Mt. Carmel, Ill. – They came from Puerto Rico, all with a goal of putting Wabash Valley back on the junior college volleyball map and re-establishing a once proud program that lay dormant for 15 years.
And although the book is not quite finished on the Warrior careers of Valerie Ramos Allende, Andrea Andujar Mangual, Alondra Martinez Melendez and Alondra Miah Sanchez, the two words best used to describe their exploits to date are:
Mission accomplished.
The four made up the first sophomore class since the resumption of the program. They were honored before the start of Thursday's Great Rivers Athletic Conference match against Shawnee, which the Warriors won in straight sets.
"I'm really happy with them," said head coach Mark Colvin. "They have been great. They never missed anything."
Allende's move from libero to setter, for example, is "one of the reasons we're doing really well," according to Colvin.
WVC finished 14-22 last year in the initial year of the program re-start but has improved dramatically to the 11-4 team it is now in this COVID-shortened season.
Coupled with Lake Land's 3-2 win over John A. Logan, also on Thursday, the Warriors now find themselves in a second-place tie on the loss side (7-4) in the GRAC race with three league games remaining.
In the opening set, the Warriors won 25-8 after bolting to a 10-3 lead. They needed a 10-5 close to nail down the second set at 25-18, the earned the sweep with a 25-13 win in the third set.
"It was a nice win," Colvin said. "In the second game, we experimented a little bit and moved some people around."
Mangual was almost perfect at the net, with only one error to go with 13 kills. Allende led in assists with 15.
Mariah Jones led the way in digs with 15.
The Warriors were strong at the service line, with eight aces, three from Malena Bixby.
A fifth sophomore on the roster, Yoliann DeJesus-Tejedor, hopes to return next year after missing the season due to injury.
WVC is back home tonight for the final home match of the season against Southwestern (3-15, 2-9).