Bees Sting Way to District Championship

NJCAA DIII South District Tournament Central

Phil Nickel Interview

Taryn Doiron Interview 

MESQUITE, Texas – These Bees have been buzzing all year long. Saturday, they stung in a big way.

Dallas College Eastfield's No. 1-ranked volleyball team withstood an early test from Dallas College North Lake before coasting in the latter stages of a 25-22, 21-25, 25-14, 25-15 victory to claim the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South District championship.

The Harvester Bees (31-0) punched their ticket to the NJCAA Division III National Tournament Nov. 9-11 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"It sounds pretty amazing," Eastfield setter Taryn Doiron said. "I'm ready for it."

Eastfield needed to be ready after North Lake (17-18) gave the Bees their best in the first two sets, coming to play from the first serve in the third meeting between the two teams this season.

With Hadley Klock serving, North Lake jumped out to a 10-7 lead in the first set before Eastfield's Aleyna Gerlach split the Blazers' defense with a kill. The Bees tied it at 11, but over the next two serves, Kinleigh Hall had a kill, and Ayanna Manikham served an ace. McKenzie Anderson's overpass kill knotted the set at 17, and Doiron's ace pushed the Bees ahead, 20-18. Brenly Walker banged a ball off the Blazers' block, and Azoria Davis' tap, following a North Lake error, made it 24-19.

North Lake, which had 25 of its 39 kills in the first two sets, scored the next three points though on a Bees' missed serve, kill by Hall and a Blazers block to pull within 24-22. But Amber Smart, who finished with nine kills and two blocks, terminated the set with a kill.

"I felt we all had very high emotions as we were kind of nervous," Doiron said after spreading the ball around for 27 assists, and recording three aces. "We had to just come in here and get things going, and then we realized we got our groove. Then we started picking it up towards the end."

Hall's block 25 serves into the second set gave North Lake a 14-11 lead. With the Blazers maintaining a three-point lead, Walker put down one of her 10 kills, and a North Lake error pulled Eastfield within 16-15. A Harvester Bees error and block by Hope Miller and Hall stretched the Blazers lead to 20-16. Miller's ace and Klock's dump-set kill made it 23-18. Following a kill by Hall, Eastfield's Tasmine Maxwell won a battle at the net, tapping down a point that kept the Bees alive, 24-21. But Manikham's putaway tied the match at a set apiece.

Manikham finished with 11 kills and 21 digs.

"They came out and played great," Bees second-year coach Phil Nickel said of the Blazers. "They're super scrappy. The first couple times we played 'em, we were able to kind of dominate, and be in control the whole time, but I told (my team), 'We're at a point in the season where everybody's kind of fighting for their lives. You lose and you're done.' We knew they'd come out and fight hard, and they did. They controlled the tempo, and did a really good job in the beginning, but we were able to settle down, get our emotions in check and kind of take control there at the end."

That the Bees did, opening up a 12-7 lead on an overpass block by Smart and an ace by Doiron. Eastfield maintained a five-point lead until North Lake's Carly Korrodi served two straight points – the latter punctuated on a block by Love Riley and Jocelyn Blassingame. The Bees extended the lead to seven on Walker's ace. They moved within a point of taking a 2-1 lead in the match when North Lake's Shi'Miria Phillips came up big on a block. One serve later, Eastfield won the set.

Eastfield raced out to a 14-4 lead in the fourth set on an ace by Davis. Walker bashed down a ball to make it 18-6, and Davis had a block to thrust the Bees within five points of clinching the title. After Hall, who had seven kills and four blocks, and hit .300, banged home a kill that gave North Lake its 10^th point of the set, Walker tapped home a winner six points later as Eastfield bumped its lead to 24-13. On the next serve, the Bees became district champs.

It was Eastfield's second district title in three years after winning the Spring 2021 crown.

"It's been really special because most of our freshmen, we expected this, but the sophomores, they weren't ready for this," Doiron said. "So for us to come in and do what we're doing now is amazing."

Davis finished with 11 kills, 13 digs and four blocks. Walker coupled 23 digs with her 10 putaways. Maxwell had nine kills, two blocks, and hit .272. Anderson had eight kills, four blocks and a .500 attack percentage. Gerlach had eight kills, Ava Cole 12 digs and Denee Cullum 11 digs, four aces and 19 assists.

Riley had 12 kills, 10 digs, three blocks, and hit .257. Klock had 20 assists and 11 digs. Isabelle Salas finished with 29 digs. Korrodi had 10 assists and nine digs. Miller had three blocks and two of North Lake's four aces.

The Blazers took a big jump in a year's time, going from six wins last season to a school-record 17 this year. Eastfield ascended on an even higher trajectory, trading eight wins in 2022 for 31 with a trip to the biggest stage this year.

"It's amazing," Nickel said. "I told the kids, 'There's sophomores that were here last year when we won eight matches,' and they stuck with it, worked hard, and they set the groundwork for this. It's an amazing feeling. Obviously, we're not done yet. We want to keep moving on, so it's just back to work."