CORSICANA, Texas – In the first tournament of the season Blinn College volleyball seemed to have problems finishing off opponents but it was a different story Tuesday night in a 3-0 victory over Navarro College in Corsicana.
It appeared that the Buccaneers would be heading for trouble in the third set while holding on to a 2-0 lead. Blinn trailed 16-6 early in the third set but key substitutions and a change in offensive scheme helped the Buccaneers come from behind for the sweep by the score of 25-17, 25-14 and 29-27 to improve to 2-3 overall.
“I feel like this match was a turning point for us but we will see this weekend,” said head coach Kalie Mader. “It was a complete team effort to the point that nobody stood out and that makes it tougher for teams to key in on certain players.”
Danusia Borgeaud led Blinn with 11 kills and also earned 15 digs. Abolanle Onipede was second in kills with nine and Alexis Kingston earned eight. Jordyn Keamo led the team as per usual in assists with 33 and earned 12 digs and three aces. Defensive specialist Dana Teets came up with 15 digs in the victory.
Blinn came out strong on the road by taking the first set 25-17 and then the second set came a little bit easier at 25-14 as it looked like the Buccaneers would cruise to a sweep.
The third set was a different story as the third set issues starting creeping back into the play of Blinn and Navarro built a 16-6 lead. That is when coach Mader made a couple substitutions of Justus Tuiolosega and Darby Mussulman and changed up the offensive scheme and it seemed to throw Navarro off a little.
Blinn went on an 18-8 run to tie the game at 24 and then it was Blinn coming out on top with a 29-27 victory in the third.
“We made subs that really showed our depth and not every team has the depth that we do,” Mader said.
Blinn was host its first tournament of the year as the 2015 Applebee’s Classic will begin Friday and Blinn’s first match will be against Eastern Arizona College at 1 p.m. and then the Buccaneers will later face Tyler Junior College at 7 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 32 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit: www.buccaneersports.com.
