Lady Rangers stun NCTC

The Ranger College Lady Rangers received a surprise prior to Thursday's showdown with North Central Texas College with a visit from teammate Aaliyah Hardy. Following that, the Lady Rangers surprised conference-leading NCTC by taking a 3-1 victory in front of a small crowd in the Ron Butler Gymnasium.

After dropping a tough 25-21 decision to North Central Texas in Game 2, Ranger put it all together in the final two games. They rallied for a 25-21 win in Game 3 and then finished the contest with a 25-12 run in Game 4.

"I can't even put words to it," said sophomore Raelynn Theiss, "It (winning on White Out Night in honor of Hardy, who has been away from the team due to personal reasons) is a great feeling."

The Lady Rangers, now 15-6 overall and 5-2 in conference, defeated Hill, 3-2, earlier this month en route to its first win over the Lady Rebels in more than a decade.

Gloria Guerin gave RC the lead in Game 1. With the Lady Rangers clinging to a 24-23 lead, Guerin hit a cross-court smash that handed Ranger a 25-23 win. Theiss served up the point.

NCTC, which had entered the match unbeaten in Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference play, rallied from an early deficit to notch a 25-21 win in the second game.

Backed by solid play from Hannah Regan, Jasmin Garcia, Ava Shmueli and Sakura Thomas, Ranger hit stride in the final two frames. They stormed back to take a 25-21 win in Game 3.

In Game 4, they jumped out to a commanding 11-3 lead and never looked back.

Sophomore Daycoria Meadows credited the arrival of Hardy just before the game to giving the team a lift.

"The surprise from Aaliyah was everything," she said. "We played for her tonight."

Theiss agreed, saying the win was the biggest of her 2-year career at RC.

"I can't even put words to it," she said. "It's a great feeling. It's probably a better feeling for us than when we beat Hill."

The Lady Rangers will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 9, when they host North Lake, beginning at 1 p.m.