Fresh off the program’s first-ranked road win, Amarillo College found itself in a familiar spot heading into Wednesday’s Pink Out match against Western Texas College.
Win and finish the first conference cycle with a 4-3 record and a top-four spot in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference standings for the second consecutive season.
Despite losing to WTC in both matchups a season ago, AC changed their recent narrative against the Westerners with a five-set victory (25-19, 25-9, 18-25, 22-25, 15-9) on Oct. 8 at the FirstBank Southwest Center.
In the final frame, AC took a 5-1 lead and never relinquished its advantage during the set. WTC narrowed their fifth-set deficit to 9-7 before AC closed the match on a 6-2 run.
Delany Galligan ended the match with two consecutive kills following a service ace by Jayli Franklin.
WJCAC Player of the Week Emery Bryan hit over .400 for the third consecutive game, putting down 14 kills compared to three errors on 25 total attempts. Galligan tied Bryan for a team-best kill total (14) via a .314 clip.
Franklin set the school record for aces in a single season during Wednesday’s match. The Amarillo native’s trio of aces on Wednesday moved her season total to 40. With the mark, Franklin now owns two school records after setting the career aces record earlier this fall.
Franklin led the team in blocks (3) and aces (3) against the Westerners.
Tascosa High School product Yuna NG added a season-best kill total (10) with the third-highest hitting percentage (.280) on the team.
AC drops five-set road match vs. Bulldogs
After dropping the first two sets against Clarendon College on Saturday, the Badgers put their resiliency on display.
AC flipped momentum with a dominant third frame (25-10) and a set-four victory (26-24). Clarendon responded with a 15-10 win in the fifth frame to claim their second conference victory.
Despite the loss, Galligan put on a hitting clinic on the Bulldogs’ home floor. The Argyle High School product tallied a season-best 22 kills – the second-highest total in program history – and did so in an efficient manner via a .409 hitting percentage.
Jaelynn Jackson put forth one of her most efficient outings of her career, recording a team-best .600 hitting percentage by way of seven kills on 10 swings with one error.
The match marked AC’s only loss this season, with a hitting clip over .200 or higher, as the Badgers finished the match with a .229 hitting clip.
Amarillo College’s record moved to 4-4 in the WJCAC and 16-7 overall. The win total is tied for the most victories in a season since the athletics program was rebooted at AC in 2022.
Bryan earns WJCAC POTW honor
After a career week on the road against a pair of ranked opponents, freshman Emery Bryan was selected as the Western Junior College Athletic Conference Player of the Week, the league announced on Oct. 9.
The Poolville native tallied 13 kills by way of a team-best .455 hitting percentage versus 15th-ranked Frank Phillips and added seven kills with no errors on 15 swings (.467 hitting percentage) against No. 10 New Mexico Military Institute on Oct. 1.
Bryan is the second Badger to earn a WJCAC Player of the Week honor this season, joining Galligan, who claimed the honor twice during the non-conference slate.
The middle blocker ranks third on the team in kills per set (1.61), hitting percentage (.235), and blocks per set (0.31) entering the final six games of the regular season.
