No. 3 Miami Dade beats WC in national quarterfinals

Weatherford College faced a hard-hitting Miami Dade College squad that lived up to their billing on Thursday, beating WC in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA National Volleyball Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.

The Sharks, the No. 3 seed, defeated the No. 6 Coyotes 26-24, 25-18 and 25-17. 

"We knew this would be a tough match," WC head coach Kailee May said of facing Miami Dade. "Physically, they hit the ball, and hit the ball hard. I don't think we quite played to our potential, but this is a good learning experience for everyone to know how to work through that and to fight against good teams." 

The Sharks totaled 43 kills to WC's 36. Outside hitter Ana Tevdoradze (Tbilisi, Georgia) led Miami Dade with 14 kills. 

The first set was neck-and-neck, with four lead changes and eight ties. Weatherford tied it up 18-18 after May challenged a call at the net, forcing a video replay that worked in WC's favor. The Coyotes had a 22-21 lead, but the Sharks tied the game three more times, eventually surpassing Weatherford for the win. 

WC never had the lead in sets two or three.  

Selanny Puente had a solid match against a formidable Miami Dade front line. Puente had 12 kills, five digs and a service ace.

"She did a really nice job for us, which she usually does, but she really stood out tonight, hitting almost .500 (.458 hitting percentage)." 

WC's Peighton Serda turned in eight kills and four digs. Brooke McHale had six kills and seven digs. Abby Folsom had 19 assists, and Lorena Gomez had 12. 

Abby Benitez led the team in digs with 11. 

The loss snapped an 11-match Weatherford winning streak. 

The Coyotes (33-4) are out of the running for a national championship but could finish as high as fifth place. 

WC will face No. 2 seed Northeastern Junior College, out of Sterling, Colorado, on Friday at 4 p.m. in an elimination match for both teams. Northeastern (34-3) was swept by No. 7 Navarro College on Thursday. 

The winner of the Weatherford/Northeastern match will play for fifth place Saturday at 2 p.m.