot State University in Minot, North Dakota. Before MSU, Coach Lehocky served as the head coach for three years at New Mexico Junior College. A native of New Mexico, Lehocky was an Academic All-American player at Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colorado. After earning her associate degree, with honors, Lehocky continued her college career at NCAA Division III Keene State in Keene, New Hampshire, playing one season as a middle blocker with the Owls.

Lehocky is inheriting a Pirates team that went 7-21 in 2023. In the only meeting between the two schools last year, Cloud County swept ICC at a triangular in Pratt on Sept. 27, 2023, 30-28, 25-15, 25-14.

The T-Birds then will be tested in their final match of the weekend by Dallas College Eastfield, under the tutelage of last year's National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Coach of the Year, Phil Nickel. In his second season with the Harvester Bees, Nickel guided Dallas College Eastfield to a 35-0 record and the program's second NJCAA Division III National Championship. The Harvester Bees dropped only six sets during the 2023 season, registering 29 sweeps, and winning the Dallas Athletic Conference regular season title and the NJCAA Division III South District championship on their way to becoming the first NJCAA Divsion III volleyball team to go unbeaten and win the national title.

Nickel had stops at NCAA Division I Houston and Illinois State and Wright State as an assistant coach. He was the head coach at NCAA Division II Wayne State University in Michigan, and also coached club volleyball in the Houston and Irving, Texas areas before taking over at Dallas College Eastfield.

The Harvester Bees return outside hitters Azoria Davis and Brenly Walker and freshman setter Taryn Doiron, who all earned National Junior College Athletic Association Division III All-America First Team honors in 2023. Davis, a 5-foot-9 product from League City, Texas, had 336 kills, 375 digs, 39 blocks and 18 aces, while hitting .260. A 5-9 native of Lexington, Texas, Walker had 289 kills, 291 digs, 48 aces and 27 blocks, while hitting .265. She produced double-digit kills in 11 matches. Doiron, a 5-9 product of Bridge City, Texas, had 736 assists, 259 digs and 48 aces. She recorded double figure assists in all but one of the 35 matches, and put up a season-high 37 in the team's four-set national semifinal win over Alexandria Technical & Community College.

Various in-match updates from the Dallas College Eastfield Invitational will be provided on the Cloud County Athletics Department's official social media accounts.