Coyotes ready for encore at national volleyball tourney

When you're good, folks notice. And there has definitely been a lot to notice about the Weatherford College volleyball program under the leadership of coach Kailee May. 

For a second consecutive season, the Coyotes will compete in the NJCAA National Tournament. The elite event takes place at the Dunn Center at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennesse, Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 20-23. 

Weatherford College (29-7) was awarded an at-large bid after falling in the finals of the Region V Tournament in Roswell, New Mexico. The Coyotes are ranked No. 5 in the nation and went through the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference undefeated at 14-0. 

WC had won 18 straight before a 3-2 loss to No. 3 New Mexico Military Institute in the regional final. Then, in the playback match to determine the regional runner-up, they were upset by No. 9 Odessa College. 

Still, their body of work was enough for the NJCAA selection committee to give them a berth and a shot at a national championship. 

"I think we've established ourselves as a team that deserves to be at the tournament," May said. "I intentionally scheduled tough this year to prepare us to play the best teams in the country, and we have proven ourselves to be a top national contender." 

Reflective of that, the Coyotes began the season 1-4 before reeling off wins in 28 of their next 29 matches. Their pre-conference slate included early season matches against NMMI (3-1 loss) and Odessa (3-1 win), No. 15 Indian Hills Community College (3-2 loss), No. 2 Miami Dade College (3-1 loss), No. 14 Trinity Valley Community College twice (3-2 win each time), No. 20 Daytona State College (3-1 win), No. 13 Navarro College (3-0 win), No. 19 Salt Lake City Snow College (3-1 win) and No. 12 Salt Lake Community College (3-1 loss).  

WC will face Utah State Eastern, No. 8 in the nation, in the opening round at 4 p.m. central time on Wednesday, Nov. 20. It will be their 13th match against another nationally ranked team. They are 6-6 against such competition so far. 

May admitted that while she and the team knew they deserved to be picked for the field, waiting five days for an at-large bid seemed to take forever. 

"It was nerve wracking" she exclaimed. "You never know what the committee talks about or considers when they're picking at-large teams, and even though we had a great season overall and finished the regular season ranked fifth in the country, there are A LOT of great teams to choose from, so it was definitely a relief to hear Weatherford." 

The Coyotes returned four players from last season's team that advanced to nationals and finished eighth. They are Emerson Reedy, Lorena Gomez, Abby Helman and Evelyn Benson. 

"I think that makes this moment even more special and impressive," May said. "Our four returners have really done an impressive job at leading this team of mostly freshmen to the biggest stage of the year. 

"We're excited to compete and establish ourselves as a team that should make an annual appearance in the tournament. We want everyone to know who Weatherford College is." 

Tournament matches on Nov. 20-22 will be live-streamed on the NJCAA Network on a pay-for-view basis at njcaa.org/network. The final day of the tournament will be livestreamed on ESPN+.