Hereford graduate Allee Purcella and West Plains grad Jayli Franklin recorded career-high hitting percentages and combined for 15 kills during the Badgers home-opening sweep (25-21, 25-16, 25-18) against Independence Community College on Friday at the FirstBank Southwest Center.
Purcella recorded six kills on 15 swings (.333 hitting percentage) and Franklin added the second-highest kill total on the team (9) via a .421 clip, highlighting AC’s first sweep of the season.
Amarillo College trailed only once (4-3 in the second set) throughout the entire match and had a season-best hitting percentage (.266) to begin the homestand.
Neie tied her single game kill record with 21 successful spikes in a five-set defeat to No. 20 Trinidad State College during Friday’s nightcap.
The Bushland High School product tallied 71 kills (15, 21, 16, 19) over the course of the two-day tourney.
Neie is now the new school record holder for kills in a season (248) with 14 regular season games remaining for the 2024 campaign.
Amarillo College was defeated in their final three games of their home tournament.
The Badgers won a pair of sets against 20th ranked Trinidad St. and claimed a win in set one against 13th ranked Blinn but dropped the matches to end the event with a 1-3 record.
Next up
The Badgers conference opener against New Mexico Military Institute at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 18 at the FirstBank Southwest Center.
The following are the results and scores of each match for the Badgers at the AC tourney.
Amarillo College tournament results
Amarillo College def. Independence Community College, 25-21, 25-16, 25-18.
Trinidad State def. Amarillo College, 23-25, 24-26, 25-14, 25-18, 15-13
Blinn College def. Amarillo College, 21-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-8
Frank Phillips College def. Amarillo College, 16-26, 25-21, 25-20, 16-25, 15-11