The 11th-ranked Blinn College volleyball team earned a Region XIV sweep of Coastal Bend College on Tuesday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas, keeping its winning streak and perfect mark in region play intact in the process.
The Buccaneers have won 20 consecutive matches and are now 27-2 overall with a 5-0 region record.
Blinn earned the 25-15, 25-10, 25-9 victory Tuesday despite some early-set troubles against the Cougars. Bucs head coach Terry Gamble said at times, his team lacked energy against its opponent and hopes his players will regroup during practice this week.
“It was a win; that’s the positive today,” Gamble said. “We talk all the time about how we’re supposed to carry ourselves and represent Blinn College every day, and we didn’t do that because we didn’t come out ready to play and it showed. We’re going to go to work in our next practice and fix what we’re doing.”
(Pictured: Blinn’s , left, and MaKenna Loo attempt a block during a game against Coastal Bend College on Sept. 24, 2024)
Coastal Bend, which was looking for its first win in the region, grabbed a quick 4-2 lead in the opening set of the match. The Bucs rallied thanks to a 6-0 run that gave them the lead for good. Freshman outside hitter Greta Rakow knocked down a kill to cap the burst and make it 8-4.
The Cougars kept pace with Blinn, trailing just 18-14 until freshman setter/hitter Bromli Watson ignited a 7-1 set-ending run with a tip kill.
Coastal Bend took it to Blinn right out of the gate in set two, as the two teams played to a 6-6 stalemate. Freshman outside hitter MaKenna Loo snapped the tie with a kill that started a 9-0 move and virtually put the set away for the Bucs.
“At times during the last couple of weeks, we’ve been having a hard time coming out with high energy and playing to our full potential,” Loo said. “This wasn’t our best game and we need to work a lot harder, and hopefully we can start focusing and do just that.”
Blinn never trailed in the final set, racing out to a big lead early.
The Cougars stalled the Bucs’ eventual sweep momentarily as they made it 22-9 late, but back-to-back kills from sophomore right-side hitter Kellen Dorotik and freshman middle blocker Karolina Karabasz combined with a Coastal Bend hitting error sealed the outcome.
(Pictured: Blinn’s Kellen Dorotik spikes the ball over the net during a game against Coastal Bend College on Sept. 24, 2024)
Dorotik had a team-high 16 kills for the Bucs and pushed her NJCAA Division I-leading total to 450. Loo, who trails only Dorotik in kills nationally, posted 15. Rakow chipped in five for Blinn.
Watson and fellow freshman setter Leah Hoss dished out 21 and 16 set assists, respectively, to keep the Bucs’ offense moving. At the service line, Rakow tallied a team-leading four aces.
Sophomore libero Cierra Pesak notched 12 digs to pace Blinn’s defense, while Loo added eight followed by six apiece for Hoss, freshman libero Sophie Ilagan, and freshman middle blocker Jana Cetkovic.
At the net, Karabasz had one solo block and one assist, Dorotik added two assists, and Loo, Cetkovic, and freshman hitter/blocker Rosalinda Navarro each had one.
The march toward postseason continues Saturday when Blinn visits region rival and No. 9 Trinity Valley Community College at 2 p.m. in Athens, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 national championships since 1987.
