Amarillo College’s quest to reach the postseason began with an emphatic sweep of Clarendon College at home on Wednesday to begin conference play.

The 19th ranked Badgers swept the Bulldogs (26-24, 25-22, 25-14) and improved their all-time record against Clarendon to 8-1.

“We did what we were supposed to do, but there’s a lot we need to clean up,” AC head coach Scott Sandel said. “Our league is really tough and every team we lay in our conference will be tough.”

AC faced a 7-4 deficit in the early stages of set one, but rallied with an 8-0 run to take a 12-7 lead. After Clarendon tied the first frame at 15-15, the teams tied the set on four additional occasions before AC secured the victory.

With the first set tied at 24-24, freshman Emery Bryan put down a kill to take the lead and fellow rookie Delany Galligan blocked an attack attempt by Clarendon’s Luisa Santos on the outside pin to end the first frame.

AC took control of the match in the final two sets by elevating their level of play at the service line and with offensive efficiency.

The Badgers recorded a .258 hitting percentage in set two and a .281 percentage in set three compared a .095 mark during the first game. At the service line, AC tallied seven aces combined in the final two sets compared to one ace in the first frame.

Sophomore Jaelynn Jackson was a vital part of the Badgers’ efficient offensive attack. The Royse City native tied her second-highest hitting percentage mark (.636) of her career with at least 11 swings on Wednesday night

Jackson notched eight kills on 11 swings and recorded a team-high four blocks. The 5-foot-8 middle blocker has now tallied a hitting percentage higher than .600 in three matches this season.

Amarillo native Jayli Franklin had a team-high 10 kills and Galligan added nine.

Freshman London Baker put forth one of her top all-around performances of the season with a team-best 28 assists and four aces compared to zero errors at the service line.

Tyler Pool led the back row in passer rating on serve receive attempts with a 2.50 mark, followed by Franklin (2.35), and McCall Sims (2.08).

NMJC defeats AC in four sets

Entering Saturday’s match at New Mexico Junior College, the Badgers were winless against the Thunderbirds when playing in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Despite winning a marathon third set, NMJC continued the streak on their home floor with a four-set defeat of the Badgers (25-21, 25-17, 27-29, 25-20).

The Thunderbirds outhit the Badgers .210 to .088 in terms of hitting percentage. The mark was the lowest of the season for AC as the team’s previous low was .121 against Iowa Western.

Galligan had a team-high 10 kills for AC while Jackson added a team-best .286 hitting percentage (seven kills on 14 swings with three errors).

Sims tallied a season-best eight digs and Baker dished out a team-high 25 assists.

The Badgers will host Midland College on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the FirstBank Southwest Center. On Saturday, AC will play Odessa College at home, starting at 2 p.m.