The Northwest Mississippi Community College volleyball team continues to make history.
Building on their historic 36-0 regular season and Region 23 championship, the Lady Rangers won the Gulf South District championship on Sunday, becoming the first team in Mississippi to qualify for the NJCAA Division II National Championship Tournament.
Under head coach Allison Burchyett, No. 16 Northwest (40-0, 10-0 MACCC) remains one of two teams with perfect records after beating No. 15 Lurleen B. Wallace in four sets. Only top-ranked Kirkwood Community College (34-0, 13-0 ICCAC) from Iowa remains untouched alongside the Lady Rangers.
Not only is Northwest the first volleyball team from Mississippi to make the NJCAA tournament, but they are also the first program from the Magnolia State to crest 40 wins in a single season.
“Our offensive system is very balanced,” Burchyett said about her 2026 squad. “We have hitters that can hit from outside, middle, and right side, and you don’t know where the ball is going to. Whereas some systems you might always go to the outside hitter, or always go to the middle hitter, we’re very balanced in our attack, so a lot of times teams really struggle with who’s going to be hitting the ball for Northwest. Then our defense is very good at picking balls up, so we’re able to continue rallies and continue going, and a lot of times that frustrates our opponents.”
Notably, the 2026 season is only the seventh year of Northwest volleyball, which began in 2020 with Burchyett. 2024, however, was the first official year that Northwest joined the MACCC for volleyball. Burchyett’s squad won the conference championship during that inaugural season.
With their win on Sunday against Lurleen B. Wallace, the Lady Rangers will play for a chance to win a NJCAA DII National Championship – something no school from Mississippi has ever done in volleyball. The tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, begins Nov. 18 and runs through Nov. 21. The selection show that will determine their seeding will take place on Wednesday.
