WC volleyball wins regional championship, heads to first national tourney

In just the second year of the program's existence, the Weatherford College volleyball team is heading to the NJCAA national tournament. WC defeated Odessa College three sets to one in the Region V Tournament championship match Friday night at the Betty Jo Graber Athletic Center. 

"Super emotional," is how head coach Kailee May described the moment she realized the team was heading to nationals. "Once I knew it was happening and we were winning, I couldn't contain my emotions. I'm just so proud of this team and the effort they've put in, literally building this program from scratch." 

WC (32-3), ranked No. 12 in the country, faced stiff competition from 9th-ranked Odessa (29-7). 

The first set was a marathon, with seven lead changes. Odessa took a 30-29 lead and was on the verge of winning the set, but Weatherford came back with three straight points to win 32-30. 

Odessa won the second set, 25-18. It was WC's first lost set of the tournament, having swept both Western Texas College and New Mexico Junior College on Friday.  

OC led most of the third set, building up to a 20-15 lead. The Wranglers had another set point at 24-23, but WC rattled off three straight to win 26-24. 

The Coyotes pulled away in the fourth game, never trailing after a 9-9 tie. WC took the victory, 25-17 to clinch the match and the regional championship. 

"It was a good way to push us," May said of the hard-fought win. "We made some adjustments, and they worked. We decided to push deeper into the court, score some points deep. That worked and shifted the entire match in our favor." 

WC will now prepare for the national tournament, held Nov. 15-18 in Hutchinson, Kansas. Seedings and match times will be released in the coming days.