A slow start and poor serving performance doomed the Lady Trojans to their second home loss of the season. This time TSJC fell to New Mexico Military in four sets. The Broncos entered the match 13-6 and ranked just out of the top 20 teams in the country.
Game one saw the teams play fairly even for the first 15 points but NMMI eventually pulled out to a seven point lead. TSJC rallied to make the score 28-27 but ended up falling 30-27.
NMMI dominated game two giving the Broncos a 2-0 lead at the break.
The Broncos took a 14-10 lead in game three and looked like they were ready to sweep the Trojans. Behind the strong serves of freshman Jessalyn Miller Trinidad mounted a comeback. Miller’s eight straight points gave the team some momentum but NMMI made a comeback of their own retaking the lead. Freshman librero Lauren Quiroz then stepped behind the line for another pair of aces to force the game past the 30 point mark. The teams continued the high energy battle until Lauren Boehmer’s ace ended it at 33-31.
The fourth set was a complete reversal from the end of the third. The Trojans came out with no energy and trailed by more than ten points midway through the set. A timeout from Coach Tammy Schaible ignited another furious comeback. Led by a nice serving run from Quiroz and good net play from Janessa Nelson, Yaya Jacquez and Ashley DiPaola the Trojans made it close but ended up falling 30-27.
Miller led TSJC with five aces followed closely by Quiroz’s four. Both of the freshmen finished the night with 13 points apiece. Jacquez led the Trojan hitting attack with 18 kills while DiPaola and Angelica Racine combined for 9 blocks.
The Trojans will head to the Wyo-braska tournament this weekend. The tournament is held in the neighboring cities of Torrington, Wyoming and Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Trinidad will not return home again until mid-October.