PASADENA, Texas – Blinn College volleyball capped off a perfect 4-0 weekend with a pair of victories Saturday against Western Texas College and Northeastern Junior College in the 2015 San Jacinto Military Appreciation Classic in Pasadena.
The two victories improves the Blinn record to 10-3 as the Buccaneers have now won nine matches in a row after a bumpy opening weekend. Blinn beat Western Texas 3-0 by the score of 25-11, 25-16 and 25-17 and then topped Northeastern 3-1 by the score of 25-10, 25-14, 22-25 and 25-17.
Alexis Kingston had a great opening match against Western Texas by earning 11 kills with a .471 hitting percentage and the entire team hit for a .387 percentage. Haley Howard and Abolanle Onipede each had nine kills in the victory.
The Buccaneers stayed focused for the entire three sets and controlled the match early. Jordyn Keamo led the team with 36 assists and two aces to help the offense.
“We did a good job of not letting up in the third set,” said Blinn head coach Kalie Mader. “The entire team is settling into its roles and it is starting to show in our results.”
In the second match against Northeastern, Blinn came out on fire and won the first two sets with ease but lost focus momentarily and dropped the third set. The Buccaneers regrouped in the fourth set to seal the match with a 25-17 victory.
“We quit pushing on offense and may have relaxed a little bit in the third set,” Mader said.
Kingston again led the Buccaneers in kills with 14 and a .440 hitting percentage while Onipede was second with 11 kills and a .300 hitting percentage. Eboni Mitchell had seven kills while Danusia Borgeaud also had seven kills and 15 digs in an improved defensive effort.
Keamo led with 45 assists and the team combined for 11 aces as the aggressive serving of the Buccaneers is proving valuable in tight matches.
Blinn will open conference play Tuesday, Sept. 8 against Wharton County Junior College at 6 p.m. in the PE Building in Brenham.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 32 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit: www.buccaneersports.com.
