he 3rd-ranked Buccaneers swept Tyler 25-19, 25-19, 25-20 on their home court, improving their season record to 28-1 and their league-leading Region XIV mark to 9-0. The win over Tyler pushed Blinn’s winning streak to 27 matches in a row.
“I thought we played really well tonight,” head coach Terry Gamble said. “We beat a really good team.”
Tyler led midway through the first set, but Blinn used tough serves and Apache errors to get the win. Blinn only had one service error in the match.
Jayde Shelton had 19 of Blinn’s 49 kills to lead the team. Shelton leads the NJCAA Division I in total kills with 361 and is tied for fourth in kills per set with 3.97. She also ranks fifth in hitting percentage at .371.
Blinn’s Reagan Casey, tied for second nationally in hitting percentage at .382, had five kills against Tyler and hit at a .444 clip. Chard’e Van Zandt added 12 kills and Ashley Taylor eight for the Bucs.
Lina Ellila dished out 43 assists for Blinn. Emily Smajstria had seven digs for the Bucs, with Guilia Hortelan getting six and Lixai Perez five.
Blinn’s next two conference matches are on the road – Thursday at Victoria College (6 p.m.) and Saturday at Navarro College (2 p.m.).
