BOONEVILLE, Miss. - The final home match of the 2024 season for the Northeast Mississippi Community College volleyball program was filled with historic moments from start to finish.
The Lady Tigers survived a scare from Meridian Community College with a thrilling 3-2 decision on Wednesday, October 16 for their inaugural conference win inside legendary Bonner Arnold Coliseum.
It was the first-ever five set victory in Northeast's brief two-year history. The Lady Tigers had just played in their initial tiebreaker two days earlier, but lost in heartbreaking fashion to Itawamba Community College.
Northeast also recognized its first sophomore class prior to the opening serve. The four honorees were Giselle Lopez of Belmont, Irby Norris of Hernando, Amberianna Shorter of New Albany and Avery Thomas of Lewisburg.
"I hope those firsts keep coming," said Lady Tigers head coach Brenda Mayes. "I told the sophomores that it was your night. They stepped up and they claimed their victory. We had to keep battling and keep pushing."
The Lady Eagles took a 7-2 advantage in the fifth, but Northeast rattled off six straight points to storm ahead. Thomas recorded a pair of aces while Camri Westmoreland had a big block at the net.
Momentum shifted back-and-forth with Meridian (1-22, 0-8) going up 10-8 before the Lady Tigers scored four more in a row. Ava Siegel had a solo block and a kill in that pivotal stretch.
The two teams fought to a 13-13 tie, but Northeast (4-20, 2-6) secured the last two points on an attack error by the Lady Eagles plus a combined block by Norris and Westmoreland.
Meridian captured sets one and three by identical 25-22 margins while the Lady Tigers attained matching 25-20 results in the second and fourth sets. Each sophomore was key contributors in the winning effort.
Norris surpassed her previous career-high with 23 kills and turned in a game-best .259 hitting percentage. Lopez, Shorter and Thomas all posted double-digit digs defensively.
"This group is very special to me," Norris said. "Our attitudes this season have been way better. Our goal is to fight every game, have good energy and work as a team."
Siegel registered her second double-double of the week with career-bests of 20 kills and 16 digs. She also topped a Northeast unit that tallied 15 service aces, which was one off its season-high, with four.
The Lady Tigers still have eight regular season contests remaining. That includes road conference matchups with Northwest Mississippi Community College and Pearl River Community College.