BRENHAM, Texas – Blinn College volleyball was unable to recover from a flat start in its match against Wharton County Junior College and lost its Region XIV opener 3-1 at the PE Building Tuesday night in Brenham.
Wharton had everything going its way in the first two sets, winning those 25-14 and 25-20. Blinn was able to muster enough momentum to win the third set but Wharton closed out the match by taking the fourth set 25-21 to lower the Blinn record to 10-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Alexis Kingston led Blinn in kills with nine and Abolanle Onipede was second in kills with seven as the team hit a paltry .051 percentage. Gabby Hernandez did a great job with 11 digs and Danusia Borgeaud had nine. Jordyn Keamo dished out 31 assists in the loss.
Blinn came out a little sluggish in the first set and Wharton took advantage by scoring the first four points and eventually grabbed a 7-1 lead. By the time Wharton took an 18-8 lead the first set was nearly out of reach as Blinn was unable to score more than two points in a row the rest of the way to hand Wharton the first set 25-14.
The Buccaneers came out with better energy in the second set but it was still Wharton jumping out to a 17-11 advantage. The closest Blinn could get the rest of the set was four points on two different occasions as Wharton closed out the second set by the score of 25-20.
Blinn put together its best set of the match in the third and jumped out to a 12-9 lead after a kill from Kingston. The biggest swing of the set came late as Wharton lead 21-20 but then Blinn rattled off four points in a row capped by a block from Eboni Mitchell. Kingston closed out the set 25-22 with a kill.
The magic ran out for Blinn in the fourth set as Wharton jumped out to a 12-4 lead with its quick attack that was getting out ahead of Blinn’s blocking at the net. The Buccaneers got the fourth a little closer with five straight points fueled by the play of Onipede to get within 14-12.
Unfortunately, Blinn did not have an answer for Wharton at the net as the Pioneers closed out the match with a 25-21 victory in the fourth set.
The Buccaneers will host the Blinn College 2015 Premier Tournament on Friday and Saturday. Blinn will open against Hillsborough Community College Friday at 3 p.m. and close out the day against Polk State College at 7 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.
