No. 1 Bees Improve to 30-0, Play for District Title Saturday

PHIL NICKEL INTERVIEW | ALEYNA GERLACH INTERVIEW

MESQUITE, Texas – Aleyna Gerlach was beaming from cheek to cheek.

And why not, her Dallas College Eastfield volleyball team had just won its 30^th straight match. Now the No. 1-ranked volleyball team in the country will take an unblemished record into Championship Saturday.

The Harvester Bees swept Dallas College Richland, 25-13, 25-9, 25-17, in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South District semifinals Friday to improve to 30-0. The Bees, who have owned the top spot in the NJCAA Division III rankings for the last five weeks, will play Dallas College North Lake (17-17) for the district crown on its home floor 4 p.m. Saturday in a match that will air on TSBN.

"While we celebrate our successes, we don't focus in on them too much, so we don't become overconfident," Eastfield's Aleyna Gerlach said on a night she was nearly perfect. "We know what we can do, but we make a conscious effort every game to go out and do it."

Azoria Davis and McKenzie Anderson combined on a block that gave the Harvesters an 18-10 lead in the opening set. Richland's Jersey Glass responded with a kill, but six serves later Davis ripped off an ace to make it 23-12. Gerlach's kill off a Thunderducks' block moved Eastfield within a point of the set. Richland's Kara Washington halted that for a pair of serves when she banged down a ball to cut it to 24-13, but Tasmine Maxwell's kill ended the set.

Gerlach, a dangerous Southpaw attacker, banged a ball through the middle as Eastfield jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set. Ava Cole's ace extended the Bees' lead to 13-4 before Gerlach found the floor with a cross-court winner. Anderson came off a slide for a kill to push Eastfield ahead, 17-6. With Brenly Walker serving, Anderson and Carli Banks combined on a block before Banks bashed a ball down to make it 19-6. Anderson followed with a kill to push the Harvesters within five points of taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

Richland sophomore hitter Naomi Jemison's kill ended a five-point Eastfield run, but Gerlach had a kill, and Maxwell sent a torpedo to the floor to move Eastfield within a point of closing out the set. Richland's Kensington Jordan pushed a ball to vacant territory, but one rally later, Davis tapped a ball over the Thunderducks blockers to give Eastfield the two-set lead.

Eastfield raced out to a 6-0 lead in the final set before Richland won six of the next nine points to pull within 9-6. After Eastfield bumped its lead to eight, Jemison banged down a kill, the Bees committed a hitting error and Kara Washington tapped down a point as the Thunderducks cut it to 19-14. With Jemison serving, Richland drew within 21-17. But Davis' kill ended a 4-0 run to seal the deal for the Harvester Bees.

"We were confident because we just played 'em last Thursday, but you never know playing a team a third time," Eastfield coach Phil Nickel said. "We expected a good, tight match. Come out, and took control in the first couple sets, but then it got a little closer in the third set, but we were able to finish it off."

Eastfield hit .464 in the first set and .500 in the second. The Bees had 33 of their 42 kills in the first two sets.

Davis finished with eight kills on 22 swings, and added three blocks. Gerlach hit a whopping .778, banging down seven of the nine balls set to her without committing an error. Walker had seven kills, two aces and hit .429. Cole had 15 digs and three aces, and Taryn Doiron 20 assists and 10 digs.

Jemison had five kills, while Washington, Jordan and Glass each had four for the Thunderducks, who finished 8-22. Richland hit .095, while the Harvesters had a .353 attack percentage.

The Harvester Bees are returning to the district championship match for the first time since beating Dallas College Brookhaven in the Spring of 2021.

"It's really awesome to play my last home game for a championship," Gerlach said. "Praying for a win, and I know that we can do it if we come out and play our game."